Woman who breached Mar-a-Lago checkpoints refuses court appearance Share Shares Copy Link Copy

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LEARNED THIS ALL STARTED AT THE BREAKERS RESORT AROUND 11:30 THIS MORNING. A CALL CAME IN ABOUT A WOMAN DANCING ON TOP OF A BLACK SUV. IT TROOPER WENT TO INVESTIGATE AND TRY TO TALK TO HER, AND THAT IS WHEN SHE JUMPED IN THE CAR. >> HE KEPT TRYING TO GET HER TO RESPOND. SHE PUT THE VEHICLE IN REVERSE. WHEN SHE PUT IT IN DRIVE, HE SMASHED THE WINDOW OUT TO GRAB THE STEERING WHEEL, BUT IT DIDN’T WORK. SHE WAS -- HE WAS ABLE TO GET HIS ARM OUT AND SHE DROVE UP. TIFFANY: THAT’S WHEN THE PURSUIT BEGAN. FROM THE BREAKERS, FHP SAYS SHE DROVE DOWN A-1-A, BLEW PAST TWO SECURITY CHECK POINTS OUTSIDE MAR-A-LAGO. SECRET SERVICE AGENTS AND PALM BEACH COUNTY DEPUTIES WERE AT BOTH OF THOSE CHECKPOINTS. THEY ALL MOVED OUT OF THE WAY. AND FEARING FOR THEIR SAFETY AND OTHERS, THEY FIRED THEIR WEAPONS. NO ONE WAS HURT. AUTHORITIES PURSUED ROEMHILD DOWN SOUTHERN BOULEVARD, BUT LOST HER WHEN SHE CROSSED INTO WEST PALM BEACH. THEY BELIEVE THAT’S WHEN SHE PICKED UP ANOTHER PERSON. A LICENSE PLATE READER ENDED UP SPOTTING THE SUV, AND A TROOPER NEARBY FOLLOWED HER TO A MOTEL NEAR AUSTRALIAN AVENUE THAT’S WHEN THIS SCENE UNFOLDED. A TROOPER TACKLED ROEMHILD AND TOOK HER AND THE PASSENGER INTO CUSTODY. THE PALM BEACH COUNTY SHERIFF’S OFFICE, FHP, AND SECRET SERVICE HELD A NEWS CONFERENCE THI AFTERNOON JUST A SHORT TIME AGO TO TALK ABOUT THE SECURITY BREACH AT MAR-A-LAGO. TERRI PARKER JOINS US LIVE NEAR THE SOUTHERN BOULEVARD BRIDGE WITH THE UPDATE FROM LAW ENFORCEMENT. TERRI: THE SHERIFF SUS THE FHP TROOPER -- SAYS THE FHP TROOPER WAS AT THE MOTEL. IT WAS RIGHT BY THE FOUNTAIN IN THE BIG ENTRANCEWAY TO THE BREAKERS. WHEN THE TROOPER TIRED TO TALK TO HER, SHE WOULD NOT LISTEN, WHEN BACK-AND-FORTH, HE EVEN SMASHED THE WINDOW WHEN TRYING TO GRAB THE STEERING WHEEL, BUT SHE STILL TOOK OFF. THAT IS WHEN HE CHASED HER DOWN OCEAN BOULEVA WITH OVER 70 MILES PER HOUR. AS SHE APPROACHED THE THIRD SECURITY CHECKPOINT RIGHT IN FRONT OF MAR-A-LAGO, WHAT THEY CALL THE BUBBLE, THE SECRET SERVICE AND THE SHERIFF’S OFFICE FIRED MULTIPLE SHOTS INTO HER CAR. >> AS THIS VEHICLE GOING IN EXCESS OF 70 MPH COMES TOWARDS THE MAR-A-LAGO CHECKPOINTS, SHE CRASHES THROUGH THE FIRST ONE WHICH HAS BARRICADED MANNED BY DEPUTIES, GOES THROUGH TO THE SECOND CHECKPOINT THAT ALREADY HAD A VEHICLE THEY’RE BEING CHECKED, CRASHES THROUGH THAT PARTICULAR AREA, THEN OVER TOWARDS WHERE ANOTHER CHECK WHAT WOULD BE WHERE THERE