TheBakersfieldCalifornian.com

The deadly consequences of binge drinking were on the minds of many Tuesday as Fresno law enforcement officials announced that three Fresno State students are being charged in the fraternity hazing death of Philip Dhanens, a Garces Memorial High School grad from Bakersfield.

Fresno County District Attorney Elizabeth Egan made the announcement at a morning news conference also attended by Fresno police Chief Jerry Dyer and Philip Dhanens’ parents, Paul and Diane.

Charged in connection with last year’s incident are Aaron Joseph Raymo, 24, Leonard Louis Serrato, 28, and Daniel Woodard Baker, 22. Each face six months to a year in jail and up to $5,000 in fines.

The three men are charged with misdemeanor hazing and providing alcohol to a person under 21 years of age proximately causing death, according to a copy of the criminal complaint.

“I have prayed for the fraternity brothers since the first time we met at Saint Agnes Hospital as my son lay brain dead,” Diane Dhanens said in a brief statement reported by the Fresno Bee.

Mrs. Dhanens was joined by Egan and Dyer in demanding an end to the culture of binge drinking and using drinking as a measure of worthiness by college fraternities.

“This is far more than social drinking by members of this fraternity,” Chief Dyer told The Californian. “This is aggressive drinking.”

The three facing charges were members of the fraternity and were involved in organizing the event held Aug. 31 at the Theta Chi fraternity’s off-campus house, Dyer said.

“Of the 14 pledges there that night, 12 were under 21 and one was 17,” Dyer said.

The pledges were taken to a room in the fraternity house called the “Trophy Room.” Their chairs were arranged in a semicircle and as many as seven 750-milliliter bottles of rum, whiskey, tequila, vodka and other spirits were placed in the room with them, Dyer said. In the center of the circle was a residential-size garbage can where pledges were expected to vomit.

It is believed that at least half of the pledges used it for that purpose, Dyer said.

The pledges were given an admonition that they did not have to drink if they had religious, medical or personal objections, Dyer noted. But the admonition came with a hitch. The underage pledges could not join the larger party at the frat house until they emptied all the bottles.

Based on Philip Dhanens’ body size, the fact that he had eaten dinner and other factors, medical examiners estimated that he consumed 37 ounces of hard liquor — nearly a bottle and a half — in a 90-minute period.

“Leonard Serrato is 28 and a former bartender,” Dyer said. “He not only has the training, he has the experience to know the dangers involved.”

At that point, Dhanens was already in mortal danger, Dyer said. He passed out, but instead of immediately seeking medical assistance, the frat brothers carried him to an adjoining room.

Pledges taken to this so-called “drunk room” were supposed to be watched by “sober brothers,” Dyer said. That strategy failed miserably.

Two days later Dhanens died at a Fresno hospital from complications of acute intoxication, sometimes referred to as alcohol poisoning, Fresno County Coroner David Hadden told The Californian last year. There was no evidence of drugs in his system.

“While these defendants have no prior criminal history and the evidence does not show that they intended for Mr. Dhanens to die, their actions led to deadly results requiring criminal intervention to hold them accountable,” the DA said in a news release Tuesday.

Warrants have been issued for the three. No charges were brought against other members of the fraternity.

Dhanens consumed so much liquor, his blood alcohol reached 0.40 percent, a “toxic amount that is more than five times the blood alcohol level to legally operate a vehicle in California,” Egan said.

At 6 feet, 5 inches tall and weighing in at more than 300 pounds, the former defensive lineman earned the nickname “Big Phil” during his years at Garces. He was only a couple of weeks into his first semester of college when he pledged with Theta Chi. Friends said he was considering a career as a lawyer or a history teacher — although he believed he still had plenty of time to decide.

Adolfo Robles, 19, graduated from Garces last spring with Dhanens and was Philip’s friend since the eighth grade. Robles was unsure Tuesday about how to respond to the news that three men would be charged in connection with the incident.

“There’s not much to say about it, really,” he said, pausing. “Time has passed. Someone is getting the blame.”
Robles, who is away at college in Montana, said the news was enough to reopen the wounds he has suffered since learning of his friend’s death.

“They shouldn’t have done it, but they did,” he said, referring to those who supplied liquor to the frat party. “If they get what they deserve, they get what they deserve.”

The death of the former defensive lineman for the Garces Rams left his family and a large numbers of friends and former classmates grieving. A funeral Mass held in mid-September at St. Philip the Apostle Church was filled to overflowing.

Zoe Tucker, Dhanens’ girlfriend since their sophomore year at Garces, told The Californian in September that alcohol was never a big part of Dhanens’ social life. Zoe’s mom, Sandy Tucker, was equally surprised by the reports of heavy drinking.
Neither mother nor daughter could immediately be reached for comment Tuesday.

Theta Chi’s recognition by the university and by the fraternity's national organization was suspended following the incident.

Dhanens’ death was Fresno State’s first such fatality since early 2006, when 19-year-old Danny Daniels Jr. was found dead in a room at the Phi Gamma Delta fraternity house, according to the Fresno Bee.

Daniels had a blood-alcohol level of 0.34 percent. Fresno police said Daniels died after drinking at a Phi Gamma Delta party that was attended by as many as 70 people.

Phi Gamma Delta received a five-year ban from the university; the chapter has not been re-established at Fresno State.
Fresno State Vice President for Student Affairs Paul Oliaro said in a statement Tuesday morning that the university agreed with the actions taken by police and the DA’s office.

“Fresno State joined with the national Theta Chi organization in suspending the Theta Chi chapter shortly after the incident,” Oliaro said. “The university was asked by authorities to withhold further campus actions until the police investigation was complete and charges had been determined by the district attorney. With their announcement today, we can proceed with our internal campus discipline process.”

Serrato, Raymo and Baker will be scheduled for arraignment in Fresno County Superior Court, according to the DA’s news release.

Meanwhile, Egan said statistics show that 82 percent of deaths from hazing involve alcohol and that student deaths from binge drinking and hazing incidents are on the increase.

“Dangerous drinking is a national problem that must be addressed on many fronts and by all concerned,” the DA said in the release. “It is our responsibility to work together with students to ensure young people understand the risks of dangerous drinking.

“Every death of our bright sons and daughters,” she said, “diminishes all of us.”