Man Gets 5 Years in Minnesota Gas Station Standoff

HASTINGS, Minn. (AP) - A Burnsville man has been sentenced to five years in prison for a hostage-taking that led to a police standoff at a suburban gas station in September.

The Dakota County Attorney's office says 31-year-old Ariel Luis Barnett was sentenced Friday.

Barnett pleaded guilty earlier this month to two counts of second-degree assault, two counts of kidnapping and one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm, all felonies.
 
Barnett was accused of taking two employees of a Burnsville gas station hostage at gunpoint on Sept. 7. Prosecutors say one of the hostages was Barnett's former girlfriend.

Police surrounded the gas station. After a short standoff, an officer talked to Barnett on the phone and persuaded him to surrender. Neither employee was hurt.