A man with multiple active warrants was arrested Sunday after a SWAT standoff at a home in unincorporated Buford, Gwinnett County police said.
Nathan Workman, 19, of Buford, is charged with theft by taking of a motor vehicle, aggravated assault and possession of a firearm or knife during the commission of a felony, police said.
The charges stem from a series of events that took place over three days and culminated in the SWAT standoff in the Buford neighborhood, police said.
A Hall County deputy asked to meet with Gwinnett police officers Friday regarding a hit-and-run that happened in their jurisdiction, Gwinnett police spokeswoman Cpl. Michele Pihera said.
The officers went to a home in the 4600 block of Arden Drive in Buford, where Workman’s grandmother lives. They met with Workman’s sister, who owned the car involved in the hit-and-run, Pihera said. She told police that when she woke up about 7 a.m., her car and her brother were missing. Police found the car in front of a house on Bryant Drive in Buford and obtained a warrant for theft by taking.
The next day about 11:30 p.m., Workman picked up his girlfriend at a home improvement store in Suwanee, Pihera said.
The girlfriend said she saw a gun hanging out of Workman’s pocket. She told police that once she got in the car, Workman started driving “erratically,” Pihera said. She asked to be let out of the car, but Workman wouldn’t let her. They drove around for a while and eventually left the car at a convenience store at Pebblebrook Drive and Thompson Mill Road, Pihera said.
“The two of them began to walk on a trail behind the store,” Pihera said. “The girlfriend said that she tried to leave, but Nathan put his hands around her neck and began to strangle her.”
Workman let go of the girlfriend’s neck when she started to lose consciousness, she said. Police said the two stayed in the woods until the morning hours and then walked to Workman’s grandmother’s home on Arden Drive. When Workman fell asleep, the girlfriend ran back to the convenience store and called her parents.
Gwinnett police officers met the girlfriend’s father at the convenience store about 10:30 a.m. Sunday, after he called to report the incident.
While officers were speaking to the man, a call came into the 911 center from the home on Arden Drive. The caller said her boyfriend was inside the house armed with a gun and was threatening to shoot law enforcement officers.
Police were sent to the house and got family members out of the home, Pihera said. The number of people inside the house at the time is unclear.
A SWAT team was activated and sent to the home. Workman was arrested about 1:30 p.m. and booked into the Gwinnett jail, police said.
In other news:
About the Author
