Arson Investigation At 2 Glenview Hotels Leads To Arrest: Police

GLENVIEW, IL — A Vernon Hills man has been charged in two arson incidents last week at two hotels in Glenview. Gennadiy Zakharov, 58, of the 10 block of Parkside Court, is accused of arson, tampering with a fire safety system at Motel 6, 1535 Milwaukee Ave. He is also accused of causing a catastrophe, arson and tampering with a fire safety system, at Baymont by Wyndham Glenview, 1625 Milwaukee Ave.

Zakharov was arrested at 9:37 p.m. Friday night at Baymont, according to police. He was released following a preliminary hearing Saturday in Skokie.

According to police, officers and the Glenview Fire Department responded to Motel 6 at 2:26 p.m. Friday for a report of smoke coming from a room. Firefighters said there was a small fire to a desk and mattress in the room, but it initially did not look intentionally set. The smoke detector was removed and a t-shirt was placed over the fire sprinkler on the roof.

Officers made contact with the renter, later identified as Zakharov, who denied doing anything to the smoke detector, sprinkler or leaving any cigarettes on the desk that may have caused the fire. Zakharov agreed to pay $2,000 restitution to the business and were given a trespass warning, and he was not originally arrested.

Following the incident at Baymont, a Glenview police representative tells Patch, Zakharov was then also charged for the original incident at Motel 6.