By Julie Carr Smyth
Associated Press
COLUMBUS, Ohio — A grand jury indicted the individual accused of vandalizing the Ohio home of Vice President JD Vance and causing other property damage on federal charges Wednesday.
The three-count indictment charges William D. DeFoor, 26, of Cincinnati, with damaging government property, engaging in physical violence against any person or property in a restricted building or grounds, and assaulting, resisting or impeding federal officers.
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DeFoor faces up to 10 years in prison on each of the first two charges and up to 20 years on the third.
Defense attorney Paul Laufman, listed as representing DeFoor, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Laufman has previously said that the situation represents “purely a mental health issue” and that his client was not motivated by politics.
Court records show that separate vandalism, criminal trespass, criminal damaging and obstruction charges initially brought against DeFoor in state court, mostly misdemeanors, were dropped on Friday.
Federal prosecutors allege that the Secret Service saw someone run along the front fence of Vance’s residence in Cincinnati’s upscale East Walnut Hills neighborhood just after midnight on Jan. 5 and then breach the property line. The person later identified as DeFoor was armed with a hammer and tried to break out the window of an unmarked Secret Service vehicle on the way up the driveway before moving toward the front of the home and breaking 14 historic window panes, according to a federal affidavit.
Damage done to security enhancements around the windows was valued at $28,000, according to the filing.
A federal judge ruled on Tuesday that DeFoor must remain incarcerated pending trial.
On social media and in interviews, Vance has thanked the Secret Service and Cincinnati Police for their work on the case. He has also declined to speculate on a motive, while calling the suspect “clearly a very sick individual.”
