An armed driver was taken into custody on the side of I-75 in Cobb County on Friday morning, ending a tense two-hour standoff that shut down the southbound lanes and caused miles of backups.
The driver, who has not been identified, is a suspect in an earlier armed robbery at a Walmart at 210 Cobb Parkway, Marietta police spokesman Chuck McPhilamy said. He was taken into custody just before 11 a.m. after negotiators and SWAT officers surrounded the man’s car, which was stopped on the right shoulder near the I-285 interchange.
Channel 2 Action News chopper footage showed authorities pull the man from a gray sedan and take him to the ground. The scene was cleared and the interstate reopened about 20 minutes later. Police said the man was taken to a local hospital for medical evaluation.
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Officers first closed the southbound lanes around 9:30 a.m. after pulling the sedan to the side of I-75. The car and its driver matched the description of a suspect in the armed robbery, McPhilamy said.
The driver did not immediately stop, but he eventually pulled over between Windy Hill Road and I-285, according to police. For the better part of two hours, officers with multiple agencies trained their guns on the vehicle while negotiators spoke with the man off-and-on by phone.
“The reality is that he pulled over to the side of the interstate and then refused to exit the vehicle,” McPhilamy told Channel 2. “He was reported to be armed.”
He said officers first had to confirm they had stopped the right individual before they could move in. The driver told negotiators he would not get out of the car for fear of being shot, Channel 2 reported. It did not appear that 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.
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He credited local law enforcement, state troopers and the Georgia Department of Transportation HERO units for their help ensuring the public was safe.
Walmart spokesman Casey Staheli confirmed to Channel 2 that no employees or customers were injured during the robbery. He added that police have viewed surveillance video from the store.
Credit: JOHN SPINK / JSPINK@AJC.COM
Credit: JOHN SPINK / JSPINK@AJC.COM
During the ordeal, extreme traffic delays stretched more than 10 miles back to I-575, according to the WSB 24-hour Traffic Center. Drivers were still experiencing backups through Cobb and Cherokee counties at noon, when spring break traffic was picking up throughout the state.
MORE: Spring break delays already growing in metro Atlanta
GDOT delayed the reversal of the I-75 express lanes until the situation cleared, spokeswoman Natalie Dale told the Traffic Center. The lanes are expected to flow southbound all weekend to accommodate the influx of spring break travelers.
— Please return to AJC.com for updates.
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