The United States Capitol Police on Tuesday extracted and arrested a man from a suspicious vehicle that was parked outside the Supreme Court in Washington DC. Nine justices were seated inside the judicial building hearing oral arguments, according to media reports.
Jason Bell, the Deputy Chief of the Operational Services Bureau told a press conference that after unsuccessful efforts to negotiate with the man, tactical teams of law enforcement agencies closed in and placed the man under arrest, according to reports from Associated Press.
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However, law enforcement officials have not made the intentions of the man in the vehicle clear so far. He refused to speak except to make a statement “to the effect of ‘the time for talking is done,'” Bell said.
The United States Capitol Police have identified the man as Dale Paul Melvin, who is 55 years old and is a resident of Michigan’s Kimball. Authorities further clarified that no weapons were found at the scene.
The man was arrested for charges relating to failure to obey and assault on a police officer, according to a press release from the Capitol Police.
The press release added, “At approximately 9:30 am, USCP officers saw Melvin’s illegally parked Chevy Tahoe in front of the Supreme Court. The suspect appeared to be frustrated, refused to talk to our officers.”
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The department reported the investigation on Twitter and later added that an officer had extracted the driver from a sport utility vehicle and arrested him.
The updates about the then-developing situation were being posted by the Capitol Police on Twitter.
The nine justices present inside the United States Supreme Court began their new term on Monday this week, which was their first in-person oral arguments session in the last 19 months due to the COVID-19 pandemic, according to reports from Reuters.