Man charged with three felonies for crashing SUV into lobby of D.C. office building

A Maryland man who drove his SUV into an office building just blocks from the White House was charged with three felonies, including arson and destruction of property, stemming from the incident Friday night.

Charles Morrell Ball, 32, was also charged with unauthorized use of a vehicle according to a Metropolitan Police Department spokeswoman.

Ball is accused of dousing his Jeep SUV with gasoline and then crashing it into the lobby of an office building on Connecticut Avenue and L Street NW. The FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force was involved in the investigation of the crash, although the police later said they did not believe terrorism was the motive.

“I don’t think it was a terrorist act,” MPD Chief Cathy Lanier told the Washington Post.

”I think we’re extremely fortunate that no one was hurt in there last night,” Lanier said. “We’re very lucky.”

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