WASHINGTON (AP) - The Latest on a doctor arrested with two guns in his car at the Trump hotel in Washington (all times local):
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3:45 p.m.
A longtime friend of the Pennsylvania physician arrested on weapons charges at the Trump International Hotel in Washington says he was not a threat.
Lisa DellaRatta says she’s known Bryan Moles for more than 25 years and used to live with him. She says Moles “cannot be a more standup man.”
Police say they seized an assault-style rifle and handgun from Moles’ vehicle early Wednesday. He was charged with carrying a pistol without a license and having unregistered ammunition. Authorities say they believe they prevented a potential tragedy by arresting Moles.
DellaRatta says guns are prevalent in the rural area near Lake Erie where she and Moles grew up, and he’s always owned them. She described Moles as a brilliant ER doctor, a huge supporter of veterans and a loving father and husband.
DellaRatta, a nurse practitioner in Florida, says “there is absolutely no way” he was planning violence.
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1:20 p.m.
A Pennsylvania man’s arrest at the Trump International Hotel after an assault-style rifle and handgun were found in his vehicle was sparked by a late-night tip to police in his home state that was quickly relayed to authorities in Washington.
Pennsylvania State Police spokesman Ryan Tarkowski said Wednesday that the agency received a tip about 43-year-old Bryan Moles of Edinboro, Pennsylvania, around midnight and immediately alerted authorities in Washington.
Tarkowski says they felt it was appropriate to contact authorities in Washington based on the information “so obviously there was some level of threat there,” but he declined to provide any details on the tip or the nature of the threat.
Police say they seized the weapons from Moles’ vehicle and he was charged with carrying a pistol without a license and having unregistered ammunition.
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12:25 p.m.
The Secret Service says a man arrested at the Trump International Hotel after police found an assault-style rifle and handgun in his vehicle didn’t pose a threat to the people the agency protects.
Michael Ball, deputy special agent at Secret Service’s Washington field office, said at a news conference Wednesday that agents went to the hotel based on a tip. Ball says agents interviewed 43-year-old Bryan Moles.
Police say they seized the weapons from Moles’ vehicle and he was charged with carrying a pistol without a license and having unregistered ammunition.
In a statement, Secret Service agent Brian Ebert said the investigation is “still new and ongoing.”
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11:45 a.m.
Police in the U.S. capital received information from the Pennsylvania State Police that a tipster had reported a doctor was traveling to the Trump International Hotel in Washington, armed with weapons and ammunition.
Metropolitan Police Chief Peter Newsham says Bryan Moles checked into the hotel early Wednesday, and authorities worked with hotel security to locate Moles’ car, an assault-style rifle and a handgun. They also found Moles inside the hotel.
Newsham said a news conference that he was “very concerned” about Moles and that authorities “averted a potential disaster here in our nation’s capital.”
The police chief says Moles is being interviewed, and is cooperating with authorities.
Moles is facing weapons charges. Newsham added that the department does not presently have enough evidence to charge Moles with making threats, although a department spokesman earlier indicated that was part of the tip to Pennsylvania authorities.
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10:20 a.m.
A Pennsylvania man has been arrested at the Trump International Hotel in Washington after police say they found a rifle and handgun in his car.
Police said 43-year-old Bryan Moles of Edinboro, Pennsylvania, was arrested early Wednesday at the downtown Washington hotel.
A report states that police received information that Moles would have the guns and at the hotel they saw one firearm “in plain view” in Moles’ vehicle and found another inside the glove box. Police seized a Glock 23 pistol, a Bushmaster assault-style rifle and 90 rounds of ammunition.
Police spokesman Dustin Sternbeck told The Washington Post that a tip from an out-of-state law enforcement agency said Moles had “made threatening remarks.”
Moles is charged with carrying a pistol without a license and having unregistered ammunition.
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