Grad Student Charged in White House Trespass : Security: Fence-jumper held unloaded gun. Agent’s bullet wounded him and guard 50 feet from mansion.

A graduate student with suspected psychological problems was charged with federal assault and weapons violations Wednesday after a late-night intrusion on the White House grounds that left him and a guard wounded and sharpened concerns about presidential security.

According to federal law enforcement officials, Leland William Modjeski, 37, scaled a fence on the east side of the White House grounds about 30 minutes after President Clinton’s motorcade rumbled by. He was wrestled to the ground minutes later, at 10:45 p.m., within 50 feet of the mansion. He was carrying an unloaded .45-caliber revolver and was dressed in a dark business suit, authorities said.

A bullet from a Secret Service agent’s gun passed through Modjeski’s left arm, then through the left arm of another agent as the two grappled on the darkened lawn. Both were listed in satisfactory condition at George Washington University Hospital on Wednesday but were expected to remain hospitalized for several days.

Modjeski, of suburban Falls Church, Va., has a history of mental problems, said federal prosecutor Eric Dubelier, but apparently no criminal record. Noting that Modjeski recently had been fired from a six-month job as a Pizza Hut deliveryman, some law enforcement officials speculated that his trespass was an effort by a deeply troubled man to hurt himself in a way that would attract attention to his despair.

Modjeski received a master’s degree in psychology in 1992 from George Mason University and had been admitted to the university’s psychology doctorate program. He had not begun his doctoral studies.

Authorities said they have not determined a motive or if the incident was an attempt to assassinate the President.

Modjeski was charged with felony counts of forcibly assaulting a federal officer and interstate transportation of a firearm with intent to commit a felony. Each offense is punishable with up to 10 years in prison.

The incident occurred only four days after Clinton reluctantly imposed a new security regime at the White House, including the unprecedented shutdown of two blocks of Pennsylvania Avenue in front of the White House. The intrusion lengthened to five the list of major security violations at the presidential residence since September, when a despondent Maryland man flew a single-engine plane into the residence just below the Clintons’ bedroom window.

Yet even though Modjeski was close to the White House, officials from the President on down insisted that the elaborate White House security system worked as it is supposed to. Clinton jogged Wednesday morning, then joked that it was “just another day at the White House.”

Press Secretary Mike McCurry said White House officials see no reason for any additional review of security, noting that the Administration disclosed only Saturday the results of a lengthy security study.

In the view of federal law enforcement, the tall wrought-iron fence around the White House is only the first line of defense against intruders. The security system anticipates that intruders will scale the fence from time to time.

But so long as those invaders are quickly spotted and seized, the system has achieved its goal of permitting an open environment while protecting the President, officials say.

Authorities gave this detailed account of the incident:

Modjeski left his modest, three-bedroom townhome sometime after 8:30 p.m., parking his car south of the White House near the Ellipse.

Clinton returned from a speech to Democratic congressional officials at 10:10 p.m. and was driven through the southeast gate of the White House, off East Executive Avenue, into the circular White House drive.

Authorities claim that Modjeski scaled the fence and dropped onto an ivy-covered embankment, but his presence was detected electronically as soon as he crossed the fence. When he struck the ground, other electronic sensors picked him up, and Secret Service agents followed his moves.

He crossed quickly toward the White House under a canopy of oaks and was spotted by an agent standing between him and the building.

The agent yelled “weapon” to warn other agents Modjeski had a gun, and he demanded that the man stop. But Modjeski continued. The agent leaped at him, wrestling him to the ground at a spot just south of the Jacqueline Kennedy Garden and north of the circular driveway.

Soon a second uniformed Secret Service officer fired a single shot, piercing and exiting Modjeski’s arm, then entering the arm of Secret Service Agent Scott Giambattista, 35, a 10-year veteran of the agency.

At least one other agent was a witness, authorities said. A prosecutor’s affidavit supporting the charges lists Agents Giambattista, Lawrence Boorom and David Levine but does not indicate who fired the shot.

Officials said that, following standard procedure, they will investigate whether the wounding of Giambattista was an unpreventable accident or a mistake.

A federal law enforcement official said the Secret Service agents initially hesitated when they saw the intruder because he was wearing a business suit and they thought he might not be dangerous. Secret Service agents regularly see college students and others jump over the fence on a lark--or even in search of a bathroom.

During the shooting, Clinton was in the presidential residence, discussing strategy with Chief of Staff Leon E. Panetta on disputed legislation to cut spending for the current fiscal year. The two men noticed the commotion outside, but it did not interrupt their work.

Mrs. Clinton had gone to bed, and daughter Chelsea had just completed her homework.

Federal Magistrate Alan Kay set a preliminary hearing for Tuesday because Modjeski remained hospitalized and could not appear on Wednesday. Prosecutors said they would ask that Modjeski be held without bond.

Physicians said the bullet went through an artery and damaged a major nerve in Modjeski’s arm. They used a piece of artery from his leg to replace some of the damaged vessel.

The bullet entered Giambattista at his left elbow and lodged in his forearm, shattering the bone called the ulna. Doctors used a metal plate, 12 screws and 50 staples in their repair and said it is impossible yet to say whether he will fully recover.

President Clinton called Giambattista Wednesday morning to thank him and wish him a full recovery.

Assistant U.S. Atty. Dubelier said an initial investigation found that Modjeski did not have a criminal record, but there was some indication of past mental health problems. He declined to elaborate. He said that the investigation into Modjeski’s actions and motives was continuing and that additional charges might be filed.

“It happened less than 12 hours ago; the case is still under investigation,” Dubelier told reporters outside the federal courthouse after a brief appearance before Judge Kay.

“We have to figure out why he went and did what he did,” he said. Modjeski’s motives “are not apparent from his actions,” Dubelier added.

Although they live clustered like grapes on a vine in the Virginia community, few of Modjeski’s neighbors had close contact with him. Residents of Great Oak Square seemed shocked that reporters would expect them to explain their neighbor’s actions, because few in the 64-unit community socialized with anyone living on their quiet, tree-lined dead-end street.

“Very simply, nobody knows anything,” said neighbor Arthur Graves. “Everybody is trying to figure it out: Who is he? Why he did it? But nobody can figure it out.”

But one neighbor, retired veteran Roy Eberhart, 42, said Modjeski “was just a normal, nice guy.”

“He kept to himself and was quiet and, as far as I ever knew, never bothered anyone.”

“People always want to say [someone accused of a crime] was wicked, but that doesn’t fit here,” said Eberhart.

Neighbors were unclear whether Modjeski’s wife, Rosemary, lived with him in the townhouse, a brick-front unit with beige shutters and pots of purple and yellow pansies on the front stoop.

Pizza Hut declined to discuss the reason for Modjeski’s firing, but Rick Spicher, operations director for the company’s northern Virginia division, told the Associated Press that Modjeski “did a nice job for us up to a certain point. He was very quiet and just did his job.”

Times staff writer John M. Broder and Times researcher D’Jamila Salem contributed to this story.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

White House Intruder

Authorities said a man climbed the fence about 10:45 p.m. EDT and tripped the elaborate alarm system. One Secret Service agent struggled with the intruder and a second agent fired his gun, hitting both the agent and intruder in the arm. The episode occurred despite a succession of increasingly stringent security measures.

Past Attempts

Ran through open gate Entered with pass holders Jumped fence 1989 0 0 3 1990 1 1 2 1991 0 0 7 1992 0 0 4 1993 1 0 3 1994 0 3 4