Man who allegedly threatened youth center arrested

PARKERSBURG — An employee of a youth center who allegedly threatened to make his colleagues “pay with pints of blood” was arrested less than seven miles from the facility with a gun and ammunition in his vehicle.

Francis N. Balestire, 40, of Parkersburg was arrested Wednesday afternoon. He had been placed on administrative leave earlier this week from Pressley Ridge at White Oak, an alternative education school in Mountwood Park for troubled and developmentally challenged children.

Wood County Sheriff Ken Merritt said Balestire had sent an e-mail to someone saying he was going to burn the building to the ground and “make the staff pay with pints of blood.”

The e-mail, which was provided to investigators Wednesday morning, also allegedly said he’d make Columbine, Ruby Ridge and other shootings look like video games.
“If you get information like this, you have to act on it immediately,” Merritt told the News and Sentinel of Parkersburg. “There are children there and it could have been burnt to the ground.”

Sheriff’s deputies pulled over Balestire’s vehicle Wednesday afternoon on state Route 31 as he was heading in the direction of Pressley Ridge. They found a semiautomatic pistol and two loaded magazines in his possession.

Ellen Gamble, director of development at Pressley Ridge, said the school is cooperating fully with law enforcement officials in hopes of helping them complete the investigation quickly.

Balestire is charged with threatening to commit a terrorist act. He was being held Thursday in North Central Regional Jail on $200,000 bond and was unavailable for comment.