The driver who plowed into President Biden’s motorcade as he left his campaign headquarters in Delaware Sunday night was charged with driving while under the influence, authorities announced Monday.
James Cooper, 46, of Wilmington, was taken into custody after his silver sedan smashed into an SUV blocking an intersection, Wilmington police said.
Cooper was also charged with inattentive driving in addition to the DUI.
Officials said the crash did not appear to be intentional, with Cooper likely unaware that it was Biden’s motorcade that he had struck, CNN reported.
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Cooper has since been released from custody and given a summons to appear in court at a later date.
A representative for Cooper was not immediately available for comment.
James Cooper, 46, plowed into President Biden’s motorcade on Sunday.Biden was leaving a meeting with his campaign team when the crash occurred. REUTERS
The incident occurred just as Biden, 81, was talking to reporters outside his campaign headquarters just after 8 p.m.
A loud bang could be heard, surprising Biden and spurring the Secret Service into action, according to a White House press pool report.
Biden was taken to his vehicle, where first lady Jill Biden was waiting for him, and the couple were quickly driven away from the crash site.
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Cooper was charged with driving under the influence of alcohol and inattentive driving. AFP via Getty Images/ Andrew Caballero-ReynoldsThe Secret Service at the scene. AFP via Getty Images
Both the president and first lady were reported safe.
This isn’t the first time Biden’s motorcade has been involved in an accident while the president was in his hometown.
An SUV in President Biden’s motorcade was hit by a vehicle as he was leaving his campaign headquarters in Delaware tonight.
Secret service agents surrounded the car with guns drawn as Biden was ushered into his vehicle.
In 2020, the then-president-elect’s motorcade collided with a vehicle on the road, leaving a state trooper and a 77-year-old woman with minor injuries.
The return to average summer temperatures has been pushed back to Thursday in the forecasts, and in the meantime it’ll be highs in the low-to-mid-90s, with a heat advisory in effect from Monday morning to Tuesday night.
The National Weather Service office in Mount Holly, N.J., also adds: “Peak heat indices on Wednesday are forecast to reach or exceed 100 degrees, and therefore an extension of this heat advisory into Wednesday is probable.”
The other weather news for Wednesday is that a cool front is expected to approach the region and set off thunderstorms. The probability of precipitation is listed as less than 50%.
The forecast for Thursday through the weekend is for high temperatures in the 80s in a bit more normalcy for summer, but not much cooling overnights, with the lows staying above 70 degrees around the daybreaks.
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But in the more immediate future, on Monday and Tuesday the humidity is expected to be on the increase, which means heat indices will rise and hence, the heat advisory.
On Sunday night at 8, the humidity was 42% at Philadelphia International Airport, the official weather service site in the Philadelphia metro area, a not-uncomfortable reading.
The temperature topped out Sunday at 95 degrees, well off the record for the date. The forecast highs for Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday — 96, 93 and 93, respectively — are all well below date records of 100, 103 and 104, respectively.
The last one is from the scorching summer of 1936 and is tied for the second-highest temperature on record at an official Philadelphia site with July 3, 1966. Both trail 106 degrees on Aug. 5, 1918.
Honor D Lady cruised to a 5 1/2-length victory in the Grade 2, $500,125 Delaware Handicap on Sunday at Delaware Park.
The 4-year-old daughter of Honor Code gave her jockey Jose Ortiz his fourth victory in the filly-and-mare race, equaling the record set by Angel Cordero Jr., who won in 1968, 1974, 1981 and 1987. Ortiz previously won with Belle Gallantey in 2014 and Elate in 2018 and 2019.
Click here for Delaware Park entries and results.
Trained by Saffie Joseph Jr., Honor D Lady returned $6.20 as the second choice in the field of seven.
Saddle Up Jessie, with Sheldon Russell, finished second, a half-length in front of the even-money favorite Wet Paint with Flavien Prat.
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Abundancia with Julio Hernandez cut early fractions of 24.07 seconds for the quarter-mile and 49:67 for the half-mile before fading to sixth.
The final time was 1:59.86 for the 1 3/16 miles over the fast main track.
“I rode her one time already, and we won,” Ortiz said. “Saffie told me you have the 2 hole, so try to break clean, try to find your way outside, do not give too much to do, and keep close to the pace, but at the end of the day you ride her how you want. That is what I tried to do, and I am glad it worked out. When I hit the three-eighths pole, she kind of moved about two jumps before I wanted, so I had to kind of grab her and take a little momentum away from her, but I was sitting on a lot of horse.”
This was the second win of the year for Honor D Lady from four starts. The Kentucky-bred trained filly won the Royal Delta (G3) on Feb. 17. Her career record is five wins from 13 starts with earnings of $708,167.
Authorities are reportedly conducting a death investigation at Towers Beach, located just south of Dewey Beach. Initial reports indicate that lifeguards found a body on the beach early Sunday morning. Officials have not confirmed those details.
Several DNREC (Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control) and state beach workers have cordoned off a section of the dunes at Towers Beach as part of the ongoing investigation.
investigators from the Delaware state police are also on scene to assist in the investigation.
Rescue crews were dispatched to the scene shortly before 10:00 AM to assist in the operation.
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According to beachgoers, authorities are also closing the south side of the beach.