WASHINGTON (CNN) -- -- A man in a van, who held authorities at bay for more than four hours near the White House after threatening to ignite a substance inside the vehicle, will be arraigned in U.S. District Court Wednesday morning, metropolitan police said.
Lowell Timmers, 54, of Cedar Springs, Michigan, will be charged under a federal law that prohibits "any threat" to do harm or damage with fire or explosives.
The incident prompted a massive response from the FBI, Secret Service and other law enforcement agencies. Nearby buildings were evacuated and several blocks were shut down.
Timmers surrendered to authorities around 8 p.m., according to police.
Metropolitan Police Department spokesman Joe Gentile said Timmers pulled up to the corner of White House grounds -- at 15th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue -- around 3:30 p.m. and told a member of the Secret Service "he had some type of substance in the vehicle, which he could detonate or ignite."
The FBI, Secret Service, U.S. Park Police, metro police and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives responded. Authorities boxed the car in, which was parked along the parade route that President Bush will be taking for Thursday's inauguration.
Gentile said they were eventually able to negotiate with the man, who decided to turn himself in. It was not immediately clear what, if any, type of substance was in the van.
An FBI official said the incident appeared to be related to a domestic dispute, not terrorism. The man in the vehicle, registered in Michigan, told authorities that he recently lost custody of his child and he then threatened to blow up a 15-gallon canister of gasoline if he didn't get the child back, the FBI official said.
Security has been bolstered throughout Washington in the days before Bush's inauguration.
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