Man near White House claims bomb in trunk

WEST PALM BEACH — The Secret Service detained a man late Saturday after he drove his car up to a checkpoint near the White House and said he had a bomb, according to police, an episode that re sulted in hi s arrest and security on the grounds being beefed up.

President Donald Trump was spending the weekend in Palm Beach, but the Secret Service increased its “posture of readiness” in response to the episode, a spokesman said.

The intrusion came just days after a man made his way onto the White House grounds while Trump was inside. That intruder roamed the grounds undetected for about 17 minutes as Secret S e r v i c e a ge n t s f a i l e d t o respond to several alarms.

In Saturday’s episode, the intruder stopped his car at the White House checkpoint just after 11 p.m. and got out, declaring, “There’s a bomb in the trunk,” as he appeared to clasp something in this hand, according to a report issued by the Metropolitan Police Department.

“This is a test,” the man said as a Secret Service officer detained him and took him to the ground, according to the report.

The man was charged with making false bomb threats and the unauthorized use of a vehicle, which had been reported stolen, the report said.

Earlier Saturday, another man was arrested after jumping over bicycle-rack-style barricades into a restricted area in front of the White House on Pennsylvania Avenue, where he stood “yelling nonsensical statements,” according to a police report.

Poli c e di d not i dentif y either suspect.

Neither episode was as serious as the one on March 10, in which Jonathan TuanAnh Tran, 26, of Milpitas, California, breached the outer perimeter of the White House near the Treasury building.