FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. _ The opera singer who plowed a rental car through two Mar-a-Lago security checkpoints, drawing officers to fire at her Jeep, was off her mental health medications and needs help, her lawyer said in court Monday.
Palm Beach County Circuit Judge Ted Booras ordered Hannah Roemhild, of Connecticut, to be held without bond and to be checked for mental health illnesses.
After taking prescribed drugs over the weekend, "she's doing much better," defense attorney David Roth said, adding his 30-year-old client has a long history of mental health problems.
Booras agreed to transfer her case to the county's mental health court, where she is due to appear for a hearing on 9 a.m. Friday. She will remain in Palm Beach County jail on multiple charges until a likely transfer to a mental health facility.
Roth said the woman's family is grateful for the way she's been treated by the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office since the "terribly unfortunate incident."
The attorney declined to comment about the violent episode that appeared to be unrelated to any known threat. It is not being handled as a case of terrorism.
Late Friday morning, Roemhild began driving erratically from The Breakers on Palm Beach, south on Ocean Boulevard toward President Donald Trump's estate.
U.S. Secret Service agents and sheriff's deputies jumped out of her way just in time as she slammed through the second barricade, Sheriff Ric Bradshaw told reporters.
Officers opened fire at Roemhild's Jeep, before she drove west on Southern Boulevard to Palm Beach International Airport. She was taken into custody.
Roemhild is charged with two counts of aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer, fleeing and eluding an officer and disregarding safety of others, and resisting an officer without violence.
