An Arkansas man was arrested Monday after authorities said he tried to ignite the gas tank of an SUV in the Pentagon parking lot, and told officers when he was arrested, “I was just trying to blow myself up.”
Matthew Dmitri Richardson, 19, is now facing federal charges and, in an initial appearance in federal court in Alexandria, was ordered detained, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia.
An officer with the Pentagon police force said he spotted smoke in the massive complex’s north parking lot shortly before 11 a.m. Monday.
The officer said he saw smoke coming from burnt fabric on the ground next to a gray 2016 Land Rover while Richardson stood next to the vehicle, “striking a cigarette lighter to a piece of fabric that was inserted into the vehicle’s gas tank,” according to court documents.
The officer said he tried to grab Richardson, but he said the man took off running across the parking lot.
A review of surveillance video footage showed that Richardson had jumped over a fence and fled into Arlington National Cemetery.
Officers found Richardson there at about 12:15 p.m. and arrested him. That’s when he told officers he was trying to blow himself up, according to the court documents.
After his arrest, officers searched Richardson and found a cigarette lighter, gloves and court documents related to an arrest the day before on two counts of felony assault on a law enforcement officer in Arlington County, Virginia.
Online court records do not include any details about this incident but state the alleged assault took place Feb. 22, and Richardson was released on his own recognizance.
An Arlington County police spokeswoman said the arrest did not involve that department’s officers.
The exact charge Richardson is facing in the attempted SUV burning at the Pentagon is maliciously attempting to damage and destroy by means of fire, a vehicle used in and affecting interstate and foreign commerce.
If convicted, he faces a mandatory minimum of five years in prison and a maximum of 20 years.
Richardson is being represented by the Federal Public Defender’s Office. His next court appearance is Thursday.
