It could be weeks before the public knows what caused a 21-year-old Penn State student to die after a fight in an alley early Sunday morning.

But more details surfaced during a State College Police Department press conference yesterday about the death of Salvador Serrano. Police found Serrano unconscious at 1:47 a.m. while being restrained by a bouncer outside the All-American Rathskeller, 108 S. Pugh St.

The Centre County Coroner's Office performed an autopsy on Serrano's body Sunday, but toxicology and tissue analyses are not expected to be completed for three to six weeks.

Several questions at the press conference centered on whether Serrano was suffocated.

While the analyses are not necessary to establish whether Serrano died of asphyxiation, officials would not be able to make that determination in such a short period of time, Centre County Coroner Scott Sayers said.

Police will refer details about the incident and Serrano's cause of death to Centre County District Attorney Ray Gricar, State College Police Chief Tom King said. When Gricar receives the details, he will decide whether criminal charges are warranted, King said.

Bouncers could be found guilty of manslaughter charges if evidence indicates the death was their fault, Lt. Diane Conrad said. The bouncer restraining Serrano was larger than him, Conrad added.

In another case with similar circumstances, police in York are attempting to determine this
week whether bouncers at Fat Daddy's Night
Club and Bar will be charged for a patron's death in June.

In the York case, David A. Potter Jr. was a victim to "sudden death during restraint," when bouncers held him facedown with at least one bouncer on top of him, York County Coroner Barry Bloss told The Associated Press last Tuesday.

It is unclear whether Serrano was facedown, like Potter was, when the Rathskeller employee restrained him, King said.

Serrano had abrasions on his face and arms, the result of a scuffle between four bar staff members, Serrano, his fiancée and another couple accompanying the two from a party, police said.

His neck was marked with the impression of a necklace he had been wearing, but the autopsy determined his trachea to be intact, Sayers said.

Sayers said his office should be able to determine whether Serrano died of suffocation after tissue analysis is complete. The coroner's office will be able to determine if his tissue deteriorated due to a lack of oxygen.

At 1:47 a.m., police responded to a call from a Rathskeller patron's cell phone that a fight was occurring on the 100 block of East Calder Way, an alley behind the bar, Conrad said.

Police said the incident began when the other man accompanying Serrano stopped to urinate in the gravel parking lot behind the Rathskeller. Staff from the bar saw him urinating and approached him. Serrano and the members of his party then became involved in a scuffle.

Duke Gastiger, owner of the Rathskeller, said on Sunday that the incident was not a fight.

But police offered a different account, saying punching and shoving did occur between the couples and the bouncers.

A bouncer working the Calder Way entrance for The Darkhorse Tavern, 128 E. College Ave., became involved with the incident, but only controlled the crowd witnessing the incident. The Darkhorse bouncer did not restrain anyone involved in the fight, said manager Mike Caruso.

When police arrived, Serrano was unconscious and not breathing. He was one of three people being held to the ground by Rathskeller bar staff.

Police attempted to resuscitate Serrano, but he never became conscious and was pronounced dead one hour later at Centre Community Hospital.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.