A man tried to blow up an SUV at the Pentagon on Monday morning and was found later in Arlington National Cemetery.
Matthew Dmitri Richardson, of Fayetteville, Arkansas, faces federal charges after Pentagon police say he tried to blow up an active-duty service member's Land Rover at about 10:55 a.m. Monday.
He appeared in court in Alexandria, Virginia, Tuesday afternoon and called the charges "a lie."
A Pentagon Force Protection Agency officer was patroling the Pentagon's north parking lot when he saw "smoke coming from burnt fabric on the ground" next to a gray 2016 Land Rover with New Mexico license plates.
He then he saw a man "striking a cigarette lighter to a piece of fabric that was inserted into the vehicle's gas tank," court documents filed Tuesday say.
The officer got out of his cruiser and ordered the man to stop.
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The man said he was going to blow up the SUV and himself.
The officer tried to grab his wrist, but he ran across the parking lot, toward Route 110 and onto Route 27, court documents say.
Surveillance footage showed the suspect jumped over a fence and into Arlington National Cemetery. At about 12:15 p.m., Pentagon officers found him near Arlington House and ordered him to stop.
"I was just trying to blow myself up," Richardson, 19, allegedly said.
After his arrest, officers found him with a cigarette lighter, gloves and court documents related to an arrest on Saturday. He was charged in Arlington with felony assault on a law enforcement officer.
The Land Rover belonged to an active-duty service member who did not know Richardson.
Richardson was charged with maliciously attempting to damage and destroy a vehicle.
Stay with News4 for more details on this developing story.
