WASHINGTON — A man who drove up to a White House gate and refused to leave was arrested on Saturday, the Secret Service said, less than 24 hours after another man jumped the fence and made it all the way into the presidential residence before being apprehended. The president and first family were not at home.
The second incident started Saturday afternoon when a man approached one of the White House gates on foot, Secret Service spokesman Ed Donovan said. He later showed up at another gate in a car and pulled into the vehicle screening area. When the man refused to leave, he was placed under arrest and charged with unlawful entry.
Bomb technicians, fully suited, could be seen looking through a white four-door sedan with New Jersey plates and pulling out what appeared to be keys. Streets near the White House were temporarily closed as officers responded, but the White House was not locked down.
There were no immediate details about who the man was or why he was trying to enter the White House. President Barack Obama, his wife and daughters were at Camp David, the presidential retreat where the first family was spending the weekend.
The arrest comes the day after a 42-year-old man who scaled the fence managed to get through the North Portico doors before agents were able to apprehend him. The Secret Service is reviewing that incident.
