Man found dead at CTA station on New Year’s Eve died of alcohol, drug toxicity

A man found dead on New Year’s Eve at a CTA station in the Loop died of drug and alcohol toxicity, authorities have determined.

Officers found 51-year-old Juan Rodriguez unresponsive about 11:05 a.m. Dec. 31 while responding to a call of a person down at the Clark/Lake station at 124 W. Lake St., according to Chicago Police and the Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office. He was taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

An autopsy did not initially rule on the cause and manner of his death, but investigators have since determined that Rodriguez died of ethanol, cocaine and heroin toxicity, the medical examiner’s office said Wednesday. His death was ruled an accident.

Rodriguez’s name was initially withheld pending notification of his family, but the medical examiner’s office identified him in January with hopes that someone who knew him would come forward.