Man fleeing robbery jumps fence near White House: Secret Service
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A man fleeing a nearby robbery jumped the fence of a building next to the White House on Tuesday afternoon and was taken into custody by the Secret Service, the agency said in a statement.
The incident prompted a 20-minute lockdown of the White House, a Secret Service official said.
The unidentified man jumped the west fence of the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, which is on the White House campus and sits just west of the executive mansion, the agency's statement said.
The robbery occurred less than a block away from the White House, it said.
The last time a person jumped the White House fence was on April 2. That individual was detained immediately and charged with unlawful entry.
Before that, a Connecticut man wearing an American flag scaled the north fence on Thanksgiving Day in November and was quickly caught.
In 2014, an Army veteran carrying a knife pushed his way into the White House after climbing the fence. That marked one of the most significant breaches of security at the executive mansion during the Obama administration and led lawmakers to criticize the Secret Service.
(Reporting by Timothy Gardner; editing by Jonathan Oatis and Cynthia Osterman)
