According to witnesses, Thomas Clayton Ballard was involved in a dispute Wednesday afternoon about safety at a construction site close to his business on North Second Street.
Later, around 1:40 p.m., two mounted Wilmington Police officers were on a routine patrol by North Second Street when they heard shouting and saw Ballard with a12-gauge shotgun arguing with a construction worker.
Ballard—the owner of 221 North Second Street, leases space at the back of his building to one or more of the firms working on a construction project where a crane buckled on Tuesday. Ballard was arrested for threatening one of the construction workers, according to WPD’s Lucy Crockett.
When the man saw the officers, he reportedly put the gun back inside his place of business before returning back outside.
Ballard was arrested for communicating threats and going armed to the terror of the people. He is currently being held at the New Hanover Jail on a $5,000 secured bond.
The construction work is for a new hotel at the corner of Second and Grace streets.