A 19-year-old man arrested during the weekend for an alleged assault on a police officer faced new charges after authorities said he tried to blow up a random SUV parked outside the Pentagon on Monday, according to federal court documents.
Matthew Dmitri Richardson, of Fayetteville, Arkansas, was arrested and charged with attempted malicious destruction of a vehicle used in interstate and foreign commerce, which carries a mandatory minimum of five years in prison.
The incident came two days after Richardson was arrested separately on two counts of felony assault on a law enforcement officer in Arlington County, according to reports.
Credit: Alexandria Sheriff's Office
Credit: Alexandria Sheriff's Office
He was scheduled to make his first appearance in federal court Tuesday.
Court documents do not say that the incident was related to terrorism.
A government police officer patrolling the Pentagon's north parking lot about 10:55 a.m. Monday noticed Richardson “striking a cigarette lighter to a piece of fabric that was inserted into the vehicle’s gas tank,” according to an incident report by the U.S. Attorney's Office in Eastern Virginia.
When the officer questioned what the suspect was doing, Richardson allegedly said he was preparing to “blow this vehicle up” and “himself,” the court document said. When the officer moved in to make an arrest, reports said the suspect fled across the parking lot and ran onto a Virginia highway.
A quick check of surveillance footage revealed the suspect had jumped a fence into Arlington National Cemetery, where an emergency response team took him into custody a little more than an hour later near Arlington House, the memorial dedicated to Confederate Army Gen. Robert E. Lee.
“I was just trying to blow myself up,” Richardson reportedly said after his arrest, according to NBC4 News in Washington.
When officers searched Richardson, they allegedly found a cigarette lighter, gloves and court documents related to his Saturday arrest.
Court documents show the owner of the 2016 Land Rover SUV is an active-duty service member who does not know Richardson, the report said.
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