Colorado Politics

Secret Service says suspect arrested after man with hammer attacked Vance’s Cincinnati home

A man accused of breaking into Vice President JD Vance’s Ohio home is in police custody, according to the Secret Service.

The suspect was arrested overnight after allegedly shattering several windows with a hammer at the Vances’ Cincinnati residence and vandalizing a Secret Service vehicle on its way up the driveway.

“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,” Secret Service spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said in a statement.

The suspect detained has been identified as William DeFoor, 26, according to an arrest report obtained by WLWT and other outlets.

DeFoor has been charged with criminal damage, obstructing official business, and criminal trespass, all misdemeanors, as well as one count of vandalism, which is a fifth-degree felony, per the arrest report. His first court appearance is scheduled for Tuesday.

DeFoor has a prior history of vandalism and was recently sentenced to treatment at a mental health facility for two years, according to WXIX-TV, citing court documents. 

The Secret Service had not previously identified the suspect as a potential risk before he broke the windows “with a hammer,” according to NBC News.

The Secret Service said the residence was unoccupied during the break-in and that the second family was not in Ohio at the time of the incident. The Vances left their Cincinnati home in the East Walnut Hills area for Washington just hours before the break-in, per the outlet.

The vice president weighed in on the incident Monday morning, calling it an attack by a “crazy person.”

“I appreciate everyone’s well-wishes about the attack at our home,” Vance said in a statement to X. “As far as I can tell, a crazy person tried to break in by hammering the windows … We weren’t even home as we had returned already to DC.”

“One request to the media: we try to protect our kids as much as possible from the realities of this life of public service,” he said. “In that light, I am skeptical of the news value of plastering images of our home with holes in the windows.”

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