Warrants issued for contractors working in Dickinson where fatality occurred

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Arrest warrants have been obtained for two unlicensed contractors who were working at a Dickinson construction site where a fatality occurred in 2011, according to a release issued by the North Dakota Attorney General’s Office on Tuesday.

Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem requested warrants for Kevin Parkin and Clint Peterson, both of Salt Lake City, after the two men failed to respond to investigators’ inquiries about contracting in the state without the proper licensing.

The AG Office’s Consumer Protection Division initiated a compliance investigation after learning that neither Parkin, doing business as Mill Creek Construction and Minute Man Equipment LLC, nor Peterson, working as C.R. Peterson, were licensed while working on a northwest Dickinson home construction site where contractor Casimiro Medina, also of Salt Lake City, died in December 2011.

“During the investigation, both of these contractors were offered the opportunity to settle the outstanding violations of North Dakota law,” said Consumer Division Director Parrell Grossman. “When they failed to respond to the civil investigative demand, we obtained court orders requiring them to provide responses to the office of the attorney general. They failed to provide those responses.”

Medina, 39 at the time of his death, perished when a water and sewer pipe trench caved in, according to the AG Office and Dickinson Press archives. Medina’s body was not found until more than 12 hours after the accident occurred.

“It is very important that contractors are properly licensed and that they comply with all North Dakota laws,” Stenehjem said in a statement. “The requirements for liability insurance and workforce safety insurance are particularly important. These requirements provide protection for both the property owner and injured workers.”

A third contractor working at the Dickinson site in late 2011, Edmunds Group LLC out of Idaho, cooperated with the AG Office investigation, paid a $2,000 penalty for operating without a license, and agreed to not do business in North Dakota without first complying with registration and licensing requirements.

“Parkin and Peterson’s disregard for North Dakota laws and their lack of cooperation necessitated intervention by the district court,” Grossman said. “It is unusual for offenders in these circumstances to ignore investigative demands for information.”

Although neither has been criminally charged, Grossman said both Parkin and Peterson could face Class A misdemeanors. Grossman said both men are believed to be in Utah.

Tags: kevin parkin, clint peterson, casimiro medina, news, warrant, death, dickinson