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Police: Psychedelic Mushrooms Played Role In NYU Student's Fatal Fall


By

Christopher Robbins

Published Jan 28, 2014

Modified Jan 28, 2014


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Titan Lee-Hai

 

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By

Christopher Robbins

Published Jan 28, 2014

Modified Jan 28, 2014


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The NYU student who fell 15 stories to his death

from the Third North Residence Hall early Monday morning may have have been under the influence of hallucinogenic mushrooms.

Police sources tell The Post and DNAinfo that 18-year-old Titan Lee-Hai took the mushrooms with his roommate, and "now police are looking into whether there was something wrong with the drugs."

A fellow student who lived in the dorm said yesterday that Lee-Hai punched him in the face and urinated on the floor when he saw him enter an elevator at around 3 a.m. "He was naked when he walked in, so it was pretty obvious he was not in his senses," the student said.

Lee-Hai then apparently triggered the fire alarm when stepping onto the roof, and fell down into the building's courtyard. The freshman liberal studies major hailed from Trinidad, and was an aspiring rapper.

In November, 19-year-old NYU student Asher Vongtau fell from his dorm's fire escape into a tiny space between two buildings, where he was trapped for 36 hours. Vongtau, who miraculously survived, told authorities that he had been drinking the night of his fall.

Tagged

drugs

east village

NYU

titan lee-hai


Christopher Robbins

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Christopher Robbins is a New York City reporter covering transportation, affordable housing, local politics, and criminal justice. His work has also appeared in New York Magazine, The Village Voice and The New York Times. Chris is a graduate of Patrick Henry High School in Roanoke, Virginia, and enjoys biking to Fort Tilden in the summertime.

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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations


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