CHATSWORTH, Ga. — A Chatsworth man was arrested Thursday night for locking a woman and her three children in a laundry mat.

Larry Leslie York, 69, of 201 W. Pine St.-7, was booked into the Murray County jail and charged by the Chatsworth Police Department with four counts of false imprisonment.

According to an incident report, York told officers the laundry mat closes at 10 p.m. and he told a woman and her three children if they weren’t done at 10 he would lock the doors. The woman told police she still had 13 minutes left on her drying cycle when York first came into the laundry mat, which is adjacent to his apartment.

The woman said York came back to the laundry mat seven minutes later and when she told him she still had six minutes left on her dryer, he locked the door with a padlock and “walked away.” A neighbor of York confirmed he witnessed York locking the door and told him it wasn’t a good idea.

York told a Chatsworth Police officer that the owner of the laundry mat told him to he could lock the door if people were inside when it was time to close.

Reached by phone Monday evening, York declined to comment other than to say it was a misunderstanding, but he did say the laundry mat and the apartment complex he lives in are owned by the same person. The owner of the property wasn’t listed on the report. A message left for police Chief Josh Etheridge was not immediately returned Monday evening.