White House Fence Jumper Was a Fleeing Robber: Reports

The man who tried to leap over a White House fence yesterday triggering a lockdown was fleeing the scene of a robbery, according to a Secret Service statement.

The Secret Service stated that at around 4 p.m. April 26, a man "jumped the west fence of the Eisenhower Executive Office Building along 17th Street NW."

Authorities took him into custody "without incident," and after an initial investigation they concluded he was "fleeing from the scene of a robbery" that happened near the intersection of G and 17th streets NW, according to the statement.

Reports indicate the man had stolen a woman's purse and made the very unwise decision to try to escape by jumping a fence onto White House grounds. He apparently injured himself in the process, according to multiple reports.

The fence-jumping resulted in a brief lockdown at the White House, which has seen a rash of security breaches in recent years leading to the resignation of Secret Service Director Julia Pierson in 2014 and a proposed redesign of the fence.