YOUNGSTOWN Fraternity members arraigned

One defendant told police the victim took a swing at one of the defendant's fraternity brothers.
YOUNGSTOWN -- Two members of the Youngstown State University chapter of the Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity, including one officer, were arraigned in Youngstown Municipal Court on felonious assault charges related to a weekend cinder-block beating in a yard behind the 45 Indiana Ave. fraternity house.
Robert Householder, 25, of 1102 N. Highland Ave., Girard, was being held in lieu of $5,000 cash or surety bond Monday.
Sherard M. Scales, 23, of 45 Indiana Ave., was being held in lieu of $2,500 cash or surety bond. Both appeared before Judge Robert A. Douglas Jr.
Both men's names were listed on a Sigma Phi Epsilon membership list on the fraternity's Web site. Scales is listed as vice president of development.
What happened: Witnesses told city police that Nicholas D. Branyan, 19, a YSU student, was kicked in the head until unconscious by Scales before Householder struck him with a cement cinder block on the head and chest during a fight in the yard behind the fraternity house Saturday.
Householder was arrested as he attempted to shave off a goatee inside the house. He told police a fight began after Branyan had broken a window and taken a swing at a fraternity brother.
Branyan, of Kilcawley Hall on campus, is from Oregon, Ohio. He was treated for face, head and neck injuries at St. Elizabeth Health Center and was discharged.
A YSU spokesman said the matter also is being investigated by campus officials for possible disciplinary action.