Mar-a-Lago standoff as woman drives through Secret Service gate then flees, pet dog tragically shot
A 29-year-old Loxahatchee woman faces multiple felony charges after driving her SUV through a closed Secret Service checkpoint near President Donald Trump‘s Mar-a-Lago estate. The incident sparked a pursuit through some of Palm Beach’s most exclusive real estate and ended with police shooting and killing her pet dog.
Alexa Rae Scharf was arrested that evening and booked into the Palm Beach County jail on two counts of aggravated assault with a vehicle, one count of felony fleeing and one count of resisting an officer without violence, according to Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office booking records cited by Cox Media Group’s National Content Desk. A probable cause affidavit later added three counts of resisting an officer with violence, according to WPEC.
The checkpoint encounter
According to the probable cause affidavit, Scharf drove her gray Hyundai SUV into a closed checkpoint in the Bath & Tennis Club’s west parking lot at about 6:05 p.m. No vehicles were authorized to enter the area at the time, investigators said.
Scharf parked near the vehicle-screening tents, got out of the SUV, walked to a hose and turned it on, according to the affidavit as reported by The Daily Beast. When a Secret Service agent identified as Agent McGear asked who she was, Scharf reportedly replied that she was “here for the car wash.”
As McGear attempted to photograph her license plate to determine whether she was authorized to be on the property, Scharf returned to the SUV and drove toward him, forcing him out of her path.
A second property and a downed gate
Minutes later, McGear located the SUV outside an oceanfront estate about half a mile away at 1236 Ocean Boulevard. The property’s entrance gate had been knocked down and Scharf’s vehicle was stalled farther up the driveway while she walked around the grounds, according to the affidavit summarized by The Washington Times.
As Palm Beach police officers and Palm Beach County sheriff’s deputies moved up the driveway, Scharf returned to the running SUV and allegedly drove directly at Palm Beach Police Captain Watson, forcing him to move to avoid being struck.
When Officer Castineiras arrived and ordered her to stop, police said she drove toward him as well. She then maneuvered between marked patrol cars and fled south on South Ocean Boulevard with officers in pursuit.
Standoff ends with broken windows and arrest
The pursuit ended in a driveway in the 1500 block of South Ocean Boulevard, where officers conducted a felony stop and repeatedly ordered Scharf to turn off the vehicle.
When she refused, officers placed stop sticks under the tires and broke the SUV’s rear windshield and rear driver’s-side window before prying open the driver’s door and pulling her from the vehicle, according to the affidavit.
The standoff shut down South Ocean Boulevard between Via Agape and 1236 South Ocean Boulevard for about three and a half hours, from around 6 p.m. until approximately 9:30 p.m., according to town alerts cited by CBS12.
Dog shot after charging and biting an officer
As officers opened the door to remove Scharf, her pit bull jumped over her, charged at officers and bit one of them, Palm Beach police told CBS12.
An officer shot the dog twice. Palm Beach County Animal Care and Control personnel and a veterinarian attempted to treat the animal, but it died.
Police said an initial on-scene review found no policy violations in the shooting. The officer who fired the shots remained on duty rather than being placed on administrative leave, according to CBS12.
The condition of the bitten officer has not been released. The Secret Service declined to comment.
Court appearance and mental health evaluation
Scharf made her first court appearance.
According to CBS12, she gave limited responses to the judge’s questions and at times said she could not recall when she had last taken psychiatric medication or seen a psychiatrist. She also told the court she had been in and out of emergency rooms and hospitals in recent weeks.
A prosecutor told the judge the incident “appears to be a mental health crisis” and that investigators had found nothing indicating the episode was specifically directed at Mar-a-Lago.
The judge found probable cause, appointed a public defender, set Scharf’s combined bond at $16,000 and ordered her transported under Florida’s Baker Act to JFK North for evaluation and stabilization, court records show.
Scharf is scheduled to return to court on September 25. An initial case conference is set for October 22.
Background on Scharf
Court records reviewed in connection with the case show Scharf’s driver’s license was suspended eight days before the incident. She was also arrested by Palm Beach Gardens police on a DUI charge in 2018, according to court records.
Mar-a-Lago’s history of security breaches
This incident is the latest in a series of unauthorized-entry episodes near the Trump family’s Palm Beach estate.
Secret Service agents and a Palm Beach County sheriff’s deputy shot and killed 21-year-old Austin Tucker Martin of North Carolina after he entered the property’s secure perimeter through the north gate carrying a shotgun and a gas can, according to Fox News and Sheriff Ric Bradshaw.
Martin’s family had reported him missing days earlier. Investigators said his motive was unknown.
In 2020, Connecticut opera singer Hannah Roemhild drove a rental car through two Mar-a-Lago-area security checkpoints, prompting agents to fire at her vehicle before she was taken into custody near Palm Beach International Airport.
Her attorney told a judge that she had a history of mental illness and was off her medication at the time. Her case was later transferred to mental health court, according to CBS News Miami.
In 2019, Chinese national Yujing Zhang was arrested after entering Mar-a-Lago with electronic devices, including malware-carrying thumb drives. She was later convicted of trespassing and making false statements to federal agents.