Delta Sigma fraternity was charged with furnishing alcohol to minors yesterday in connection with a Feb. 6 incident in which an intoxicated minor allegedly left the property prior to being assaulted.

The alcohol charge is the second against Delta Sigma, 508 Locust Lane, this semester and comes in the midst of a newly enforced wristband policy the Interfraternity Council (IFC) hopes will curb underage drinking at fraternity events. A judge decided yesterday there was enough evidence for the first alcohol-related charge to go to trial.

IFC President Andy Hackett said there was not a party at the fraternity on the night that the second alcohol-related incident allegedly took place. Representatives from Delta Sigma did not return calls concerning the incident yesterday.

Cpl. Mark Argiro said earlier this month State College police responded to a reported assault at about 1:30 a.m. on Feb. 6 at the 400 block of Locust Lane. They found a 19-year-old male victim with a swollen face and eyes and a possible broken nose. Police said interns with the Highlands Neighborhood Watch Program witnessed two men pile onto the victim, punching him repeatedly before leaving the scene on foot. The interns told police which direction the two suspects had fled, and one was apprehended nearby.

Police said the victim told them he was drinking at a fraternity party before the incident. He said he remembered the two men approached him shortly after he left the fraternity, but his memory of the event was "fuzzy." The name of the fraternity was not released at that time. Court documents filed yesterday said the victim, a friend and a second victim who had no visible injuries, identified the Delta Sigma house as the location where they were drinking prior to the assault.

The 19-year-old friend and the 18-year-old second victim were both visibly intoxicated at the time of the incident, documents said. Lt. Diane Conrad of the State College Police Department said no charges have been filed in connection with the assault. The case is being handled as a separate incident and is still under investigation, Conrad said.

Hackett said after investigation, the IFC concluded the minor who claimed to have been drinking at Delta Sigma was not at the fraternity that night.

"Every fraternity has to register all functions with the IFC and there are no records of their having a function that night," Hackett said.

Hackett said the minor might have given police Delta Sigma's name to get the fraternity in trouble. Delta Sigma plans to contest the charges. "With the information we have at this point, we have no reason to charge them."

Yesterday's charges, stemming from this incident, came on the same day as Delta Sigma's preliminary hearing for the previous alcohol-related charge.

A judge ruled there is enough evidence for Delta Sigma to face trial for charges of furnishing alcohol to minors stemming from a Jan. 13 incident. The preliminary hearing took place at Centre County Courthouse in Bellefonte.

According to court documents, a State College Police Department officer saw Justin Messina, 19, staggering on the 100 block of South Garner Street. Messina fell on his face as the officer approached. Messina told the officer he had been drinking at Delta Sigma fraternity. The officer went to the fraternity and spoke with Delta Sigma President Daniel Herman, 20. Herman told the officer there was a social taking place at the fraternity.

A pretrial conference hearing for the Jan. 13 charges is scheduled for May 27.

Collegian Staff Writer Sarah Rothman contributed to this report.