Kanawha County man charged after threat to W.Va. agency

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Lawrence Messina
(304) 558-2930
Lawrence.C.Messina@wv.gov

Dec. 21, 2015

Kanawha County man charged after threat to W.Va. agency

CHARLESTON, W.Va. – Capitol Police have charged a Kanawha County man after he allegedly telephoned a threat to WorkForce West Virginia.

Joseph William Estep told an employee he would “blow up the office” after being informed during a Dec. 14 call that he would not receive any money from his unemployment claim, the criminal complaint filed in Kanawha County Magistrate Court said.

Capitol Police Cpl. Scott Duff interviewed Estep on Dec. 18 at the South Central Regional Jail. Estep, 42, of Tornado, was being held on a domestic violence-related charge. After admitting that he had threatened the employee, Estep was charged with threatening to commit a terrorist act.

“We take threats against state employees and offices very seriously, and such threats cannot be tolerated,” said Director Kevin Foreman of the Division of Protective Services. The division, also called the Capitol Police, is part of the Department of Military Affairs and Public Safety.

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