Police Investigate Suspicious Package Near Pentagon

Update at 2:25 p.m. — Charges have been filed against a North Carolina man.

Willie Amaz Braddy, 41, of Rocky Mount, N.C., was taken into state police custody and charged with reckless driving and for concealing a weapon without a valid permit. The incident remains under investigation.

Update at 6:30 a.m. — Virginia State Police have issued the following statement about last night’s incident.

At 8:30 p.m., a Virginia State Police trooper observed a vehicle backing up the southbound I-395 ramp to Route 27 in Arlington County Monday (June 12, 2011). The trooper stopped the vehicle on the ramp. During the course of the traffic stop, a handgun was discovered inside the vehicle, as well as a suspicious-looking package on the front passenger seat.

Virginia State Police bomb technicians along with the Arlington County Fire Department responded to the scene to investigate the suspicious package Shortly before midnight, it was determined that the vehicle contained no explosive or suspicious device.

The driver has been taken into state police custody and charges are pending at this time. The investigation continues. The I-395 ramp will be re-opened shortly.

Update at 11:50 p.m. — The scene has been cleared and the road is being reopened.

Earlier: Authorities are investigating a suspicious package in a vehicle on Washington Boulevard, near the Pentagon.

Police have shut down both directions of Washington Boulevard between Route 110 and the far eastern end of Columbia Pike. Initial reports suggest a pickup truck had a suspicious item inside on the front seat.

“Virginia State Police are currently investigating a suspicious package discovered inside a vehicle stopped on the ramp from I-395 south to Route 27 in Arlington County,” Virginia State Police spokeswoman Corinne Geller said in a statement just before 11:00 p.m. “The investigation resulted from a traffic stop made by a Trooper at approximately 8:30 p.m. Monday.”

At one point a traffic camera showed what appeared to be a bomb squad robot operating at the scene.

H/t to John Antonelli