Motorist Held After Crashing Through Security Barricade at Getty Museum

A motorist was arrested by Los Angeles police Monday after he reportedly drove his car through a security barricade at the Getty Museum and crashed into a stairwell before being detained by security officials.

The man, identified as Donald Romps, was being treated late Monday at UCLA Medical Center for head injuries received in the incident, said Sgt. Bobby Smith, watch commander at the LAPD’s West Los Angeles station.

The museum was not open Monday.

Smith said officers received a call about 12:30 p.m. that a motorist had driven through and broken the arm of a metal barricade.

“He drove through the barricade, causing some damage to it,” Smith said. “He then drove into the arrival plaza and collided with a stairway. He got out of his car, ran through the area and was detained by security officials.”

Smith said the damage to the museum was minimal. “In addition to the broken barricade arm, he reportedly chipped some stones in the stairway,” Smith said. “But people up there at the museum say there was minimal damage.”

Museum officials refused to comment on the incident and security guards on the scene Monday told a reporter that nothing out of the ordinary had occurred there.