CINCINNATI — The man accused of damaging Vice President JD Vance's Cincinnati home has been federally charged.
William DeFoor, 26, was already charged with criminal damaging, obstructing official business, criminal trespassing and vandalism, according to a Cincinnati Police Department arrest report.
Now, he's federally charged with damaging government property, engaging in physical violence against any person or property in a restricted building or grounds and assaulting, resisting or impeding federal officers.
According to an affidavit filed Monday, Secret Service agents saw DeFoor running along the front fence of the home at around midnight, allegedly breaching the property line and attempting to break the driver's side window of an unmarked vehicle blocking the driveway entrance with a hammer.
DeFoor allegedly refused to follow Secret Service commands to stop and drop the hammer, using it to break glass across the front of the home. During this, he damaged security assets on each window.
A WCPO crew at the scene saw several officers from both agencies searching around Vance's home in the early morning hours Monday; several windows in the house appeared to be broken.
You can see the damage and police investigation in the video below:
Defoor has faced similar charges in the past. In 2023, he was charged with criminal trespass but was ultimately deemed incompetent to stand trial.
In 2024, Defoor was charged with two counts of vandalism for breaking windows in the front of a business; he was also ruled incompetent to stand trial in that case, and was ordered to undergo treatment at Summit Behavioral Healthcare.
It doesn't appear Vance or his family were home at the time of the incident; the City of Cincinnati previously announced that roads around the house would be closed until Sunday, Jan. 4.
Those barricades were not in place when our crew went to the scene Monday morning.
Later Monday morning, just before 10 a.m., Vance wrote on social media that he is grateful to the secret service and the Cincinnati police for their quick response.
"I appreciate everyone's well wishes about the attack at our home," Vance wrote. "As far as I can tell, a crazy person tried to break in by hammering the windows. I'm grateful to the secret service and the Cincinnati police for responding quickly. We weren't even home, as we had returned already to DC. One request to the media: we try to protect our kids as much as possible from the realities of this life of public service. In that light, I am skeptical of the news value of plastering images of our home with holes in the windows."
I appreciate everyone's well wishes about the attack at our home. As far as I can tell, a crazy person tried to break in by hammering the windows. I'm grateful to the secret service and the Cincinnati police for responding quickly. We weren't even home as we had returned…
— JD Vance (@JDVance) January 5, 2026
