The Bakersfield student who died at a Fresno State fraternity house had a blood alcohol level 4.5 times the legal limit for driving, the Fresno County coroner reported Monday afternoon. Phillip Dhanens, 18, died September 2, in the off-campus Theta Chi house.
Fresno County Coroner Dr. David Haden said tests showed Dhanens had a blood alcohol level of 0.36 percent when he died. The legal limit for driving is 0.08 percent. The cause of death was listed as "acute alcohol poisoning."
No other drugs were found in his system. The coroner said there was no way to determine how much Dhanens drank that night, or if he might have been saved if he had been taken immediately to a hospital.
Witnesses said fraternity brothers found Dhanens passed out and moved him to a "sober room" in the house instead of calling authorities.
Dhanens was a popular graduate of Bakersfield's Garces High School. He was a prom king in May, and was known as "Big Phil," and used his 6-foot-5 inch, 325-pound size as a nose tackle to help the Rams to the valley championship game last year. He played trombone and tuba in the school band and was active in the campus ministry at Garces.
