Police have charged a man who allegedly used a hammer to smash windows at Vice President Vance’s residence in Cincinnati early Monday morning, an incident that underscores the growing challenges facing the U.S. Secret Service as it launches an ambitious plan to expand its workforce.

William DeFoor, 26, was charged with criminal damaging or endangering, criminal trespass, and vandalism, local TV station WLWT reported. Mr. Vance lives at the million-dollar home with his wife, Usha, and their three young children. 

“The residence was unoccupied at the time of the incident, and the Vice President and his family were not in Ohio,” the Secret Service said in a statement to Fox News. The suspect also allegedly vandalized a Secret Service vehicle parked in the home’s driveway.

Mr. Vance took to social media on Monday morning to ask the press for privacy regarding matters involving his family.

“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,” he wrote in an X post.

“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,” he added.

Mr. Vance had been in Cincinnati as recently as the weekend, reportedly monitoring the operation in Venezuela to take President Nicolás Maduro into custody, but left Sunday afternoon and returned to Washington, D.C. 

The Cincinnati Police Department took the suspect into custody following his detention by federal agents.

The security breach comes as the Secret Service is reportedly set to initiate one of the most significant hiring efforts in its history. The agency plans to hire 4,000 new employees by 2028, the Washington Post reported. The move is aimed at alleviating strain on an overstretched workforce and preparing for upcoming major security events, including the 2028 presidential election and the Olympics.

Secret Service leaders intend to increase the agency’s size by about 20 percent, pushing the total staff count to more than 10,000 for the first time. The plan, led by Deputy Director Matthew Quinn, targets an increase in special agents from 3,500 to 5,000, alongside hundreds of new Uniformed Division officers and support staff, the Post reported.

The surge reflects mounting concerns regarding staff burnout and a relentless operational tempo. A larger workforce would allow the Secret Service to rely less on external law enforcement agencies to secure high-profile events — a dependency that contributed to communication failures during the 2024 attempted assassination of President Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania.

Despite the urgent need for personnel, the agency faces significant hurdles, including a shortage of qualified candidates and stiff competition from other federal agencies. While some officials considered cutting back on investigative training to speed up recruitment, Mr. Quinn rejected the idea, the Post reported.

Instead, the agency is exploring accelerated hiring events, such as a recent initiative in November where candidates completed fitness tests, security interviews, and polygraphs over the course of several days.