Jeremy Gorner
Tribune reporter
CHICAGO, Ill. — An apparently homeless man who was trying to keep warm died Monday night after collapsing in a Chicago police station in Logan Square.
Paul Schmatko, 47, was among several homeless people waiting in the lobby of the Shakespeare (14th) District Station, 2150 N. California Ave., when he was found unresponsive, authorities said Tuesday morning.
“A desk sergeant noticed it and called for an ambulance,” said Chicago Police Officer Marcel Bright. Bright said it appeared the men in the lobby were there to get out of the cold.
Schmatko was pronounced dead at 9:05 p.m. at Norwegian-American Hospital, according to a spokesman for the Cook County medical examiner’s office.
An autopsy is scheduled for later today.
Copyright 2008 Chicago Tribune