Judge Orders Gunman to Be Held And to Undergo Drug Treatment

Carlos Greene, accused of leading police on a chase in the U.S. Capitol on Monday, appears before U.S. Magistrate Judge John M. Facciola. (By William J. Hennessy Jr. For The Washington Post)

The armed man who burst into the U.S. Capitol on Monday morning was ordered held in jail for the next 10 days and to undergo medical or psychiatric treatment after testing positive for drug use.

Carlos Greene, 20, said little during his initial appearance before U.S. Magistrate Judge John M. Facciola yesterday. Wearing a white jail jumpsuit, he appeared to breathe heavily at times and close his eyes. He thanked the judge on his way out of the courtroom.

Greene is accused of barreling a sport-utility vehicle through a construction entrance at the Capitol about 7:45 a.m. Monday, smashing into a concrete barrier and sprinting into the building. Police chased him to the basement and arrested him after a struggle. Authorities then discovered that Greene had a loaded gun in his waistband. No one was hurt during the incident.

Prosecutors offered no motive in court. But they revealed new details, saying that Greene nearly struck a pedestrian on First Street NE, near the Capitol, and then backed up and nearly hit the pedestrian again. Greene then failed to heed a Capitol Police officer's yells to stop as he drove near the building's east side, prosecutors said.

When he was cornered in the basement, Greene reached for a shotgun used by one of the Capitol police officers trying to subdue him, prosecutors said. Authorities said that they found crack cocaine when they searched Greene and that he was on drugs.

Greene, of Silver Spring, was charged with unlawful possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. He has a record of convictions for disorderly conduct in Montgomery County and fleeing a law enforcement officer in the District. He has failed to report to probation authorities since July, records show.

In June, he was charged in the District with carrying an unlicensed pistol and driving while intoxicated, records show. In April, he was arrested in Rockville and charged with attempting to elude police, reckless driving and disobeying a law enforcement officer. He is awaiting trial in both cases.

His government-appointed attorney, Carlos Varegas, declined to comment yesterday. Greene is due back in court Friday for a hearing to determine whether he will remain jailed pending trial.

Capitol Police yesterday continued an internal investigation into what happened, scrutinizing videotape from security cameras, listening to recorded radio transmissions and interviewing witnesses, said William H. Pickle, the Senate sergeant-at-arms, who sits on the board overseeing the agency.

Pickle said the officers had determined that "there were two specific areas where the police could have done a much better job." In both cases, human error was involved, Pickle said, declining to provide details so as not to reveal security vulnerabilities. "Corrective action will be taken," he said, and added that police will carry out further training and exercises.

Hundreds of millions of dollars have been spent to upgrade security at the Capitol in recent years.

"There's nothing wrong with the system," Pickle said. "But there was absolutely something wrong with the exercise" of procedures.

Calls to the Acting Capitol Police Chief Christopher M. McGaffin, were not returned yesterday.

The reaction from Congress to the breach of security was one of calm concern yesterday, as legislators waited to learn what the police internal investigation would reveal.

Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.) said the incident showed "a hole in our security that they [Capitol Police] had not sufficiently contemplated." Greene reached the grounds through an entrance for construction workers building a visitor center, striking a Capitol Police vehicle that was guarding the gate.

Norton said that although police have to improve planning, they don't need wholesale changes. "I hope this doesn't result in locking us down any more because we're plenty safe with the other security" measures in place, she said.

Salley Collins, a spokeswoman for the Committee on House Administration, which oversees the department, said, "We intend to work with the Capitol Police to ensure something like this will not happen again."

Staff writer Allison Klein contributed to this report.