A Gwinnett County intersection has reopened after being shut down Wednesday morning after a police standoff with an armed motorist who told officers he had explosives in his car.
Gwinnett police spokesman Ed Ritter said the incident began after a man allegedly battered a woman in a vehicle at the Shell station on Ga. 20 at Russell Road near Lawrenceville.
The man, identified as Matthew Barton, 33, of Lawrenceville, eventually let the woman go after police intervened, but threatened officers with a gun and claimed there were explosives in the car.
Ritter said the SWAT team was called in, and took Barton into custody shortly before 10:30 a.m.
The intersection had remained blocked while the department's Hazardous Device Unit checked the car for explosives. Police finished checking the car and found fireworks inside. There were no IEDs or bombs in the vehicle. Hwy. 20 was reopened at about 2:30. Barton was taken into custody by the SWAT team after his handgun apparently malfunctioned, police said. He is charged with two counts of aggravated assault, two counts of obstruction of a law enforcement officer, one count of battery, one count of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, and one count of possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime.
Barton remains in custody at the Gwinnett County Detention Center without bond, authorities said.
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