The Secret Service Wednesday night blamed the delay in arresting a White House National Security Council contractor wanted for attempted murder on the failure of Prince George’s County authorities to enter necessary information into a national crime database.
The agency said the case of Martese Edwards didn’t come to the attention of the Secret Service until Monday, even though Prince George’s officials entered “limited information” about the suspect into the national database on May 17.
“Edwards did not come to the attention of the Secret Service at the time of warrant entry; due to the fact the original entry lacked a Universal Control Number or other personal identifiable information which would trigger an ’alert’ to the Secret Service from the Criminal Justice Information System,” the Secret Service said in a statement.
Edwards, 30, of Suitland, was arrested Tuesday at a White House checkpoint as a fugitive who had evaded U.S. Marshals for weeks. He is charged with attempted first-degree murder for allegedly shooting and injuring his ex-girlfriend’s new boyfriend last month.
The Prince George’s County sheriff’s department said the warrant for Edwards had been listed in the criminal database since May 17. It said the department updated the warrant on Monday to add more personal details about Edwards, including his Social Security number, the fact that he has a tattoo on his right arm, and that he should be considered armed and dangerous.
The county authorities asserted that the changes to the database would not have affected the timing of the Secret Service learning of the warrant.
But the Secret Service said it did not “receive notification of the warrant entry from the Criminal Justice Information System on May 17… nor was the Secret Service contacted by any law enforcement organization regarding the subject.”
“On June 4, 2018, the [Prince George’s sheriff’s department] entered additional identifiable information, including a Universal Control Number pertaining to Edwards into the same national database,” the Secret Service said. “As a result of that PGCSO update on June 4, 2018, the Secret Service was notified by the Criminal Justice Information System that Edwards was the subject of a warrant issued out of Prince George’s County.”
The agency said the warrant was verified, and Edwards “was promptly arrested” on Tuesday by Secret Service Uniformed
Division Officers at a checkpoint outside of the White House complex.
• Dave Boyer can be reached at dboyer@washingtontimes.com.
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