Palatine trucking company facing penalties after man found dead on property
A Palatine business risks having its license suspended or revoked after a man was found dead there and inspectors later found signs of people living on the premises, along with several village code violations.
Star Way Lines, a freight shipping and trucking company at 300 S. Hicks Road, also had unsafe and unsanitary conditions, plus fire code and life safety code violations, according to the village.
Palatine police dispatched to the facility about 4 p.m. Jan. 24 found the man's body inside "room 13" at the business, a police report says. A person there told officers he'd last seen the man about 11 p.m. the previous night. The man had not been feeling well for a few days and seemed to have breathing difficulties, the report states.
Sergei V. Barkhatov, 49, of Poland, died of hypertensive and atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease with obesity as a contributing factor, said Natalia Derevyanny, spokeswoman for the Cook County medical examiner's office.
His wife, who was in Russia, was notified via telephone with translation help from the owner of Star Way Lines, according to the Palatine police report.
A man who answered the phone at Star Way Lines hung up without answering questions Thursday.
Village Attorney Patrick Brankin declined to comment, saying it's a pending enforcement matter.
In a letter last week, the village informed Aleksey Piskunov and Kateryna Piskunov of Star Way Lines of several code violations, including: lack of fire alarm system as required for residential occupancy; emergency lights missing or not working; south exit blocked by snow; no smoke detector in the front vestibule; missing or obstructed water sprinkler heads; missing or damaged ceiling tiles in the room where the man was found.
"It is evident that individuals are using the lower level for sleeping purposes," the Feb. 8 inspection report states. "Sleeping operations shall immediately cease until fire alarm system is brought up to code."
The village will hold a hearing regarding the allegations on March 18. The business could face a fine, or suspension or revocation of its business license. The hearing initially had been set for Friday but was postponed in an agreement between the village and Star Way Lines, Village Manager Reid Ottesen said.
Star Way Lines' attorney "acknowledges everything that was in our letter, and is working with his client to try to address all the situations," Ottesen said. "They asked to continue hearing so they could try to make some progress and have further discussion with (Village Attorney) Patrick (Brankin)."
Star Way Lines was incorporated in 2009 and Kateryna Piskunov is its agent, according to the Illinois secretary of state's office.