Man arrested after crashing car into park across from White House: A practical reader guide

Man arrested after crashing car into park across from White House: A practical reader guide

The White House was briefly placed on lockdown on Monday (November 9, 2026) after a man crashed his car into the sidewalk of a park across from the presidential mansion.

Video taken by witnesses showed the man struggling with police after being pulled from his car, which crashed into a sign on the sidewalk of Lafayette Park across from the White House.

The driver of the vehicle was “quickly placed under arrest” after he “became combative with law enforcement,” a U.S. Secret Service spokesperson said. An explosive ordnance disposal team was called in to “sweep the vehicle as a precaution,” the Secret Service spokesperson said in a statement. Around the same time as the vehicle incident, “a second individual jumped a barricade near the northwest corner of Lafayette Park,” the spokesperson said.

“Both incidents are under investigation.

“That individual was also quickly placed under arrest,” the spokesperson said. The White House was locked down for around half an hour during the incidents, correspondents said.