Oak Park Man is Cook County's 5th Cold-Related Death

OAK PARK, IL — A 54-year-0ld man died Sunday afternoon of cold exposure and chronic ethanolism at West Suburban Medical Center in Oak Park. His demise was the fifth cold-related death in Cook County this winter. Justin Prekwas, of the 400 block of North Lombard Avenue, was pronounced dead at 4:34 p.m. at the hospital, according to the county medical examiner.

The string of cold-related deaths began in Oct. 26, with the fourth one taking place Dec. 18 on the North Side when Thaddeus B. Kowalewski, 90, died of hypothermia and heart disease