Anthony Shears, the man arrested at an Alpha Sigma Phi party April 12, is facing two counts of felony assault from King County prosecutors. He is expected to enter a plea in the coming week.

Shears, a 24-year-old UW student from Seattle who attended Nathan Hale High School, has previously earned notoriety as a popular local hip-hop artist. According to his Web site, he released an album titled Welcome to Seattle two years ago. Since then, he has traveled to promote his music on both the West and East coasts and has succeeded in having his music played on KUBE 93 in Seattle and on the radio in New Hampshire, Boston and New York.

Shears had recently transferred to the UW from Dartmouth College as a senior majoring in economics. He was attempting to pledge Delta Tau Delta fraternity.

According to the victims' testimony, an argument broke out shortly before 11 p.m. between Shears and a 20-year-old female party guest. Shears and the victim knew each other but were not dating.

"Allegedly, it started with a verbal altercation, and the two spilled drinks on each other," said Ray Wittmier, UWPD assistant police chief. "He then struck one victim in the face."

Shears then threw her to the ground and continued to hit her in the face before he stomped on her face, the victim said. Another 20-year-old female student tried to intervene, and he allegedly punched her in the face as well. Both women sustained injuries that required hospitalization. One of the victims required stitches.

Alpha Sigma Phi had hired private security for the party that night, and the security personnel quickly flagged down a UW police officer who happened to be in the area.

The two women were taken to the UW Medical Center and released the next day.

Shears was released from King County custody, April 14.

Following this incident, Delta Tau Delta has severed all ties with Shears. According to The Seattle Times, the fraternity is now considering a policy that would require all pledges to produce letters of reference before being considered for membership.

This is part of a trend of fraternities working to strengthen their own security, Interfraternity Council President Zach Meissner said.

"We obviously have been experiencing very violent times lately and a lot of it has not come from the Greek system — it comes from outside," Meissner said. "So [the Greek community] has been in a process for a few months of heightening our security."

Concerns about keeping parties and events safe have led many fraternities to hire private security, as Alpha Sigma Phi did on the night of the incident. This incident may also prompt fraternities to look more closely at whom they grant membership.

"There is always a fine line between achieving the number of members we require for our house to function financially and socially, and maintaining the quality of our members," Meissner said. "There is a tipping point between signing members and signing quality."

Shears was previously arrested March 4, in regard to another incident.

Unless Shears pleads guilty to the assault charges, he will be tried by King County.

"Now it's just a matter of waiting for a court date," Wittmier said.

Reach reporter Siv Prince at news@thedaily.washington.edu.