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CARTERSVILLE, Ga. — A large police presence at a Cartersville apartment has led to the arrest of a convicted sex offender.
The Bartow County Sheriff\u2019s Office told Channel 2\u2019s Michael Seiden<\/b> that when they tried to arrest the man, he ran away and barricaded himself inside an apartment.
Seiden learned since the standoff was resolved that officers had gone to the apartment because the suspect had failed to register as a sex offender.
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A mother living in a unit at the complex let Channel 2 Action News<\/b> into her residence, where the man kicked through the wall while trying to escape from police.
Neighbors captured tense moments at the town home community on their phones as deputies and SWAT team members descended.
\u201cMy son was running late to school this morning and he was about to get up and get going and I heard a lot of commotion and I look outside and it\u2019s World War 3 out here,\u201d one neighbor said.
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Families were forced out of their homes after reports came in of explosive devices inside of the suspect\u2019s unit.
\u201cThere were claims of explosive devices, hostages and firearms, so after we got the apartment evacuated, we began the negotiation process,\u201d Bartow County Sheriff\u2019s Major Mark Mayton told Channel 2 Action News<\/b>.
Those negotiations lasted for three hours until SWAT officers used gas to get inside.
\u201cThe subject began moving from apartment to apartment, busting through the sheet rock in the walls,\u201d Mayton said.
A neighbor showed us holes in her unit, including where her child\u2019s closet had a wall kicked in.
\u201cNow there\u2019s gas chemicals all over our clothes. We have to wash our clothes and now we have to move out temporarily if not permanently because it\u2019s not livable,\u201d Leah Wilson, a neighbor, said.
NewsChopper 2 <\/b>was on the scene at Iron Belt Road, where a large police presence, including a SWAT team, were visible as they worked to take the still-unnamed suspect into custody.
Channel 2 Action News<\/b> is still working to get the name of the suspect.
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