‘Impaired’ opera singer faces charges after driving through Mar-a-Lago checkpoints

Tropper seeing singer dancing on top of Jeep triggered shooting, chase

PALM BEACH, Fla. – Opera singer Hannah Roemhild has performed in Europe and around the country -- including a stint at the famed Carnegie Hall in New York City.

The 30-year-old freelance soprano from Connecticut also plays the piano and writes music. On YouTube, she has videos performing “Der Hölle Rache,” “Chacun le sait” and “My True Love Hath My Heart.”

“Hannah did sing with Hartford Opera Theater during our contemporary opera festival,” Lisabeth Miller wrote in an e-mail, adding, “She did a great job and was lovely to work with” in November.

On Friday, her dancing performance was on top of her rental Jeep, according to an off-duty Florida Highway Patrol trooper. He reported seeing her outside of The Breakers Palm Beach, an oceanfront resort about three miles from President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago Club.

Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw said the trooper tried to stop Roemhild from driving. He smashed the window of the Jeep and grabbed the wheel.

Roemhild was able to drive away.

Deputies and Secret Service agents opened fire on Roemhild, who was “obviously impaired” when she was driving through two Mar-a-Lago security checkpoints, Bradshaw said.

Roemhild didn’t stop.

FHP Maj. Robert Chandler said she drove on the wrong side of the road and was speeding, so troopers stopped following her.

A license plate reader helped them to find her outside of a Studio 6 motel in West Palm Beach, where deputies arrested her.

Hannah Roemhild, 30, was arrested after she drove a rental Jeep through two security checkpoints near President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago Club in Palm Beach, prompting authorities to open fire. (Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office/WPBF)

Bradshaw said Roemhild, who doesn’t have a criminal record, wasn’t injured during the shooting or the chase.

Romehild remained in a Palm Beach County jail early Saturday, facing both federal and state charges.

She refused to appear in court and a judge reset her case for 10 a.m. Monday.


About the Authors
Janine Stanwood headshot

Janine Stanwood joined Local 10 News in February 2004 as an assignment editor. She is now a general assignment reporter. Before moving to South Florida from her Washington home, Janine was the senior legislative correspondent for a United States senator on Capitol Hill.

Roy Ramos headshot

Roy Ramos joined the Local 10 News team in 2018. Roy is a South Florida native who grew up in Florida City. He attended Christopher Columbus High School, Homestead Senior High School and graduated from St. Thomas University.

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