A local man was arrested Thursday after threatening a 14-year-old girl at Marietta High School with knives, according to Marietta Police.
The department responded to a call at Marietta High School Thursday morning advising that Darren Farnese, 18, had threatened a student at the high school that morning.
Farnese had shown the victim the knives he was carrying and threatened to harm her unless she agreed to go out with him, said Marietta Police Capt. Jeff Waite.
"He has been stalking this girl since (he saw her at) the Washington County Fair," said Waite.
Officers tried to locate Farnese at the 121 Muskingum Drive house that they believe to be his last known address. He was apprehended on his bicycle while returning to the house but denied to officers that he lived there, said Waite.
"They searched him and found three knives," he said.
Farnese was charged with one fourth-degree felony count of menacing by stalking and one fifth-degree felony count of illegal possession of a deadly weapon in a school safety zone, said Marietta Police Department Patrolman Pat Gragan, who also serves as the school's resource officer.
Farnese was not enrolled as a Marietta High School student, but had made contact with the girl inside the high school both Wednesday and Thursday. Thursday's threat occurred near one of the entrances, but not inside a high school building, said Gragan.
The victim was taken home by her parents and the school did not need to go on lock down, said Marietta High School Principal Bill Lee.
The school is currently in the process of installing new security measures, but they are not yet operational, said Lee.
Farnese met the victim through a mutual acquaintance several weeks ago, said Gragan.
"He had met this girl at a previous gathering of kids," he said.
Farnese is being held at the Washington County Jail and is scheduled to be arraigned in Marietta Municipal Court today.
