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WASHINGTON — Police arrested a man “driving along the sidewalk” near the US Capitol around 10 a.m. on Thursday, one day after a driver mowed down New Year’s Eve revelers in a terror attack that left 15 dead in New Orleans.

Capitol police officers took the suspicious man into custody after he drove his vehicle into a “grassy area” near the foot of Capitol Hill — charging him with reckless driving.

Authorities temporarily closed roads before a bomb squad declared the area safe.


  The man was driving on the sidewalk near the U.S. Capitol. Brad Bell/WJLA The man was driving on the sidewalk near the U.S. Capitol. Brad Bell/WJLA

  The incident happened at approximately 10 a.m. on Thursday. Brad Bell/WJLA The incident happened at approximately 10 a.m. on Thursday. Brad Bell/WJLA

  Police arrested the driver of a car “driving down the sidewalk” near the US Capitol. NBC 4 Washington Police arrested the driver of a car “driving down the sidewalk” near the US Capitol. NBC 4 Washington

Police did not immediately release the driver’s name or age, or say if he is suspected of being under the influence of alcohol or drugs.

In an initial statement, Capitol Police said: “Before 10 a.m., our Special Operations Division officers spotted a car that had been driving along the sidewalk, near Peace Circle, and into the grassy area near Third Street, NW, and Constitution Avenue. Officers took the man into custody.”

Later, the department tweeted: “Our bomb squad cleared the car and declared that it is safe. The driver is being arrested for reckless driving. Please continue to avoid the area, while our investigators continue their work. Roads in the area will re-open shortly. Have a safe day.”

The grassy square on that intersection is just south of the Labor Department’s headquarters and southeast of the federal courthouse that’s contains the US district court and DC’s federal appeals court. 

Another office building feet away houses rented workspaces and is the former home of the Penn Biden Center, where President Biden allegedly mishandled classified documents after his vice presidency.

The erratic behavior comes after the ISIS-inspired act of terror by Shamsud-Din Jabbar, an Army vet and US citizen, who ran over more than a dozen people celebrating on Bourbon Street in New Orleans in the early hours of New Year’s Day.


  Capitol police officers took the man into custody. NBC 4 Washington Capitol police officers took the man into custody. NBC 4 Washington

  Police did not immediately release the driver’s name or age. Brad Bell/WJLA Police did not immediately release the driver’s name or age. Brad Bell/WJLA


  The driver was arrested for reckless driving, according to Capitol Police. ABC 7 News – WJLA The driver was arrested for reckless driving, according to Capitol Police. ABC 7 News – WJLA

Hours later, a Tesla Cybertruck exploded outside the Trump International Hotel Las Vegas in another apparent terror attack, killing only its driver.

The Washington, DC, Metro Police Department announced in the wake of the shocking incidents that it was heightening security measures in the nation’s capital.

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