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Hit-And-Run Driver Sues Fraternity

Mertensmeyer Blames Post-Traumatic Stress From Hazing For Poor Decisions

POSTED: 11:58 am CDT March 13, 2009
UPDATED: 12:19 pm CDT March 13, 2009

The mother of a Lansing, Kan., man killed in a drunken driving hit-and-run is outraged after a lawsuit has reopened the family's pain.

Daniel Reimann, 25, was struck and killed on Ward Parkway last May.

Curtis Mertensmeyer admitted he was drinking and driving and that he fled the scene.

Although the Mission Hills man admitted guilt in court in November, a new lawsuit filed by Mertensmeyer appears to place the blame elsewhere.

It claims that hazing at Mertensmeyer's fraterinty, Sigma Alpha Mu at Tulane University in New Orleans, caused post-traumatic stress disorder. The lawsuit claims that the hazing affected his decision-making.

Michael Strecker, a Tulane spokesman, released the following statement Friday: "Tulane is not a named party in this lawsuit and has not participated in it in any way. Our interaction with both parties has been through their role as students. The Sigma Alpha Mu fraternity is currently under temporary suspension and facing a student conduct hearing for allegedly violating Tulane University's zero tolerance anti-hazing policies."

Mertsenmeyer was given a 5-year sentence in Reimann's death.

Reimann's mother said she wants to make peace with her son's death.


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