The driver of an SUV who tore through the National Mall last year, weaving around pedestrians and doing doughnuts, has been sentenced to 18 months in prison.
The Justice Department said Friday that Curtis Lear, 30, of D.C., will serve time after he drove a black Jeep Patriot recklessly and at high speeds on the National Mall, where he endangered hundreds of visitors and did $9,000 in damage to the lawn.
Lear pleaded guilty to one count of destruction of government property and one count of assault with a dangerous weapon in October of last year.
On the night of June 21, 2025, Lear drove the Jeep onto the lawn of the National Mall, making sharp turns and dodging pedestrians. No one was injured.
Lear told a U.S. Capitol Police officer that it was “just a joke.”
Video caught on cellphones and shared on social media showed the vehicle speeding past the Smithsonian Castle, blowing through stop signs and narrowly missing people on foot and on scooters.
Witnesses saw Lear stop his vehicle and make a “finger gun” while yelling at pedestrians, court documents said. He also got out of his vehicle at one point and yelled threats at pedestrians.
Police were able to locate Lear’s vehicle by using its license plate information and arrested him the next day.
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