Mar-a-Lago trespasser has mental health issues
Lawyer says opera singer who breached security has history
She seemed drunk to The Breakers security officers and to the Florida Highway Patrol trooper who tried to stop her from driving, reports show.
She seemed dangerous as she sped erratically past security checkpoints and got shot at by officers near President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago compound on Palm Beach.
But Hannah Roemhild, a 30-year-old opera singer from Connecticut, turned out to be neither high nor a terrorist threat last Friday morning. She has dealt with a lifetime of mental illness, and needs help, her lawyer told a judge Monday.
Roemhild reportedly stopped taking drugs to treat her unspecified disorder, causing the police chase that got the attention of the Secret Service and FBI. The president was not yet in the area, but the security measures already were in place.
“She is a good person, a good citizen who ... was off of her medication and created a terribly unfortunate situation,” defense attorney David Roth said during her first court hearing.
Palm Beach County Circuit Judge Ted Booras agreed with prosecutors and Roth that Roemhild’s case belongs in mental health court. It means she would not face extended jail or prison time, based on pending examinations.
The classically-trained soprano singer with no prior criminal history will remain held without bond at the county jail, at least until a hearing set for Friday.
Roth assured the judge that his client would be evaluated during the next few days by a psychologist and therapist, whose findings will shape a treatment program for Roemhild.
The attorney hopes to see her put in a lockdown mental health facility, as a condition of bond, with the court monitoring her progress.
“We will have a plan for inpatient placement,” Roth said. “Hannah has a long history of mental illness.”
The 5-foot-4, brown-haired woman began taking her pills again on Sunday and her condition is improving, the lawyer said.
Roemhild is charged with two counts of aggravated assault on a
law enforcement officer, fleeing and eluding an officer and disregarding the safety of others, and resisting an officer without violence.
Roth praised law enforcement for their response to the episode that began at 11:30 a.m. Friday and ended without anyone hurt or dead.
“The Sheriff’s Office, and FBI and Secret Service have done a phenomenal job,” Roth said. “Her parents can’t be more appreciative.”
But questions about what brought Roemhild to the area before the incident will remain unanswered, her lawyer told reporters after Monday’s hearing.
Roemhild’s Instagram page listed a Jan. 28 performance at an unspecified Palm Beach venue.
“I have no comment beyond what I put on the record, I’m sorry I just can’t,” Roth said. “This is a very sad situation.”
Arrest reports explain some of the story.
The Breakers’ officers flagged down the FHP trooper for help because a woman was dancing on the hood of her Jeep near the hotel’s fountain, appearing to be impaired by alcohol.
When Sgt. T.R. Kingery went to check it out, Roemhild hopped back into the car, closed the door and ignored his commands to come out, he wrote.
As she put the car in reverse, Kingery smashed the driver’s side window. Roemhild then shifted the car into drive and zoomed off, exiting the hotel property and speeding southbound on South County Road.
She ran a red light and also traveled for a time in the northbound lanes, while Kingery’s pursuit was briefly interrupted by another car. Roemhild breached the security perimeter at South County Road and South Ocean Boulevard, ignoring orders to stop, the reports said.
The black Jeep continued on South Ocean Boulevard until it reached a barricaded area blocked by a sheriff’s cruiser. This is where three officers drew their weapons and fired several rounds at the Jeep as it headed toward a deputy, according to sheriff’s office.
Kingery wrote that he lost track of the Jeep as Roemhild drove westbound on Southern Boulevard.
But 15 minutes later, another FHP trooper found the Jeep driving just north of Palm Beach International Airport.
As it pulled into the parking lot of the Studio 6 hotel on Centrepark Drive, the trooper activated his car’s lights and Roemhild stopped and ran from the Jeep. She was captured running up a staircase.
Roemhild’s mother was in the Jeep’s passenger seat, according to the Sheriff’s Office. Authorities said Roemhild had picked up her mom after she had driven away from Mar-aLago.