The Secret Service is investigating after a man was arrested at Vice President JD Vance’s Ohio home following an incident that left the house damaged.
The home in Cincinnati’s East Walnut Hills was surrounded by local cops and federal law enforcement agents early Monday morning, with several windows reportedly smashed in. The Secret Service and representatives for Vance told The Daily Beast that the vice president and his family were not home when the incident took place. Local media reported, however, that Vance had been in Cincinnati for the past week but left Sunday afternoon.
Vance took to social media to thank law enforcement for “responding quickly” to his home, writing: “As far as I can tell, a crazy person tried to break in by hammering the windows.”
The suspect was later named as William DeFoor, 26. Court records showed he’s being charged with one count each of obstructing official business, criminal damaging or endangering, criminal trespass and vandalism.
“I don’t know,” he responded after being read his rights, the arrest report states, according to Fox 19 Now. In April last year, DeFoor pleaded guilty to two counts of vandalism at an interior design company. He was sentenced to treatment at a mental health facility for two years and fined.
DeFloor will be arraigned in Hamilton County Municipal Court in Cincinnati on Tuesday, likely with a high bond due to his criminal history.
A federal law enforcement source told CNN that authorities do not believe the suspect entered the vice president’s home. A Secret Service spokesman confirmed the arrest in a statement to the Beast.
“An adult male was taken into custody by the Cincinnati Police Department after being detained by U.S. Secret Service personnel for causing property damage, including breaking windows on the exterior of a personal residence associated with the Vice President,” the spokesperson said.
They added that the drama unfolded “shortly after midnight on Monday.”
“The man was physically detained by Secret Service agents assigned to the Vice President’s home. The residence was unoccupied at the time of the incident, and the Vice President and his family were not in Ohio,” they added.
Speaking to the Associated Press, two unnamed sources said the suspect was able to vandalize a Secret Service vehicle on his way to the house. Agents reportedly only detected him when they were alerted to a loud noise and went to investigate, finding he’d allegedly used a hammer to break the window.
The U.S. Secret Service is coordinating with the Cincinnati Police Department and the U.S. Attorney’s Office as charging decisions are reviewed.
A reporter from WCPO said they were told it was being treated as a “possible break-in” or “suspicious person,” citing a call between the Secret Service and 911 dispatchers.
Cincinnati officials had previously closed the roads around his home to block access, with those restrictions being lifted on Jan. 4.
Those barricades had been lifted by the time the WCPO crew visited. President Trump returned to D.C. on Sunday evening.
Vance and his wife, Usha, purchased the home for about $1.4 million in 2018. Vance and Usha have sons Ewan, born in 2017, and Vivek, born in 2020, and a daughter, Mirabel, born in 2021.
