Arrest made in break-in of Secret Service vehicle outside Naomi Biden’s home
Written by ABC Audio All Rights Reserved on February 22, 2024
(WASHINGTON) — A 19-year-old has been charged with first-degree theft and unauthorized use of a vehicle in connection with the break-in of a Secret Service limo in November outside President Joe Biden’s granddaughter Naomi Biden’s home in Washington, court records show.
Robert Kemp, a 19-year-old Washington resident, was charged in early February after investigators recovered the sedan that Kemp is believed to have used in the break-in and then connected him to the crime, Kemp’s criminal complaint states.
According to the complaint, which was obtained by ABC News, two Secret Service agents first reported the incident at Naomi Biden’s residence late on Nov. 12.
While the complaint does not specifically name Naomi Biden, sources familiar previously confirmed to ABC News that the incident occurred outside her home.
Kemp’s criminal complaint states that the Secret Service agents said that they saw a red sedan stop on Nov. 12 near a “Secret Service limo used for members of the first family.”
One of the agents “observed a black male, legs hanging out of the broken driver side rear window” of the Secret Service vehicle, according to the complaint.
As the agent yelled police, the suspect fled in the sedan, “almost striking” one of the agents, who fired his weapon, the complaint states.
It is unclear if Naomi Biden heard the commotion but she was made aware afterward, sources have said.
Among the equipment stolen from the van were night vision goggles and a portable router, according to the complaint.
Investigators later found the sedan used in the break-in and discovered it had been stolen earlier in November, the complaint states. A McDonalds receipt and McDonald’s bag in the vehicle matched Kemp’s fingerprints and those of an unnamed juvenile, allowing law enforcement to trace back to Kemp himself.
The juvenile believed to have been with Kemp was also under GPS monitoring, which showed the juvenile was in the area at the time of the break-in, per the complaint.
Kemp agreed to speak with investigators at his home in December, according to the complaint, and he allegedly said that he’d been driving the sedan at the time of the break-in, which he blamed on someone named “JR.”
He “denied knowing the whereabouts of the items stolen and wasn’t sure of what was taken from the ‘black truck,'” the complaint states.
Kemp is scheduled to appear in court for a preliminary hearing on Feb. 29.
His attorney did not return a call seeking comment on Wednesday.
ABC News’ Adam Carlson contributed to this report.
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