A Hazle Twp. tractor-trailer driver who allegedly bluffed that he hid a bomb in a truck near the White House because he wanted to see the president early Wednesday was charged with a felony by the U.S. Secret Service.
Krzysztof Wasik, 44, told a Secret Service officer at a White House gate at 4:35 a.m. that he was angry about rules and regulations for his job and fines that he had to pay. He asked to speak to the president.
When the officer said Mr. Wasik couldn't see the president but should contact an agency that regulates traffic, Mr. Wasik went away. About 10 minutes later, he returned and spoke to the guard again.
"I know what it takes to get things done around here. I have a bomb in my truck parked 500 feet from here," Mr. Wasik said, according a statement supporting a criminal complaint filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.
After Mr. Wasik refused to say where his truck was parked until he spoke with the president, the officer arrested him.
A block from the White House, an officer spotted a tractor-trailer cab with a Pennsylvania license plate in front of the Veterans Affairs Building at Vermont and H streets. Keys dangled in the ignition.
"Don't touch the keys ⦠or something bad will happen," Mr. Wasik said, according to the statement. "I don't care if children or veterans are harmed by the bomb. I only care about speaking to the president."
A military explosive ordinance disposal team and the D.C. fire and police departments all responded.
Authorities created a "safe zone" by barring pedestrians and vehicles from H Street N.W. to K Street, and N.W. between 15th and 17th streets, the statement says.
They closed the Square Metro subway station and evacuated the Veterans Affairs Building.
After a search lasting 1 hour 47 minutes, authorities determined the cab contained no explosives.
They charged Mr. Wasik with a making a bomb threat, a felony.
Mr. Wasik immigrated from Poland and ran his own small trucking company.
Neighbors in the Chapel Hill development of Hazle Twp. said Mr. Wasik occasionally parked the cab of a tractor-trailer at his house at 370 Goshen Ave.
Mr. Wasik has no criminal record in Northeast Pennsylvania other than traffic violations.
Contact the writer: kjackson@standardspeaker.com