66-year old man leaps White House fence

WASHINGTON - The
Secret Service on Friday arrested a 66-year-old man who scaled a White House fence with a package that later was destroyed with a water cannon.

The incident prompted a security lockdown on the White House compound for more than three hours. Secret Service spokesman Eric Zahren said a man identified as Catalino Lucas Diaz, possibly of Florida, was in custody pending charges.

The area along Pennsylvania Avenue and Lafayette Park, across the street from the White House, was locked down between 11:10 a.m. EDT when the man jumped the fence along the northeast side of the White House and 2:30 p.m. EDT.

Members of the media and White House staffers, who also have offices in that area, were not allowed to leave the building. The regular White House briefing was delayed for three hours until the area could be secured.

"When he and his bundle made it over the fence, there were three separate packages — a book, a tape recorder and some other items," said White House press secretary Tony Snow. "One of the reasons it took so long is that they spent a lot of time taking great care and examining each and every one of those items. And that's why we were on lockdown."

Zahren said the water cannon, a device that shoots a powerful stream of water, was used to destroy the package, but it did not contain any dangerous items.