Man, 31, With Drug History Found Dead In Taxi

Police responded to a report of an unresponsive man, Maksim Sapozhnikov, 31, in a taxi Wednesday at about 4:25 a.m., after the taxi had returned to the man's residence in the 9700 block of Fox Glen, Niles.

When Niles police arrived, paramedics from the North Maine Fire Department were attempting life-saving measures, and a Cook County Sheriff's Police sergeant on scene related he had found Sapozhnikov in the back seat of the taxi, unresponsive and still warm to the touch. Paramedics then rushed Sapozhnikov to Advocate Luthern General Hospital. 

Niles police interviewed the cab driver, who said he had picked up a friend in Palatine and then headed to the area of Golf Road and Dee Road, when he received a call to pick up a passenger in the parking lot of a building in the 9000 block of Fox Glen Drive, according to the report. 

When they arrived, the passenger, Sapozhnikov, told them he needed a ride to a gas station at 9200 Golf Road, Des Plaines, to  pick up soda and ice cream. The taxi driver said Sapozhnikov seemed to be acting as if he were impaired, police said. 

The taxi driver took Sapozhnikov, with the taxi driver's friend in the taxi, to the gas station, where the taxi driver purchased the items Sapozhnikov wanted. After the taxi driver got back in the taxi, Sapozhnikov said he wanted to go home, then closed his eyes and appeared to be sleeping, according to the account from the taxi driver in the police report. He did not respond to any conversation on the way back, the report said.

When the taxi returned to Sapozhnikov's home, the driver tried to wake him up, but he was unresponsive, according to the report, and the driver called 911. 

Police also interviewed the taxi driver's friend, who told the same story, police said. She also explained she used to work with the taxi driver and contacted him earlier in the night to pick her up in Palatine to hang out.

Both the taxi driver and his friend were transported to the Niles Police Station for further investigation, and an evidence technician processed the taxi.  

A hospital nurse advised Dr. Foster pronounced Sapozhnikov dead at 5:02 a.m., according to the report. The hospital also advised police that the victim's attending physician had already requested an autopsy due to the victim’s history of substance abuse, they said. Police are investigating the incident.

Man charged with DUI

Bradley Lagenbach, 37, of Glenview was charged with DUI June 19 at about 2:15 a.m. after police observed him driving 57 mph, they said, in a 35 mph zone of Milwaukee Avenue near Courtland Street. Police said they smelled alcohol on his breath and he showed impairment on field sobriety tests. His court date is July 17 in the Skokie branch of the Cook County courts.

Information is taken from reports.

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