PALM BEACH, Fla. — A Florida woman allegedly barreled toward Secret Service agents and Palm Beach cops near President Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate Tuesday night — after bizarrely telling an agent she had pulled into a closed security checkpoint for a “car wash.”
Alexa Rae Scharf, 29, of Loxahatchee, was arrested on two counts of aggravated assault with a vehicle, felony fleeing and eluding and resisting arrest without violence, according to Palm Beach police.
The wild encounter began around 6:05 p.m. when Scharf allegedly drove her Hyundai into a closed Secret Service checkpoint on South Ocean Boulevard, got out and turned on a hose.
When an agent asked what she was doing, Scharf allegedly replied, “I’m here for the car wash.”
Police said Scharf got back behind the wheel and drove toward the agent as he attempted to photograph her license plate, forcing him to jump out of the way.
Minutes later, her SUV was spotted inside a nearby oceanfront estate, where a large entrance gate had been knocked down.
When officers approached, Scharf allegedly refused commands to surrender and again hit the gas — forcing a Palm Beach police captain and another officer to dodge the SUV.
She then squeezed between police vehicles and sped south on South Ocean Boulevard, sparking a pursuit that stretched several blocks.
Police eventually stopped Scharf at another South Ocean Boulevard property. After she repeatedly refused to get out, officers broke the Hyundai’s windows and pulled her from the vehicle.
During the arrest, police said Scharf’s pit bull jumped from the SUV, charged officers and bit one of them. An officer shot the dog twice. A veterinarian attempted to save it, but the animal died.
Police said an initial review found the officer’s shooting of the dog did not violate department policy.
President Trump was not at Mar-a-Lago during the incident.
Scharf was expected to make her first court appearance Thursday morning.
