The man at the center of a SWAT standoff in Smyrna last month had previously been cleared of two similar incidents involving the same alleged victim, he told AJC.com just hours after bonding out of jail Wednesday.
Munajj Haani Siddeeq, 23, was charged with false imprisonment after a four-hour SWAT situation ended peacefully Feb. 28, AJC.com reported.
RELATED: 2 men surrender, 2 kids safe after hours-long SWAT situation in Cobb
The incident began when his wife called 911 about a domestic dispute at a townhome in the 1000 block of Huntington Trace Drive, Smyrna police said. She allegedly told police she was Siddeeq’s estranged wife, there were two men with outstanding warrants in the home along with two young children, and she wasn’t allowed to leave.
However, Siddeeq and his attorney, Isaiah Gregory, said she was never held against her will and had made false claims against him two times before in Indiana — both of which were dismissed in court.
“She definitely has a history of doing this,” Gregory said.
In April 2016, Siddeeq was arrested by Indianapolis Metropolitan police and charged with five felonies and five misdemeanors, according to Marion County (Ind.) court records. Those charges included several variants of domestic battery in the presence of children as well as strangulation.
Two months later, all 10 charges were dismissed by prosecutors, and Gregory and Siddeeq said that was because his wife’s testimony was unusable because it kept changing.
AJC.com is not naming the woman because she does not face criminal charges. An attempt to reach her was unsuccessful.
“She gave a statement in the beginning, and they do what they call two depositions,” Siddeeq said. “You have to come in the first time and give a statement, and you come in later and the statements have to match. If they don’t, it basically gets thrown out.”
In December 2017, Siddeeq was arrested again by Indianapolis police on three similar charges, including criminal confinement, domestic battery in the presence of a child under 16 and interference with the reporting of a crime, court records show.
Those charges were dismissed the next month, and Siddeeq said that was because she had driven to Georgia and didn’t return for her second testimony.
The Marion County Prosecutor’s Office confirmed Friday that the charges were dropped for “evidentiary reasons.”
“She took my money and car, and she told prosecutors she was out of state and didn’t care about coming back ... the motive for her is the money and the car,” Siddeeq said. “She just constantly be lying to the police, and there’s no consequences for her.”
When asked about the Indiana investigations, Smyrna police spokesman Louis Defense said his department is “aware of the other cases involving Mr. Siddeeq and (his wife).”
In Cobb County, Siddeeq said he, his wife, his kids and the two other men were at the Airbnb. He said he came to Georgia to be with her after she said she “just wanted two parents in the household for my kids,” he said.
He said he was in the shower when his wife looked into his Snapchat, seeing messages with an ex-girlfriend.
“I’m taking a shower, and I’m about to leave, and she got into my Snapchat and sees some stuff and just started hollering,” he said. “She threw something at me in the shower ... and broke a mirror.”
Smyrna police knocked on the door while he was in the shower, he said. He said she initially denied calling police, but after speaking with police dispatch, he found out two men with warrants were accused of holding a woman and two kids hostage inside the home and that they had access to firearms.
“(The witness) said that the police officers were saying to him that they got a call about two men in the home with warrants. Neither of them had warrants,” Gregory said. “If she called 911 to say that these two guys have warrants and she can’t leave the house ... that’s very troublesome.”
Siddeeq said he took videos on his cellphone while in the home of the argument escalating. “I have videos on my phone of her saying that if I didn’t give her the car keys, that she would call the police on me,” he said.
He said she told him she would go outside and talk to them, and she left the home. He said the other two men left shortly after, but Siddeeq and his 1-year-old daughter and 3-year-old son didn’t leave.
Cobb police were called in after the situation lasted more than two hours.
“I asked negotiators, ‘Do you have a warrant for my arrest?’ They said no,” Siddeeq said. “I asked, ‘By law, do I have to open up the door?’ They said no, but if you did, that would save everyone a lot of time. I said, ‘Why would I open up the door with everyone pointing guns at me?’”
He ended up surrendering after negotiators told him he would be charged with obstruction of justice if he didn’t bring the children outside soon, he said.
He said police took his cellphone, debit card and driver’s license when he was arrested, and he claimed his wife is now in possession of those items.
“How did she get my phone and my debit card when (police) took it off my person? Usually, your property comes to jail with you,” Siddeeq said. “That’s really obstruction of justice right here. Now I don’t have the evidence that I could.”
Smyrna’s Defense said the investigation is ongoing and he can’t “release or discuss (any more information) at this time, since the case is still active and Mr. Siddeeq is represented by counsel.”
Siddeeq has not been indicted.
He said his wife was able to take $4,000 out of his bank account and took his car after the Smyrna incident. Siddeeq and Gregory said they believe the two kids are with her.
He was released on a $16,720 bond on the conditions that he wears an ankle monitor and doesn’t have contact with any of the witnesses involved in this case, including his wife and the two men who were in the home during the SWAT situation, Cobb County court records show.
Gregory said Siddeeq plans to file a civil suit against his wife once the criminal case is over.
In other news:
About the Author
