Jailed Buffalo Grove man tries to arrange hit

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Gelzin

Updated: February 26, 2011 12:18AM

A Buffalo Grove man jailed on domestic violence-related charges has been charged with trying to arrange the murder of the woman he allegedly assaulted.

Bond was set at $1 million for Mikhail “Mike” Gelzin, 53, Saturday for solicitation of murder for hire, a Class X felony that is punishable by up to 30 years in prison.

Gelzin had been serving a 180-day sentence at Cook County Jail for repeatedly violating the terms of an order of protection filed against him after a 2009 domestic battery arrest in Wilmette, the Cook County Sheriff’s office said in a written statement. After that initial incident, Gelzin was arrested again by Wilmette police for calling, e-mailing and driving past the home of his alleged victim, the sheriff’s office said.

Though eligible to have his jail sentence ended after a court hearing on March 2, Gelzin allegedly tried to find someone to kill the woman he had been arrested for battering and harassing, prompting an investigation by the sheriff’s Criminal Intelligence Unit.

He was charged with solicitation of murder after offering to pay an undercover officer posing as a hitman $15,000 in cash on Thursday, a price he later asked to negotiate down to $12,000, the sheriff’s office said. Gelzin, a native of Russia, also allegedly told the officer that he planned to flee the country and live overseas after he was released from jail.

Gelzin will now be transferred from the minimum-security division of the jail to maximum security while he is awaiting trial on the new charges, officials said.