A 53-year-old man charged with false imprisonment and imitation firearm offences in connection with the Nuneaton bowling alley incident is due before magistrates later.
David Clarke was arrested after armed police swooped on the MFA Bowl in the town on Sunday afternoon following reports a man had entered the building with a firearm.
He will appear at the Warwickshire Justice Centre in Leamington Spa on Tuesday, police said.
Clarke, of Ryde Avenue, Nuneaton, has been charged with two counts of false imprisonment, one count of criminal damage, two counts of possession of a bladed article, one count of possession of an imitation firearm with intent to cause fear of violence and two counts of possession of an imitation firearm with intent to commit an indictable offence in connection with the incident.
The bowling alley was busy with customers including families with children when police received reports that an armed man had been spotted entering the building at around 2.30pm.
Thomas Hitchens, a fast food manager from Nuneaton, was bowling with his family – a party of 12.
The 28-year-old said: “Everyone was running out, and we were literally the last family left in there.”
Another witness, Alex Mulholland, said: “I ran, got my things as quickly as I could and get out of there.”
Police at the scene at Bermuda Park in Nuneaton (Aaron Chown/PA)
Specialist firearms officers and police negotiators, along with other emergency services were scrambled to the scene.
The force announced shortly after 7pm that a suspect had been arrested.
The retail park, which also houses restaurants and a cinema, was evacuated during the incident, which police confirmed was not terror-related.
Two people who were allegedly held hostage were later freed unharmed.