A driver was arrested after a car crashed onto a sidewalk near the White House in Washington, D.C., on Monday, November 9. A Secret Service spokesperson described the driver as “combative” in a statement published by Fox News.
Secret Service Police and National Guard members responded just before 10 a.m. The crash happened at 16th and H streets NW, on the north side of Lafayette Park.
Around the same time, a second person jumped a barricade near the park’s northwest corner and was quickly arrested, the spokesperson told Fox. The statement described two separate incidents, both under investigation.
Roads around the park were closed as D.C. police were called to check the vehicle. Inside the White House grounds, Secret Service personnel also directed reporters away from the North Lawn and into the building.
Out of the Car
Secret Service have dropped the block-wide perimeter around Lafayette Square Park, but are still keeping traffic off H Street.
Just before the perimeter was taken down, officers could be seen removing items from the car. https://t.co/hGYYqaGY3q
— emma ruby (@emmaeruby) November 9, 2026
Washington Sun reporter Martin Austermuhle posted from the scene on X. His account added detail about what happened between the collision and the driver’s arrest.
“Unclear what happened but someone just drove into a sign on the north end of Lafayette Square Park and then fought with Secret Service and National Guard when they got out of their car,” he wrote. The Secret Service statement quoted by Fox described officers placing the driver under arrest quickly.
D.C.’s Metropolitan Police Department’s explosives disposal team was called to sweep the car as a precaution, Fox reported, citing the statement. Roads around Lafayette Park were closed during the response.
Reporters Head Inside
By 10:07 a.m., most White House reporters were in the briefing room. Newsday correspondent Laura Figueroa Hernandez described the move in a pool report, placing the instruction to head inside just after 10:02 a.m.
Some reporters were still doing on-camera reports outdoors, with a Secret Service member nearby. Four minutes after her first dispatch, Figueroa Hernandez sent a follow-up report linking to Austermuhle’s post and identifying the crash as a possible reason for the security response.
The setting is directly north of the White House. The National Park Service describes Lafayette Park as a seven-acre space that continues to host political protests and celebrations.
In a later update, Emma Ruby on X reported that Secret Service personnel had lifted the block-wide perimeter, though traffic was still being kept off H Street. Just before the perimeter came down, officers could be seen removing items from the car.