Report: Deputies were justified when they fired at SUV that blasted through Mar-a-Lago checkpoint
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Two Florida sheriff's deputies were proven right when they fired numerous shots nearly four years ago at a Connecticut opera singer whose speeding SUV crashed through a checkpoint outside then-President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago club, it has been concluded an internal investigation.
Palm Beach County Detective Christopher Farron and Lt. John Paul Harvey were following the agency's firearms policy when they and a Secret Service agent shot Hannah Roemhild, sheriff's office investigators said in a one-page report. Roemhild was having a mental health crisis when she drove her rented Jeep through the checkpoint outside Trump's home and private club on January 31, 2020.
Their bullets shattered the Jeep's windows, but Roemhild was not injured in the most violent of several raids that took place at Mar-a-Lago during Trump's presidency.
The report, dated November 29, simply says the pair were “exonerated” and no disciplinary action was taken. The Associated Press received a copy on Friday. The Palm Beach Post first reported the finding.
Federal and state prosecutors reached plea agreements with Roemhild two years ago, finding her not guilty by reason of insanity. The state had charged her with aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer, fleeing arrest and resisting an officer without violence. Federally, she was charged with assaulting the Secret Service agent with a deadly weapon.
Under Florida and federal law, a person can only be presumed innocent by reason of insanity if, due to mental illness, he did not know what he was doing or its consequences, or did not know it was wrong.
As part of Roemhild's plea, she agreed to undergo psychiatric counseling and take medication, with monthly blood tests to confirm compliance. Prosecutors agreed that Roemhild “does not create a substantial risk of harm to himself or others.”
Her attorney, David Roth, said Friday that Roemhild, now 34, is “doing fantastically well” and “has put that sad chapter in her life behind her.”
“She has no animosity whatsoever with the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office, nor with the Secret Service, nor with the Palm Beach Police Department, who she said were just doing their jobs,” he said.
Roemhild came to the attention of police after driving the Jeep into the parking lot of The Breakers, a luxury hotel about 3 miles north of Mar-a-Lago. She climbed onto the jeep, waved and made obscene gestures at the guests. Breakers employees called Florida Highway Patrol Sgt. Tony Kingery, who worked in security.
Kingery arrived in his patrol car, emergency lights flashing. When Roemhild tried to drive away despite his orders to stop, Kingery broke the driver's window with his baton. She sped south, driving dangerously through the Palm Beach shopping district as the sergeant couldn't keep up.
She soon reached a checkpoint set up outside Mar-a-Lago in anticipation of Trump's arrival later that day. She weaved around barriers and shot through them, narrowly missing Farron, Harvey and the Secret Service agent, whose name has not been released. They shot as the SUV sped past and away.
Roemhild then drove to nearby Palm Beach International Airport to pick up her mother, who had just arrived. The two went to a nearby motel, where Roemhild was arrested when she tried to run from officers. She told them that she escaped from people who tried to kill her.
Mar-a-Lago was the scene of at least four other burglaries during Trump's term in office.
In August 2020, three teenagers fleeing police while carrying a semiautomatic pistol in a backpack jumped over a wall at Mar-a-Lago. They were immediately arrested and police said they did not believe the teens knew where they were.
In March 2019, Chinese national Yujing Zhang gained access to Mar-a-Lago while carrying a laptop, phones and other electronic equipment. That led to initial speculation that the Shanghai businesswoman might be a spy, but she was never charged with espionage. Text messages she exchanged with a tour operator indicated she was a fan of the president and wanted to meet with him or his family to discuss possible deals. She was found guilty of trespassing and deported.
In December 2019, the club's security officers confronted another Chinese national, Jing Lu, then 56, for trespassing and told her to leave, but she returned to take photos. Lu was charged with loitering and resisting an officer without violence after taking photographs while entering a service entrance. She was later cleared of trespassing but found guilty of resisting arrest.
During Thanksgiving weekend 2018, a University of Wisconsin student visiting the area with his parents walked into Mar-a-Lago by mixing with a group entering. He was arrested and pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor assault.