JD Vance’s Ohio Home Is Damaged by Suspect Who ‘Broke Windows With a Hammer’

A suspect is in custody after allegedly smashing in the windows of Vice President JD Vance's Cincinnati home in the early hours of Monday morning.

"Shortly after midnight on Monday, January 5, the man was physically detained by Secret Service agents assigned to the Vice President’s home," said the Secret Service in a statement provided to Realtor.com® by Matthew C. Young, assistant special agent in charge of the U.S. Secret Service Office of Communication and Media Relations.

"The residence was unoccupied at the time of the incident, and the Vice President and his family were not in Ohio."

Vance had been in Cincinnati for the past week, but had reportedly left on Sunday afternoon for Washington, DC.

In a statement posted on X, Vance said: "I appreciate everyone's well wishes about the attack at our home. As far as I can tell, a crazy person tried to break in by hammering the windows.

"I'm grateful to the secret service and the Cincinnati police for responding quickly. We weren't even home as we had returned already to DC.

"One request to the media: we try to protect our kids as much as possible from the realities of this life of public service. In that light, I am skeptical of the news value of plastering images of our home with holes in the windows."

The suspect has been identified as William Defoor, 26, according to a Cincinnati Police Department arrest report.

Defoor was taken into custody by Cincinnati police "for causing property damage, including breaking windows on the exterior of a personal residence associated with the Vice President," the Secret Service told Realtor.com.

According to the arrest report, Defoor was captured on surveillance footage and seen by a Secret Service agent walking onto Vance's property and damaging four windows and a vehicle owned by Vance.

Defoor has been charged with one count of criminal damage, one count of obstructing official business, one count of criminal trespass, and one felony count of vandalism.

Officers were reportedly on scene and going in and out of the house for several hours.

"The U.S. Secret Service is coordinating with the Cincinnati Police Department and the U.S. Attorney’s Office as charging decisions are reviewed," Young told Realtor.com.

Vance's connection to Ohio

Although Vance and his family live in Washington, DC, the vice president has deep ties to the state of Ohio.

He was born and raised in Middletown, OH, which is less than an hour from Cincinnati.

His childhood home in the Rust Belt inspired parts of his 2016 bestselling memoir, "Hillbilly Elegy."

Vance graduated from Ohio State University summa cum laude in 2009 with a degree in political science and philosophy.

In 2018, Vance and his wife, Usha, bought a historical two-story home in the hip East Walnut Hills neighborhood of Cincinnati shortly after Vance sold the film rights to "Hillbilly Elegy."

According to local architectural historian Walter E. Langsam, the home, which was built in 1900, is a "rustic" example of "midcentury Gothic Revival transitioning to High Victorian Gothic."

When Vance represented Ohio in the United States Senate from 2023 to 2025, the home served as Vance's base for his constituents in the Buckeye State.