HdG Has Connection to White House Fence Jumper

The Bel Air man who scaled the White House fence Wednesday had been institutionalized in Havre de Grace in recent months, according to reports.

Dominic Adesanya, 23, of Bel Air, was captured on the North Lawn of the White House after 7 p.m. Wednesday, where he advanced several yards before K-9 officers and Secret Service Agents took him down, according to video of the event. He was reportedly unarmed.

It wasn’t his first time being detained at or near the White House, and the Fallston High School graduate was checked into Harford Memorial Hospital on South Union Avenue following a pair of July run-ins with D.C. police.

After jumping over a White House security barrier July 27, Adesanya told an officer he wanted cameras removed from his home, according to WJLA. He was taken into custody again July 30 when he refused to leave the Treasury Building and swung at officers, WJLA reported.

In the July events, Adesanya was charged with unlawful entry and two counts of assaulting an officer, The Washington Post said. He was ordered to wear an electronic monitoring device and adhere to a curfew, according to the Associated Press. He was also supposed to receive a mental health evaluation, WJLA reported.

Following the July arrests, Adesanya’s family checked him into Upper Chesapeake Medical Center in Bel Air, and he spent nearly two weeks in Harford Memorial Hospital in Havre de Grace, according to The Washington Post. But the 23-year-old left the hospital because he no longer wanted treatment, and he never filled his prescriptions, his father told The Post.

Though he had a Sept. 9 court date for the July charges, Adesanya failed to appear, WJLA reported.

His family hopes the Oct. 22 fence jumping incident results in him getting help, according to reports. Adesanya thought his surroundings were bugged and there were cameras everywhere. He has been diagnosed with schizophrenia and paranoia, his father told CNN.

“He needs professional medical help, not [to] be locked up like a prisoner...” his father told WBAL.

Adesanya’s mother said that her son may need to be committed involuntarily for treatment because “in his mind, he doesn’t know he’s sick,” according to The Washington Post.

In Maryland, a person cannot be detained for more than 30 hours involuntarily for psychiatric reasons unless he expresses a desire to hurt himself or others.

“He’s not violent,” his father told the Associated Press. “He’s just ... mentally disturbed.”

A preliminary hearing regarding his detention is scheduled for Monday, according to WBAL.

Related:

• Man Who Jumped White House Fence is from Bel Air
• Bel Air’s White House Fence Jumper Said to Be Mentally Ill

Secret Service presence outside the White House was ramped up following the Wednesday evening fence jump by a Bel Air man. Screenshot from YouTube video by WJLA/ABC 7 News.