CHICAGO _ Chicago police and the Drug Enforcement Administration were working together Wednesday to investigate a rash of at least 17 overdoses _ including four deaths _ from what's believed to be a mixture of heroin and fentanyl distributed recently on the city's West Side, authorities said.
More of the drug could still be in circulation, said Anthony Guglielmi, a police spokesman. Emergency crews began dealing with a rash of overdoses about 9:40 a.m. Tuesday, mostly in parts of East Garfield Park, police have said.
The department has been working "around the clock to address yesterday's heroin epidemic," Guglielmi said in a tweet Wednesday. The substance is believed to have been heroin, but lab tests will have to confirm that, he said.
A 34-year-old man was found in a vehicle in the 4500 block of West Madison Street about 4:45 p.m. Tuesday, said Officer Jennifer Bryk, a police spokeswoman. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
Two of the men who are believed to have died as a result of the accidental overdoses previously were identified by the Cook County medical examiner's office as a 50-year-old man of the 600 block of North Homan Avenue and a 47-year-old man of the 5300 block of North East River Road on the Northwest Side.
A fourth man was found dead Tuesday night after taking the drug, Guglielmi said. A friend of the deceased told police they purchased heroin and took it before falling asleep.
That call came from the 600 block of North Drake Avenue, also on the West Side in East Garfield Park, about 8:10 p.m., another police spokesman said. The 49-year-old man was found unresponsive by his friend and was pronounced dead on the scene, the spokesman said. The medical examiner's office Wednesday morning listed a 49-year-old man from the 500 block of West 14th Place as having died in the 600 block of North Drake Avenue.
Autopsies for the four performed Wednesday did not yield definitive results and were marked pending by the Cook County medical examiner's office.
Police believe the suspected heroin involved in recent deaths may have been combined with another substance, possibly fentanyl, a powerful opioid.
"We cannot say that definitively until test results come back, but that is what we suspect based on some of the victims," Guglielmi said.
Separately Wednesday, the death of a 37-year-old Lemont woman, who was pronounced dead at Stroger Hospital at 10:10 p.m. Friday after she suffered an overdose near Madison Street and Western Avenue, was determined to have been from lack of oxygen to the brain due to fentanyl intoxication.
Police also have leads on a vehicle possibly used in the sale of the drugs involved in the Tuesday overdoes, he said. The DEA and Chicago police on Wednesday were conducting operations related to the sale of the drug, Guglielmi said.
"Please know that we are taking this very seriously, and (Chicago) detectives and organized crime units have the full resources of the DEA and the United States Department of Justice behind us," Guglielmi said.
Anyone with information about the overdoses was encouraged to report it to police through cpdtip.com.
