Bomb claim shuts down streets near White House

Updated at 8:22 a.m. ET

Authorities arrested a man Wednesday morning after he claimed to have a bomb in his vehicle at a security checkpoint near the White House, the U.S. Secret Service told CBS News.

The vehicle was later cleared, the Secret Service said, but the incident prompted authorities to shut down a cluster of downtown streets as they inspected the vehicle.

The agency initially said it was investigating a suspicious vehicle near the intersection at the northeast corner of Lafayette Square, the seven-acre public park just north of the White House grounds.

The streets have since been reopened. The entrance to McPherson Square, a busy Metro rail station downtown, was also shut down.