2 Women Arrested After Breach Near Mar-a-Lago

By Neal Colgrass,  Newser Staff
Posted Jan 31, 2020 1:12 PM CST
Updated Jan 31, 2020 4:21 PM CST
Car Chase, Gunfire Reported at Mar-a-Lago
Palm Beach Police and Palm Beach County Sheriff's deputies set up a checkpoint at the intersection of S. County Rd. and S. Ocean Blvd. Friday in Palm Beach, Fla., on Friday, Jan. 31, 2020.   (Damon Higgins/The Palm Beach Post via AP)

Gunfire broke out near Mar-a-Lago on Friday after an SUV broke through security in what TMZ calls "a wild car chase." Seems the vehicle breached two checkpoints on its way to the main entrance of President Trump's resort, and the Florida Highway Patrol pursued, along with a police helicopter. Authorities say it began when the Palm Beach Sheriff's Office responded to Hannah Roehmild, 30, dancing atop a parked car in a hotel parking lot at around 11:30am, per WSVN. The sheriff followed her to a rental jeep, which she backed up while he tapped on the glass, and he finally broke it to stop her as she drove away. Investigators say she likely approached a checkpoint near Mar-a-Lago at high speed and didn't bother to slow down.

Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw says she crashed through two checkpoints, scattering deputies and Secret Service agents at the second one. Her Jeep was later spotted at a Studio 6 Motel near Palm Beach International Airport, where Roehmild and another woman were arrested, per WPLG Miami. Miraculously, no one was injured throughout. Roehmild "does not have a past that we can discern right now," said Bradshaw, adding that it was "not a terrorist thing. It's a road that leads nowhere else but to Mar-a-Lago. I'm not so sure she knew where she was going." At one point, Secret Service agents reportedly fired at the vehicle; one Instagram user reported "a lot of gunfire out here," per the Miami Herald. President Trump and Melania are scheduled to fly to Mar-a-Lago this afternoon.
(More Mar-a-Lago stories.)

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