A man in a pickup truck drove through the main checkpoint outside the Central Intelligence Agency headquarters last month and crashed on the CIA's front steps, the agency said Wednesday.

It was a stunning breach of security that occurred because guards could not move quickly enough to activate pop-up metal barriers "due to the very high speed of the vehicle," the CIA said.

After racing past the checkpoint, the driver, identified as David Crump, 37, of McLean, Va., barreled through the CIA campus, drove across a grass square outside the headquarters building and began to climb its front steps before hitting a handrail.

Spokesman Mark Mansfield said the CIA "learned from" the incident, which occurred about 8 p.m. Dec. 23, and that "we're doing everything we can to prevent it from happening again."

The suspect was arrested by CIA security guards at the scene. He had no known terrorist connections, criminal background or affiliation with the spy agency, the CIA said; nor was he armed.

A U.S. official said the suspect had been sent to a federal correctional facility for psychiatric evaluation.