Swansea business owner said he had 'an atomic bomb and a knife' during arrest, police say

An O'Fallon man is facing multiple charges after police say he threatened an officer and saying he was armed with a knife and an atomic bomb while being arrested.

Fazil M. Imdad, 47, was arrested on June 18 in Swansea at Signarama, a franchise store he owns. He is charged with threatening a public official, aggravated battery against a police officer, and two counts of resisting arrest.

According to a search warrant affidavit, Imdad called a police dispatcher on June 17 and asked her to confirm a police officer's home address in Columbia. That officer, Tim Birckhead, had apparently pulled over Imdad earlier in 2018. Imdad was subsequently charged with driving under the influence and driving on a revoked license.

"Just wanted to let you know, don't make any mistakes ... I'm on your street now," Imdad said in voice mail he left on Birckhead's phone, according to the search warrant affidavit.

An employee of Imdad's at Signarama appeared to use an iPhone to record Imdad's arrest and police were applying for a search warrant to obtain that video.

According to the affidavit, Imdad repeatedly made threats during his arrest at Signarama on June 18 against the police officers. He reportedly said he would shoot them and also said he would send people to the Fairview Heights officer's home to shoot him.

When asked if he had any weapons, the suspect is reported as saying, "yeah an atomic bomb and a knife." He then "became aggressive and began to resist our efforts to handcuff him," the officers reported. Officers said Imdad resisted arrest even after being handcuffed, and kneed one arresting officer in the groin.

Imdad reportedly used racial slurs toward the officers and also used sexually explicit language during the encounter.

The suspect told officers in the booking area that "the next time you will be standing next to Birckhead's hospital bed."

Back in April, the affidavit stated Imdad had threatened Birckhead during a police encounter when he "claimed he had a machine gun to 'kill the Jews' and mentioned that he was plotting an assassination. He implied that he planned on assassinating Officer Birckhead."

Imdad had been on probation for aggravated driving under the influence and threatening a public official in 2014. His arrests prompted the St. Clair County State's Attorney's Office to file for a revocation of probation. The state's attorney was not immediately available for comment.

He remained in St. Clair County Jail on Monday morning on $190,000 bail.

This story was originally published June 25, 2018 at 3:14 PM with the headline "Swansea business owner said he had 'an atomic bomb and a knife' during arrest, police say."