Ohio man pleads guilty to smashing windows at Vance’s home

An Ohio man pleaded guilty Tuesday to vandalizing Vice President JD Vance’s Cincinnati home earlier this year.

William D. DeFoor pleaded guilty in federal court to engaging in acts of physical violence against government officials or property and causing willful injury or depredation to property of the U.S., Justice Department (DOJ) officials said in a release .

The charges stemmed from DeFoor’s Jan. 5 attack on the Vance family’s home. At around midnight that day, Secret Service officers observed the 26-year-old running along the front fence of the residence, the DOJ noted Tuesday.

The man then breached the property line at the driveway, struck the driver’s side window of an unmarked federal law enforcement vehicle blocking the driveway three times with a hammer and broke the glass windows at the front of the residence, per the department.

Federal prosecutors said DeFoor’s strikes on the “enhanced security assets” on each window owned by the federal government caused $28,000 in damages.

The Secret Service took DeFoor into custody shortly after the incident in January. Vance and his family were in Washington, D.C., when DeFoor carried out the attack.

The vice president and Second Lady Usha Vance have four children, with Usha Vance giving birth to the couple’s youngest in July.

Vance said at the time a “crazy person” tried to break into the home by “hammering the windows.”

The vice president added he was “grateful” to Secret Service and Cincinnati Police Department officers for “responding so quickly” to the incident.”

U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio Dominick S. Gerace II, whose office prosecuted the case, said acts of violence “directed against our political leaders, their families, or property, have no place” in society.

“Our elected leaders, at all levels of government, must be permitted to carry out their duties free from threats, vandalism, and other forms of violence,” Gerace added in Tuesday’s release. “Perpetrators like DeFoor, who put that freedom at risk, particularly through violent, destructive actions, will, like here, be vigorously prosecuted.”

DeFoor faces up to 20 years in prison, 10 years for each count he pleaded guilty. U.S. District Judge Douglas R. Cole, an appointee of President Trump, will determine the man’s sentence.

DeFoor has been diagnosed with schizophrenia and his attorney has previously said his client’s actions were not political, WKRC-TV in Cincinnati reported Tuesday .

DeFoor’s mother, Catherine DeFoor, said in January that mental illness “has taken over” her child’s life “in a way that we could never have imagined,” according to WKRC-TV .