A man was taken into custody late Tuesday night after he plowed his vehicle into a Secret Service security checkpoint outside the White House, officials said.
The car, a 2010 Acura TSX with Maryland license plates, crashed into the gate on the corner of 17th and E Streets near the south side of the White House grounds at 10:37 p.m., the Secret Service said in a post on X.
“The individual was immediately arrested by U.S. Secret Service Uniformed Division officers, and the vehicle was assessed by Secret Service and the Metropolitan Police Department and deemed safe,” the statement said.
The driver was then taken to an area hospital for a mental health assessment, agency spokesperson Anthony Guglielmi told Axios. He has not been identified.
Officials provided few other details about the incident. As of Wednesday morning, it was not immediately clear whether the crash was intentional, or why the driver was approaching the White House.
President Trump was home at the time of the crash, but he was not hurt in the incident, and authorities do not believe him to be in any related danger at this time, the New York Times reported. The White House was not placed on lockdown after the incident, but the road leading to the gate will remain closed until the police tow the vehicle away, officials noted.
The crash harkens back to an incident that occurred in September, when a man was arrested after ramming his car into the gates of the FBI field office in Pittsburgh. Authorities later described it as a targeted attack.
With News Wire Services
