BRUSSELS—Belgian police arrested an inebriated 39-year-old French man of North African descent after he attempted to drive through a crowd in Antwerp in a car containing weapons before being stopped by Belgian security forces, officials said Thursday.

The suspect, a French national and resident whom officials identified as Mohamed R., was found under the influence of drugs, alcohol or possibly both, according to a Belgian official. A French police officer said the suspect’s blood-alcohol content was several times above the legal limit.

Authorities would likely wait until Friday to interview him, the Belgian official said, giving the man time to clear the substances from his system.

Around 11 a.m., a car registered in France drove rapidly toward pedestrians in the center of Antwerp, causing them to jump out of the car’s way, a spokesman for the Belgian federal prosecutor’s office said. No one was injured or killed in the incident, he said.

The car fled when soldiers attempted to intercept it but was later stopped by the Antwerp police’s rapid response team, who arrested the suspect, the Belgian prosecutor’s office said.