ARE DEPUTIES AND THE SECRET SERVICE ACTUALLY IN THE STREET NEXT TO THE VEHICLE. THAT IS WHEN THEY SAID YOU KNOW WHAT, WHEN HE CAN TAKE SOME ACTION TO TRY TO DISABLE THIS VEHICLE AND DRIVER BEFORE IT GOES ANY FURTHER. TERRI: MULTIPLE SHOTS FIRED INTO THE CAR, BUT THAT DID NOT DETER HER. SHE KEPT HEADING WEST AT SPEEDS OVER 80 MILES PER HOUR. FHP AND A SHERIFF’S HELICOPTER WERE IN PURSUIT. THEY LOST HER AT ONE POINT, BUT A LICENSE PLATE READER ALERTED THEM SHE HAD STOPPED AT A WEST PALM BEACH MOTEL, AND THAT’S WHERE THEY FOUND HER AND TOOK HER UNHARMED INTO CUSTODAY. -- INTO CUSTODY. WE SAW SOME OF THE CARS GOING PAST IN PURSUIT AND TRAFFIC HERE AT SOUTHERN AND SOUTH OLIVE WAS CLOSED DOWN FOR OVER AN HOUR UNTIL THEY TOOK THE SUSPECT INTO CUSTODY. TIFFANY? TIFFANY: THANK YOU. OUR ANGELA ROZIER CONTINUES OUR TEAM COVERAGE. SHE’S LIVE NEAR STUDIO 6 MOTEL IN WEST PALM BEACH WHERE THOSE TWO WOMEN WERE TAKEN INTO CUSTODY. ANGELA. ANGELA: THAT’S RIGHT. WE ARE LOCATED JUST OFF OF I-95 OFF OF AUSTRALIAN AVENUE. IF YOU LOOK BEHIND IT, THIS IS THE HOTEL WHERE THE VEHICLE WAS BOXED IN. IT WAS SPOTTED HERE IN WEST PALM BEACH. IT IS ALSO WHERE INVESTIGATORS ARE HERE GATHERING EVIDENCE. THAT SUSPECT IS BEHIND BARS, BUT TAKE A LOOK AT THE VIDEO WE SHOT OF THE SUSPECT EARLIER HERE TODAY. SHE WAS HERE AT THE SCENE FOR A COUPLE OF HOURS BEFORE BEING HANDCUFFED AND THEN PLACED INTO A PALM BEACH COUNTY SHERIFF’S OFFICE PATROL CAR AND THEN TAKEN TO JAIL. HERE’S WHAT WE KNOW ABOUT HER SO FAR. HER NAME IS HANNAH ROEMHILD, SHE IS 30-YEARS-OLD, BELIEVED TO B AN OPERA SINGER FROM CONNECTICUT. THE SHERIFF TELLS US THE SUV SHE WAS DRIVING WAS A RENTAL AND AT SOME POINT ACCOMPANIED BY A SECOND FEMALE WHO IS RELATED. HE ALSO SAID AS SHE WAS DRIVING ERRATICALLY AND REFUSED TO STOP, SHE ENDANGERED THE LIVES OF OTHERS. THE SCENE HERE AT THE MOTEL REMAINS ACTIVE RIGHT NOW. WE HAVE BEEN HERE FOR SEVERAL HOURS. WE HAVE SEEN LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES HERE FROM SEVERAL AGENCIES INCLUDING THE PALM BEACH COUNTY SHERIFF’S OFFICE, FBI, AND FHP. RIGHT NOW WE ARE STILL AT THE SCENE. WE SEE A LOT OF ACTIVITY FROM VEHICLE HERE ON SCENE. AS SOON AS WE WIND UP THE LATEST, WE WILL BRING IT TO YOU, TIFFANY. TIFFANY: OF COURSE, THERE IS IS NOT THE FIRST AND HAS BEEN SOME SORT OF SECURITY BREACH AT THE ESTATE. OUR SHAYNE WRIGHT IS LIVE TONIGHT WITH THAT PART OF THE STORY. SHAYNE: AS WE KNOW, THIS IS ONE OF SEVERAL INCIDENTS THAT HAPPENED AT MAR-A-LAGO OVER THE LAST YEAR. INCIDENTALLY, THE SAME DAY THE SITUATION HAPPENED IS THE SAME