Features

Report: UC Student Found Dead at Oregon Street House Had Taken Drugs: By J. DOUGLAS ALLEN-TAYLOR

Friday November 05, 2004

An Alameda County Coroner’s office toxicology report has revealed that UC Berkeley senior Patrick McCann had illegal drugs in his system when he died under mysterious circumstances two weeks ago, but there is no evidence yet as to what may have caused his death. 

After McCann collapsed in his Oregon Street home in late October, his roommates took him to the emergency room at Alta Bates Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. Berkeley police said at that time that there were no visible signs of injuries on his body. The death triggered a police raid on the two building Oregon Street complex shared by McCann and fellow UC students, ending with the arrest of four of his roommates on drug and weapons charges. 

The four roommates pleaded innocent Thursday to the charges, and will appear in Alameda County Court in Oakland on Dec. 8 to set a date for a preliminary hearing. 

The toxicology report found methadone and alcohol in McCann’s system. The coroner’s office said that a final determination of the cause of McCann’s death may be several weeks away.