The man who inadvertently set off a sweeping police investigation when he hid his pistol under a cushion in a World Trade Center hotel lobby — minutes before the Boston Marathon bombing — was a tourist simply in a hurry to stow it and get back to his tour group, a relative said on Monday.

The man, Bobby Glen Jackson, 59, was arrested on Saturday in Fayetteville, N.C., and was scheduled to be brought to New York City on Monday to face charges of criminal possession of a weapon and reckless endangerment, the police said. Mr. Jackson owns a pressure-washing business in Fayetteville and does security work, which is why he owns a pistol, said the relative, who asked to remain anonymous.

“He’s not perfect by any means, but he’s a good man,” the relative said. “He’s a God-fearing man. If what had happened there had happened here, and it hadn’t been times like now, everything would be O.K., because everybody would know him.”