St. Clairsville Walmart Evacuated After Bomb Threat; Teen Arrested

A Tuesday afternoon bomb threat emptied the St. Clairsville Walmart and set off a chain of calls that forced employees and customers out of seven more businesses at Ohio Valley Plaza before an 18-year-old was tracked to a nearby hotel and arrested.

Authorities said the first call came in around 1:30 p.m., reporting a bomb threat at the Walmart on Valley Plaza Drive. The caller claimed there was a bomb inside the building and warned employees they had 10 minutes to evacuate. Richland Township Police Chief Michael Troullos said his officers acted immediately. "Upon arrival, we evacuated the store and contacted Wheeling Police's explosives K9, who came and did a search of the store and nothing was found in the building so it was opened back for business," Troullos said.

Following the Walmart threat, Sheetz, Kroger, Whiteside Auto, Unified Bank, Texas Roadhouse, Denny's and Red Roof Inn all allegedly received threats. The caller allegedly demanded money and threatened to detonate explosives if his demands were not met, and Belmont County Sheriff James Zusack said the calls prompted evacuations of customers and workers at every location called.

Officers from the Richland Township Police Department, Belmont County Sheriff's Office and Cumberland Trail Fire Department responded, evacuating employees and customers. Bomb detection K-9 units from the Wheeling Police Department searched the store, but no explosives were found. No explosives were found in any of the reported incidents.

During one evacuation at Kroger, an individual was struck by a vehicle; the person's condition was not released.

The Belmont County Sheriff's Office quickly zeroed in on a suspect. The Criminal Investigations Unit launched an investigation, working with the Ohio State Highway Patrol's Intelligence Fusion Center and cellular service providers to determine that multiple threats originated from the same phone number. Authorities identified the suspect as Larry Allen Harvey, 18, who was located at a hotel in St. Clairsville and taken into custody.

During the investigation, Harvey admitted to making multiple calls to local businesses, issuing bomb threats and demanding money, according to the sheriff's office. He told investigators he made the calls "for fun" and monitored law enforcement responses using a police scanner.

Harvey was arrested on five counts of making terroristic threats and five counts of inducing panic, Belmont County Sheriff James Zusack said. Both charges carry felony-level weight under Ohio law, with terroristic threats classified as a first-degree felony. Harvey was transported to the Belmont County Jail, and the case was submitted to the Belmont County Prosecutor's Office for review of formal charges. Harvey was scheduled to be arraigned at 8:30 a.m. Thursday at Belmont County Eastern Division Court before Judge David Trouten.

The Richland Township Police Department, St. Clairsville Police Department, Cumberland Trail Fire Department, Wheeling Police Department K-9 units, and the Ohio State Highway Patrol were all involved in the coordinated investigation, which Zusack said remains ongoing. Troullos offered a measured close to the day's chaos: "We still have some things we need to look at, but we'll go from there.