Police charge man after threats were made against church

St. Charles Police have obtained arrest warrants charging Derek M. Ficik, 26, of Maryland Heights with two felony counts of making a terrorist threat.

St. Charles Police were contacted by the pastor of the Matthias Lot Church 2645 W. Clay, in St. Charles on Sunday, Dec. 16, after the church received three separate voice-mail messages of a disturbing and threatening nature. The messages occurred in the evening hours of Sunday Dec. 16. All three of the messages, which contained graphic language and were sexually explicit, made explicit threats of violence, police said. The church recorder captured the phone number of the caller and the investigation led to the identification of Ficik, who had attended the church on Dec. 12 as the guest of a regular attendee.

Ficik was taken into custody by Maryland Heights Police on Dec. 18 and transferred to St. Charles Police later that same day. Ficik is currently being held in the St. Charles County jail on $50,000 cash only bond. The investigation has not yet determined a specific motive for Ficik’s actions and is ongoing.

Anyone with additional information in reference to this incident or similar incidents is requested to contact the St. Charles Police Department at 949-3300 or can do so anonymously at 949-3333, via e mail at wwww.stcharlescrimestoppers.org, or Text STCPD plus your message to 274637 (CRIMES).