DAY A CHINESE WOMAN APPEARED IN COURT. A JUDGE SET A TRIAL DATE OF EVERY 11 FOR -- DATE OF FEBRUARY 11 WAS SET FOR CHINESE NATIONALIST LU JING. SHE APPEARED IN COURT THIS MORNING. JING WAS TAKEN INTO CUSTODY AFTER SHE WAS ASKED BY SECURITY TO LEAVE THE ESTATE. INSTEAD, SHE RETURNED AND STARTED TAKING PICTURES. ONCE IN CUSTODY, AUTHORITIES REALIZED HER VISA HAD EXPIRED. JING IS NOW UNDER AN IMMIGRATION HOLD. COURT PAPERWORK REVEALS JING HAS NO TIES TO PALM BEACH COUNTY AND CLAIMS SHE WAS A TOURIST. ANOTHER CHINESE NATIONAL, YUJI ZHANG, WAS DETAINED IN LAST MARCH AND WAS CONVICTED IN SEPTEMBER OF TRESPASSING AND LYING TO FEDERAL AGENTS AFTER SHE MISLED PROPERTY STAFF ABOUT HER IDENTITY AND ENTERED THE CLUB WITH A THUMB DRIVE CONTAINING MALICIOUS SOFTWARE. NOW EARLIER THIS MONTH, AN INDIANA MAN WHO TRIED TO ENTER MAR-A-LAGO, 34-YEAR-OLD ERIC KVASNICA, WAS SHOUTING OUTSIDE THE RESORT, TRYING TO GET INSIDE. OFFICIALS DID NOT RELEASE WHY HE WAS TRYING TO GET INSIDE MAR-A-LAGO. THEY SAY THEY SEARCHED HIS VEHICLE AND DID NOT FIND ANY WEAPONS OR CONTRABAN NEAR PBIA, WHERE WAITING FOR PRESIDENT TRUMP TO ARRIVE. WHERE TOLD BY AT LEAST ONE DEPUTY THAT SECURITY HERE NEAR THE AIRPORT AND AROUND THE AIRPORT HAS INTENSIFIED BECAUSE OF WHAT HAPPENED AT MAR-A-LAGO EARLIER TODAY. BACK TO YOU. TIFFANY: THANKS, SHAYNE. THIS ALL UNFOLDED JUST HOURS BEFORE THE PRESIDENT IS EXPECTED TO LAND AT PALM BEACH INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT. LET’S GO BACK OUT TO THE AIRPORT, WHERE WE FIND ARI HAIT. ARI: NO WORD YET FROM THE WHITE HOUSE, NO COMMENT FROM THE PRESIDENT. NO WORD AS TO WHETHER OR NOT THIS WILL IMPACT HIS WEEKEND SCHEDULE FOR WHAT WILL BE HIS 29TH VISIT TO PALM BEACH SINCE HE TOOK OFFICE THE PRESIDENT HAS NO PUBLIC EVENTS SCHEDULED, BUT THE TRUMPETTES ARE HOLDING THEIR GALA AT MAR A LAGO SATURDAY NIGHT. THE PRESIDENT MIGHT MAKE AN APPEARANCE AT THAT. AS FOR SUNDAY, THE PRESIDENT HAS USUALLY HOSTED A SUPER BOWL PARTY AT MAR-A-LAGO DURING THE GAME. THIS YEAR, THERE ARE RUMORS HE MAY BE HEADING A LITTLE FURTHER SOUTH TO GO TO MIAMI TO CATCH THE GAME IN PERSON, BUT AT THIS POINT, THAT IS NOT CONFIRMED. NO IDEA WHERE HE MIGHT BE WATCHING THE SUPER BOWL THIS YEAR. THE PRESIDENT WAS ORIGINALLY SUPPOSED TO LAND HERE AT THE AIRPORT AROUND 6:30. THEY ARE SAYING IT IS GOING TO BE CLOSER TO 7:15. WE WILL BE HERE WHEN THAT HAPPENS. TIFFANY, BACK TO YOU. TIFFANY: OF COURSE, WE WILL CONTINUE TO FOLLOWING THIS RAPID -- FOLLOW THIS RAPIDLY DEVELOPING STORY TONIGHT. 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