A man at the center of a police standoff in Cobb County that left traffic on I-75 snarled for hours Friday was arrested — but not on armed robbery charges.
Taylor Alexander Smith-Duffy, 25, of Covington, was taken into custody on a misdemeanor charge of obstruction stemming from the incident, Marietta police spokesman Officer Chuck McPhilamy told AJC.com.
But he has not been charged with the armed robbery at a nearby Walmart on Cobb Parkway in Marietta. Police said he is only a “person of interest” in that case.
“Detectives are still conducting their investigation to make a determination if he was involved in the robbery,” McPhilamy said.
Credit: Cobb County Sheriff's Office
Credit: Cobb County Sheriff's Office
Once the standoff ended and he was removed from his car, Smith-Duffy was taken to a hospital for a medical evaluation and then booked into the Cobb County jail Friday. He was released the same day on a $1,320 bond.
According to the warrant, Smith-Duffy’s “vehicle matched the description of an armed robbery suspect” and he “did not obey commands to exit the vehicle.”
RELATED: Tense I-75 standoff with armed robbery suspect blocks lanes for hours
The person who robbed the Walmart ran away from the scene before officers arrived, McPhilamy said, but a victim gave police a description. Officers viewed surveillance footage of the incident, and investigators determined the man left in a gray Honda Civic.
“A short time later, a Marietta officer located a vehicle fitting the description and determined that the male driver matched the description of the suspect in the robbery,” McPhilamy said.
Smith-Duffy did not immediately stop on I-75, but he eventually pulled over between Windy Hill Road and I-285. Officers closed the southbound lanes about 9:30 a.m.
Officers didn’t approach the car, believing the driver was armed. Police gave the man verbal commands to get out of the Civic, but he did not comply, McPhilamy said.
For the better part of two hours, officers with multiple agencies trained their guns on the vehicle while negotiators spoke with Smith-Duffy off-and-on by phone.
McPhilamy said officers first had to confirm they had stopped the right person before they could move in. The driver told negotiators he would not get out of the car for fear of being shot, Channel 2 Action News reported. It did not appear any weapons were fired.
“We were looking for a peaceful resolution to this situation, getting that driver out of the vehicle as quickly as we could so that we could reopen the interstate,” McPhilamy said at the time.
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