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Driver Arrested Near White House Grounds Claimed to Have a Bomb: Police

A man detained by Secret Service near the White House grounds said he had a bomb in his car as he drove up to a checkpoint on Saturday, police said.
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People visit the south lawn during the annual White House Spring Garden tours in Washington on April 17, 2016.Estelle Doro / AP

A man detained by Secret Service near the White House grounds said he had a bomb in his car as he drove up to a checkpoint on Saturday night, according to a police report obtained by NBC News on Sunday.

The suspect claimed to have “a bomb in the trunk” of a stolen Chevrolet Impala while clasping something in his right hand as he drove up a White House checkpoint around 11 p.m. Saturday night, according to the Metropolitan Police report.

The man was identified as 29-year-old Sean Patrick Keoughan by police on Sunday afternoon.

Keoughan said "this is a test" as he was taken to the ground by police, according to the police report.

The car he drove, which was registered in Indiana, had been reported stolen out of Roanoke, Virginia, police said.

Keoughan was placed under arrest for false bomb threats and unauthorized use of a vehicle. He was scheduled to be charged Sunday at Washington’s second police district, a Secret Service spokesperson said.

On Saturday, a Secret Service spokesperson had simply said they had detained a man and that his vehicle was "declared suspicious."

The Secret Service said it could not immediately provide more details on the incident, citing the ongoing criminal investigation.

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People visit the south lawn during the annual White House Spring Garden tours in Washington on April 17, 2016.Estelle Doro / AP

The incident came just hours after a person was apprehended for jumping over a bike rack just outside the White House fence on Pennsylvania Avenue, White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer said.

President Donald Trump was not present at the residence on Saturday, having spent the weekend at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida.

And last week, a man who said he was a friend of the president and had "an appointment" breached the White House grounds — and wasn’t arrested for more than 16 minutes — after he first jumped a fence near the grounds.

That man, Jonathan Tuan-Anh Tran, is accused of jumping a fence near the Treasury Department and was arrested near the South Portico entrance of the White House, according to court documents.