PALM BEACH, Fla. — A Loxahatchee woman is facing felony charges after leading police on a high-speed chase that ended with officers breaking her car window to extract her from the vehicle, according to a probable cause affidavit.
Alexa Scharf, 29, was arrested Tuesday and charged with aggravated assault with intent to commit a felony, fleeing and eluding police and resisting an officer without violence.
The incident began around 6 p.m. Aug. 25 when Palm Beach Police was stationed at a security checkpoint near Mar-a-Lago. The checkpoint was closed at the time, and no vehicles were authorized to enter.
According to the affidavit, an officer observed a woman exit a Hyundai, walk to a hose and sprinkler system and turn on the hose. When the agent approached and questioned her, Scharf allegedly said "I'm here for the car wash."
The situation escalated when Scharf was advised she was not authorized to be in the security checkpoint area. According to police, she became "verbally combative" and refused to comply with the officer's commands to stop the vehicle.
Instead, Scharf allegedly began operating the vehicle in a reckless manner, turning it toward the officer as he moved away from the front of the car to avoid being struck.
What followed was an extensive pursuit involving multiple law enforcement agencies. Scharf allegedly refused to stop despite multiple lawful orders from officers.
The chase continued as Scharf drove directly in the direction of a PBPD captain, who was forced to quickly move out of the way to avoid being struck by the vehicle.
Multiple marked patrol vehicles with activated emergency lights and sirens pursued Scharf's vehicle southbound on South Ocean Boulevard. Despite officers' attempts to conduct a felony stop, Scharf refused to stop the vehicle at several roadblocks and eventually pulled into the driveway of 1500 South Ocean Boulevard.
The pursuit finally ended when officers approached the vehicle and broke the rear windshield and rear driver side window to make contact with Scharf. According to the affidavit, officers continued to issue verbal commands to Scharf, who refused to comply with any verbal commands.
Officers ultimately extracted Scharf from the front driver's side door and placed her in custody.
Scharf is at the Palm Beach County Jail on a $16,000 bond.
