Man drove stolen car to Mar-a-Lago to see Trump

On By Pranco

(This story has been updated to add new information.)

A Florida man was arrested late Thursday night after Palm Beach police said he stopped there Mar-a-Lago and asked to speak with the president-elect Donald Trump – while driving a stolen car.

At least it marks the third person arrested at Mar-a-Lago since the summer, and comes as Trump’s club is filled with dignitaries and celebrities helping guide the president-elect during his transition to a second term in the White House.

The 52-year-old Sarasota man is charged with vehicle theft and operating a motor vehicle without a valid license, jail records show. He was being held at the Palm Beach County Jail on $20,250 bond Friday morning, according to jail records.

A judge also ordered the man to have no contact with Trump, Mar-a-Lago, the protected area around Mar-a-Lago or any other Trump property, the records show. The man is also not allowed to have any weapons.

According to an arrest report from Palm Beach police, the man drove a Hyundai Kona, a small SUV, to a parking lot near Trump’s Mar-a-Lago Club around 9:15 p.m. Thursday and asked to speak with the newly elected president. A Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office detective and a U.S. Secret Service agent held the man aside while he waited for police, the report said.

When the Palm Beach police officer who arrived on the scene checked the man’s driver’s license, he discovered the driver’s license had been indefinitely suspended, the report said. When checking the license plate of the SUV the man was driving, the officer determined it did not belong to him.

Instead, the gray Hyundai was owned by a rental company, which said a woman had rented the SUV, the report said. When police contacted that woman, she told them she was an acquaintance of the Sarasota man and that they had met earlier in the day to buy a car. While the woman went into a bank to get money, the man stayed in the car, she told police.

When she returned, the SUV was no longer there, according to the police report.

The woman returned to the man’s home thinking he would return, but he did not. Instead, he apparently drove to Mar-a-Lago. The woman told police she did not give the man permission to take her SUV, the report said.

A Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office deputy contacted the Palm Beach police officer and said the SUV had been reported stolen.

Recent arrests at Mar-a-Lago

The Sarasota man is the latest to be arrested at Mar-a-Lago since ash shooter tried to kill Trump during the then-Republican presidential candidate’s campaign rally in Pennsylvania on July 13.

After that incident — in which Trump and two of his supporters were injured and another rally attendee was killed — the Secret Service immediately increased security around Trump, his family and campaign, and all of his property, including Mar-a- Lago, the agency that previously told the Daily News.

That increased security included closing South Ocean Boulevard from the Southern Boulevard roundabout north of the intersection with South County Road when Trump is home.

On July 31, a Chinese national living in California was arrested after police said he repeatedly tried to enter Mar-a-Lago to talk to Trump. The man was held at the Palm Beach County Jail until late October, according to police reports. He almost immediately began trying to reach Mar-a-Lago again, and was placed under the Baker Act on Oct. 30 after asking a Palm Beach resident to help him reach Trump’s club, police said Palm Beach.

On November 7, the same day the man was released from Baker Act custody, he was arrested on trespassing charges after taking an Uber to the south gate of Mar-a-Lago, police said. He has pleaded not guilty.

A South Carolina man, who police say is one of Trump’s supporters, was arrested on August 13 after Palm Beach police said he walked past Secret Service checkpoints to talk to Trump. This man also pleaded not guilty.

Kristina Webb is a reporter for the Palm Beach Daily News, part of the USA TODAY Florida Network. You can reach her at [email protected]. Subscribe today to support our journalism.