Suspect driving Mercedes strikes federal employee in Laguna Niguel

A 45-year-old man was in federal custody Friday on suspicion of using his car to hit and seriously injure a federal employee outside a federal building in Laguna Niguel, the FBI said.

Geoffrey Rickner of Laguna Niguel was arrested shortly after 4:30 p.m. Thursday outside the Chet Holifield Federal Building in the 24000 block of Avila Road, according to the Orange County Sheriff’s Department and FBI spokeswoman Laura Eimiller.

After the assault, Rickner was taken into custody by officers with the Federal Protective Service, an arm of the Department of Homeland Security. Rickner’s car also hit the south parking maintenance garage, ending up lodged into the building, Eimiller said.

Rickner was taken into federal custody and being held in Orange County, Eimiller said. Rickner may be arraigned in federal court later today on the assault charge, she added.

In addition to the Federal Protective Services officers, personnel from the Orange County Sheriff’s Department, the U.S. Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services responded to the scene, Eimiller said.

A sheriff’s bomb squad also searched the suspect’s Mercedes sedan and the general vicinity of the federal property but found no explosive device, Eimiller added.

No one else was injured.

FBI agents were trying to determine a motive for the attack, Eimiller said.

—City News Service