URBANA, Ill. (WAND) — The investigation into a student death from January of this year has been concluded by the University of Illinois Police Department.
On Jan. 20, Akul Dhawan was found dead outside a campus building around 10 hours after being reported missing by his friend. The Champaign County Coroner ruled his death as being caused by hypothermia, with acute alcohol intoxication being a contributing factor.
His death was ruled accidental.
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The UIPD completed an investigation into the events of Dhawan's death, as well an internal affairs investigation related to a citizen complaint.
The department learned that he visited Canopy Club around 10 p.m. the night before his death, and left with friends around 10:45 p.m. He stopped at two liquor stores, and was able to buy a bottle of vodka without having his ID checked at the second.
The group returned to Canopy Club around 11:30 p.m., but Dhawan stayed outside. His friends later called police at 1:20 a.m. when they could not locate him.
UIPD released a full timeline of the events at the end of January.
The store employee has been charged with selling alcohol to a minor for failing to check Dhawan’s identification. The charge is a class A misdemeanor. In addition, the liquor store (Green Street Pantry, 308 E. Green St., Champaign) was cited, fined, and will serve a seven-day suspension for the sale of alcohol to an underage person.
In the internal affairs investigation, the officer who handled the initial call in the early morning hours of Jan. 20, when Dhawan’s friends reported that they could not find him, was found to have violated subsections under two department policies related to the process for investigating a missing person report and process for preparing documentation.
The officer has been placed on paid administrative leave pending completion of the post-administrative investigation procedures.
“Although we do not believe it is likely these policy violations related to process and documentation altered the outcome of the incident, it is important to take action to ensure our policies are followed as we strive to promote a safe and secure campus environment,” said University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Police Chief Matt Ballinger. “This was a tragic accident that has weighed heavily on our campus community, and our thoughts continue to be with Akul’s family, friends and loved ones.”
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