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PBSO: Mar-a-Lago crash suspect picked up mother at airport in bullet-riddled car

WPTV-HANNAH-ROEMHILD.jpg
Posted at 3:39 PM, Feb 04, 2020
and last updated 2020-02-04 19:32:29-05

PALM BEACH COUNTY, Fla. — The Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office says a woman suspected of crashing through two barricades outside President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago club on Palm Beach was able to pick up her mother from the airport in a bullet-riddled SUV that had its back window shot out.

In addition, the Florida Highway Patrol confirmed to WPTV on Tuesday that troopers lost track of 30-year-old Hannah Roemhild for 32 minutes on Jan. 31 after she plowed through those checkpoints and drew gunfire from two PBSO deputies and a Secret Service agent.

The sheriff's office said that after Roemhild took off from the Mar-a-Lago area, she managed to pick up her mother, 62-year-old Joanna Roemhild, at Palm Beach International Airport.

The pair then drove to a Studio 6 extended stay motel in West Palm Beach, where authorities took Roemhild into custody as she ran up a staircase, according to her arrest report.

At a court hearing on Monday, Roemhild's attorney said the opera singer has a long history of mental illness and was off her medication at the time of the incident.

Attorney David Ross told Judge Joseph Marx that Roemhild needs to be evaluated by psychologist and mental health professionals.

Judge Marx agreed to transfer the case to mental health court, and a hearing about Roemhild's mental health will take place on Feb. 7.

According to her arrest report, Roemhild was spotted at the Breakers Hotel on Palm Beach around 11:30 a.m. on Jan. 31, appearing to be possibly intoxicated and "standing and dancing on the hood of her vehicle."

When a trooper approached her, Roemhild got into her vehicle and ignored the trooper's commands, and instead put the SUV into reverse, authorities said.

The trooper said he was forced to smash the driver's side window, after which Roemhild took off.

FHP confirmed that troopers lost Roemhild from 11:44 a.m. until 12:16 p.m., a 32-minute span during which PBSO said she picked up her mother at the airport.

Roemhild, a Connecticut resident, is currently being held without bond in the Palm Beach County Jail. She's facing several charges including aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer with a deadly weapon, resisting an officer without violence, and fleeing and eluding.