White House

Driver of ‘Suspicious' Car Near White House Arrested After Claiming to Have Bomb

Sean Patrick Keoughan reportedly told an officer the threat was "a test"

A man who drove to a security checkpoint near the White House and claimed to have a bomb in his a car was detained by the U.S. Secret Service Saturday night.

The car was stopped around 11 p.m. at a checkpoint about a quarter-mile from the White House, authorities said.

Sean Patrick Keoughan approached an officer and claimed to have "a bomb in the trunk" of the Chevrolet Impala he was driving, according to a police report. While the 29-year-old was being apprehended, he reportedly told the officer that the threat was "a test."

Keoughan, of Roanoke, Virginia, was arrested on charges of making a false bomb threat and unauthorized use of a vehicle. He was expected to be charged Sunday.

The car he was driving was reported stolen in Virginia.  

President Donald Trump wasn't at the White House at the time. Trump and his family are spending the weekend at his resort in Palm Beach, Florida.

Earlier Saturday a man jumped a low metal barrier just outside a White House fence. William Bryant Rawlinson, 58, of Silver Spring, Maryland, was arrested in that incident, police said. 

About a week earlier a man breached an outer perimeter fence and scaled a vehicle gate to gain entry to the White House grounds, raising questions about lapses in security under the Secret Service's watch.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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