‘Time for talking is done’: US Capitol Police extract and arrest man from ‘suspicious’ vehicle outside Supreme Court

Police perform ‘controlled explosion’ before almost a dozen heavily armed and armoured officers swarm Dale Paul Melvin, 55, of Michigan

A man was taken into custody after the US Capitol Police ‘extracted’ him from a suspicious SUV illegally parked outside the Supreme Court building, in what witnesses described as a “controlled explosion”.

Video from the scene showed a loud bang and smoke before officers rushed in to grab the man, who was identified as 55-year-old Dale Paul Melvin from Michigan. He was pulled to the floor, tied, and led away in custody with his hands behind his back.

US Capitol Police’s deputy chief of operational services Jason Bell said officers responded after Mr Melvin illegally parked in front of the US Supreme Court about 9.30am. Officers moved in and arrested Mr Melvin after he refused to speak with negotiators, Mr Bell said.

“The man refused to talk, made a statement to the effect of, ‘the time for talking is done’,” Mr Bell said at a press conference.

Dale Paul Melvin, 55, of Kimball, Michigan, taken into custody. (EPA)

The dramatic end to the standoff came roughly one and a half hours after Capitol Police closed roads around the Supreme Court in Washington DC on Tuesday, 5 October. It was the second day of a high court term that is expected to address controversial issues that could shape the country for a generation, including abortion laws, gun rights, religious freedom and the death penalty.

Soon after US Capitol Police said in a statement they were trying to talk to the driver, eyewitness accounts described a “controlled explosion”, followed by smoke, as about a dozen heavily armed and armoured officers swarmed the vehicle.

Capitol Police issued an alert shortly before announcing plans to “disrupt” the vehicle, according to The New York Times reporter Emily Cochrane.

“A loud bang may be heard in the area. There is no cause for alarm, and no action needs to be taken by Congressional Staff,” the alert said.

Police respond to a man barricaded in his vehicle (EPA)

But while Capitol Police alerted Congress of their plans to “disrupt” the vehicle, they would not publicly confirm whether a controlled explosion was used to enter the vehicle and remove the driver.

“We can’t talk about our methods because we obviously want to keep that under wraps, because we don’t want to give folks a heads up as to how we might pull somebody out of the vehicle,” a US Capitol spokesman said.

There were no weapons found but the vehicle was still being processed.

The ‘suspicious’ SUV, left, is surrounded by Capitol Police (EPA)