A man who broke windows at Vice-President J.D. Vance’s Ohio home and caused other property damage was detained early on Monday (January 5, 2026), the U.S. Secret Service said.
The man was detained shortly after midnight by Secret Service agents assigned to Mr. Vance’s home, east of downtown Cincinnati, agency spokesperson Anthony Guglielmi said in a statement emailed to The Associated Press. He has not been named.
The vice president and his family were not at home, having returned to Washington on Sunday (January 4, 2026) after a weekend there, his office said.
The Secret Service heard a loud noise at the home around midnight and found a person who had broken a window with a hammer and was trying to get into the house, according to two law enforcement officials who were not publicly authorized to discuss the investigation and spoke on the condition of anonymity. The man had also vandalized a Secret Service vehicle on his way up the home’s driveway, one of the officials said.
The man had also vandalised a Secret Service vehicle on his way up the home’s driveway, one of the officials said.
A law enforcement official identified the suspect as William Defoor, 26, of Crestview Hills, Kentucky. Mr. Defoor is set to be arraigned Tuesday (January 6, 2026) on misdemeanour charges of vandalism, criminal trespass, criminal damaging and obstruction of official business, court records show.
Mr. Vance expressed gratitude to the Secret Service and Cincinnati police for responding quickly to the incident in a post on the social platform X.
“I appreciate everyone’s well wishes about the attack at our home,” Mr. Vance tweeted. “As far as I can tell, a crazy person tried to break in by hammering the windows.” Court records show that Mr. Defoor faced an earlier charge of vandalism in 2024 and agreed to treatment under the county’s Mental Health Court system.
The home, in the Walnut Hills neighborhood, was unoccupied at the time, and Mr. Vance and his family were not in Ohio, Guglielmi said.
The Secret Service is coordinating with the Cincinnati Police Department and the U.S. attorney’s office as charging decisions are reviewed, he said.
Mr. Vance’s office directed questions to the Secret Service and said his family was already back in Washington.
Walnut Hills is one of the city’s oldest neighborhoods and is home to historic sites, including the Harriet Beecher Stowe House.
