WASHINGTON, D.C. (WTNH) — A woman was arrested Saturday for attempting to impersonate a law enforcement officer at a security checkpoint near the Capitol, police report.
Capitol police said that at approximately 8:45 a.m. United State Capitol Police (USCP) officers stopped an adult female suspect at First Street and Columbus Circle, NE, at a security checkpoint set up for the Inauguration.
The woman presented what was identified as a military challenge coin and stated she was a law enforcement officer. Officials said the woman stated, “She was a law enforcement officer and part of the presidential cabinet.”
As the USCP officer questioned the suspect and told her to put the vehicle in park three times before she complied. She was ordered to turn the vehicle off and asked for her driver’s license, but she drove off even as officers ordered her to stop.
She fled north on Columbus Circle NE and was stopped at 50 Massachusetts Ave. where she was placed under arrest and charged with false impersonation of a law enforcement officer, failure to obey an officer, and fleeing a law enforcement officer.
She was transported to the D.C. Comprehensive Psychiatric Emergency Program for evaluation and later processed at USCP Headquarters and transported to D.C. Central Cell Block.
The suspect was identified by Metro Police as 63-year-old Linda MaGovern, of Stratford.
News 8 spoke with MaGovern’s husband, Keith. He had no official comment but said he thinks the incident was a “misunderstanding.”
On Sunday, Stratford police said MaGovern has never been arrested in Stratford, but they have had contact with her based on a domestic incident and welfare check.
This comes the day after a Virginia man attempted to get through a Capitol checkpoint with a loaded gun, ammunition and fake credentials.
Since Jan. 6, when a pro-Trump mob of protesters breached Capitol security in a mass act of insurrection that left five dead including a Capitol police officer, security has been beefed up around the Capitol complex and National Guard members from every state have been sent to assist in security through the inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden.
Hundreds of Connecticut National Guard members have been sent to D.C.
