Nykola Kotyk (right) pictured with relief effort organizer Loretta Remington as she holds Kotyk’s dog, Liberty Ann, in Palatine, Ill.
A group of people living in a Chicago suburb rallied around Nykola Kotyk, a fugitive from Baxter County, and his dog only to discover he was not a harmless homeless person with a lovable pet, but a man with mental problems who can be violent and delusional when not taking his medications.
The 60-year-old Kotyk, who lived on County Road 420, was once charged with swinging a hatchet at Baxter County sheriff’s deputies and also with chasing a minor male with a knife.
When the minor was able to seek safety in a vehicle, Kotyk is reported to have begun stabbing it.
FAILURE TO APPEAR WARRANT
The knife case is still open. Kotyk entered a not guilty plea in October last year.
A failure to appear warrant was ordered issued in late February after Kotyk was a no show for two court appearances. Court records do not indicate if the warrant has actually been issued.
Kotyk had also began failing to show up for meetings and refusing medications related to his mental health treatment. Baxter County sheriff’s deputies were asked to go to Kotyk’s home on a welfare check but made no contact with him.
IN DHS CUSTODY
The hatchet attack case was eventually dismissed after a mental examination show Kotyk was not fit to proceed, and he was placed in the custody of the Department of Human Services (DHS).
He was under DHS supervision but not confined at the time of the alleged knife attack on Sept. 10 last year.
DHS reports show that Kotyk reached a point where he was not following the rules of his conditional release, such as attending meetings and taking prescribed medicines.
KOTYK “ADOPTED”
A woman living in Palatine, which is located northeast of Chicago, is the apparent organizer of the effort to help Kotyk. She wrote a Facebook post late last year in which she revealed the violence in Kotyk’s past.
The post read: “I am so very sorry to inform you that today it has been discovered that ‘Nick’ has a history of unpredictable violence charges out of Arkansas. He is not wanted or anything and is a free man but has a conditional release in place. He is not on his meds. I apologize profusely for being so naïve and for not knowing his last name until taking him to Journeys yesterday and helping him with his paperwork.”
Journeys is a homeless shelter in Palatine, according to its website.
The ax attack case was dismissed by the state due to Kotyk’s mental condition.
KOTYK LIVING BY LAKE AND IN SHED
From the Facebook posts on a site titled, “What’s Happening in Palatine, Illinois,” it appears people in the town had first noticed Kotyk and his dog — aptly named Liberty Ann — hanging out by a lake in the city of 68,000. It was also reported he and his dog had been sleeping on the ground in a prefab shed set up on the parking lot of a Home Depot store at one point.
COMMUNITY REACHES OUT
After his homeless status was made public, a large number of people began paying for a place for him to live and worked to have him admitted to a shelter. In Facebook posts, it is noted that they provided propane gas to make sure he had heat, and for a time, one person allowed him to stay in an RV she owned, and then different people signed up to pay the rent on a motel room for him on a night-by-night basis.
One person is also recorded as paying rent on a 5×5 storage unit so Kotyk would have a place to store his belongings.
While the Facebook posts about Kotyk’s time in Palatine shed some light on his life since leaving the Mountain Home area, one major question not answered was how Kotyk got to the Illinois city in the first place.
When his father died in 2011, the obituary mentioned him having “extended family” in Mountain Home and the Chicago area.
One person said Kotyk had been gone from Palatine for about 20 years and that he “was coming back home from the south.” He is often described as being “nice” during encounters.
A woman posted that she planned to have Kotyk at her house for Christmas Eve and Christmas day.
The townspeople provided clothing, boots, a blanket for Kotyk’s dog and other items. Lists of his needs were posted on Facebook.
The dog is pictured as an important part of Kotyk’s life. As far back as when he was in the Baxter County Detention Center on charges of attacking the deputies, Kotyk requested a bond reduction or release on his own recognizance so he could get home to the animal. He said the dog had only been without him once for about 13 hours.
The Facebook posts examined by KTLO, Classic Hits and the Boot News regarding Kotyk dropped off in volume after information about his past began to be made public. The posts shed no clue as to whether or not Kotyk remains in Palatine.
The woman who organized the effort to assist Kotyk and his dog posted a note on Facebook that after the violent episodes in his past had been revealed, she had reached out to “his DHS caseworker in Arkansas” and reported that “the caseworker now knows where he is and is grateful that the people here are helping him.”
Apparently, that information was not shared by DHS with law enforcement.
BOND IN KNIFE CASE
In the knife case, a $7,500 bond was issued on Sept. 12 last year by Bryce’s Bail Bonding headquartered in Higden. Court records show that the bond was ordered forfeited after his no shows in court.
On March 6 this year, Kotyk’s public defender James Wallace requested that his client be psychologically evaluated even though Kotyk was missing at the time and was not present in court.
In making the request, Wallace described Kotyk as “a very unusual client.”
The charges that remain active in the knife case are aggravated assault, first-degree criminal mischief, disorderly conduct and obstructing government operations.
WebReadyTM Powered by WireReady® NSI