In a security scare, a sedan rammed into the Secret Service vehicle guarding US President Joe Biden's motorcade in Delaware on Sunday night, causing a commotion. Biden was talking to reporters in downtown Wilmington after having a meal with members of his re-election team outside his campaign headquarters when the collision occurred.
Both Biden and first lady Jill Biden were safe, the White House said in a statement.
#WATCH | US President Joe Biden rushed into his vehicle as a car crashed into a vehicle attached to his motorcade.
— ANI (@ANI) December 18, 2023
(Source: Reuters) pic.twitter.com/2ooVcY0BQo
The sedan ploughed into the motorcade SUV that was used to close off intersections for the President's departure. The silver vehicle with Delaware license plates then tried to continue into a closed-off intersection before Secret Service personnel surrounded the car and pulled weapons on the driver, who held his hands up.
Videos doing rounds on the internet showed Biden looking surprised at the incident before the agents ushered him into his vehicle.
A statement by the Secret Service later said that the crash was accidental and the driver did not know the President was at the event. "There was no protective interest associated with this event," The New York Times quoted the statement. “The President’s motorcade departed without incident,” the agency said in the statement.
However, an investigation is on. David Karas, a spokesman for the Wilmington Police Department, said investigators are also working to "determine if impairment was a factor."
