Former UWM Fraternity Member Ty Whiteley Faces Battery Charge

Ty Whiteley, a former Phi Sigma Kappa member and University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee student, is facing a battery charge in relation to a police report filed on Feb. 13, 2026.

Whiteley, 20, is accused by his former girlfriend of battery after an incident that occurred at Whiteley’s residence, listed in the criminal complaint. He is innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.

In a criminal complaint, the accuser states that on Feb. 6, 2026, around 11 p.m., she arrived at 2860 N. Downer Ave. Shortly after arrival, the couple began arguing after the two had accused each other of cheating, according to the complaint.

The complaint also alleges that the accuser attempted to leave multiple times, but Whiteley wouldn’t let her.

“[Victim] stated that during one of those attempts, Defendant pushed her down on the bed and as she was trying to get back up, the Defendant punched her in the face and then grabbed her neck,” the complaint states. “[Victim] stated that they woke up the next day and the Defendant stated he didn’t remember what happened.”

Whiteley was taken into custody on Feb. 9, 2026 following the victim’s police report and a domestic abuse restraining order was filed on Feb. 10, 2026.

The court ordered the following:

1. The respondent refrain from committing acts or threats of domestic abuse against the petitioner.
2. The respondent avoid the petitioner’s residence and/or any location temporarily occupied by the petitioner.
3. The respondent avoid contacting the petitioner or causing any person other than a party’s attorney or law enforcement officer to contact the petitioner unless the petitioner consents in writing. Contact includes: contact at petitioner’s home, work, school, public places, in person, by phone, in writing, by electronic communication or device, or in any other manner.”

The court further orders:

1. The respondent is prohibited from possessing a firearm until the expiration of this injunction. Possession of a firearm is a Class G Felony punishable by a fine not to exceed $25,000 or imprisonment not to exceed 10 years, or both. The respondent shall immediately surrender any firearm(s) that he or she owns or has in his or her possession to the sheriff of this county.

Many UW-Milwaukee students were made aware of Whiteley’s arrest after multiple social media posts went viral.

“I learned about it on YikYak,” said UWM student Annie Mendez. “It was like every minute there was a new post about it. People were not happy.”

A YikYak post with over 435 upvotes contained a picture of Whiteley’s mugshot left in the comments.

“PSK has done irreparable damage to Greek life at UWM,” alleged another anonymous post, upvoted 306 times by users.

However, some students were unaware of the situation entirely.

“I didn’t know about it until a friend briefly mentioned it to me,” said 21-year-old Kaylee Conaway. “I was surprised that the fraternity never really made a statement about it or anything.”

Phi Sigma Kappa appeared to continue its usual events, announcing six new associates in their Spring class through a Feb. 18, 2026, Instagram post.

Whiteley, like many other Phi Sigma Kappa fraternity members included the organization’s Greek letters in his Instagram profile. However, shortly after his arrest, the letters were removed, followed by the fraternity’s Instagram page unfollowing him all together.

When asked about Whiteley’s arrest, many fraternity members were reluctant to share their thoughts, often asking to be left anonymous.

Whiteley’s attorney did not return calls for comment at the time of the publication of this article.

According to the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee’s fraternity and sorority web page, Phi Sigma Kappa lists their motto as “Do unto others as you would have them to unto you.”

Whiteley is expected to appear in court again on April 1, 2026.