A Vancouver man who is serving a 90-day jail sentence for intimidating a police officer now faces felony charges in connection with alleged threats to kill the officer, to bomb Clark County buildings and to bomb the White House.
Nikolay I. Kalachik, 27, appeared Monday in Clark County Superior Court on suspicion of making a bomb threat, two counts of felony harassment, two counts of intimidating a public servant and two counts of intimidating a witness. He is scheduled to be arraigned Friday on the charges.
There was no evidence in court documents that Kalachik attempted to act on any of the threats.
The threats allegedly were made from the Clark County Jail. Kalachik was serving 90 days in jail for threatening Vancouver police Officer Ilia Botvinnik after Botvinnik stopped him for driving without a seat belt.
Botvinnik found out during the traffic stop that Kalachik also lacked a valid driver’s license and insurance. Botvinnik attempted to give him a traffic citation, but Kalachik refused to accept it. Instead, he got out of his vehicle and confronted the officer.
“Do you know who you are messing with?” Kalachik said, according to a court probable cause affidavit. “I’m going to get my brigade, and then I’m coming after you.”
Botvinnik then arrested him on suspicion of intimidating a public servant. During the drive to the jail, Kalachik told the officer: “You have no idea what you are doing right now. I will guarantee that you will regret this.”
Kalachik was sentenced Sept. 27. The new charges allege that while he was serving time in the jail, he called his wife, Svetlana Kalachik, and made numerous threats, including that he would give America another Boston. (All jail calls are recorded and monitored).
“I swear I will kill this cop (Botvinnik) right away,” he said in an Oct. 19 conversation, according to the affidavit. “I’ll take a weapon. I’m going to drive with a weapon. I will (expletive) kill him right away, if, God forbid, he crosses my path. I’ll (expletive) kill everybody.”
In another conversation on Oct. 22, he asked his wife to help him kill Americans, the affidavit states.
“Strap a bomb to yourself like those Arab women do and blow up the White House and Clark County,” he told her, according to the affidavit.
“Are you totally crazy?” she replied.
“I will find who to strap it to,” Kalachik continued, according to the affidavit. “… they’re (Americans) poking into Syria; they have no right to be there before my brothers. … They think the prison will reform me, and I’ll start following their damn laws. I’m not going to follow your laws, you (expletive, expletive), you Americans. I’m gonna send you all to hell. All of you (expletive), Americans, should die.”
The FBI assisted in translating Kalachik’s phone conversations from Russian to English, court documents state.
Judge Suzan Clark held Kalachik on $500,000 bail, though he wouldn’t be eligible to post bond until after he completes his 90 days in jail. She appointed Vancouver attorney W. Todd Pascoe to defend Kalachik.
