PALM BEACH, Fla. — Three teenagers were arrested after police said they illegally scaled a wall at President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club while carrying an AK-47 in a backpack, authorities said Wednesday.
According to Palm Beach Police Department spokesperson Michael Ogrodnick, the boys were arrested shortly after entering the property. They had dumped a backpack, which contained the semiautomatic weapon that had a loaded 14-round magazine.
“They had no idea where they were,” Ogrodnick told the Miami Herald.
The president and his family were not at the club, which is closed for the summer, Ogrodnick said.
According to a police report, on Friday night the teens, who have not been identified, were observed parked in a silver Hyundai around midnight Friday, WPTV reported.
When police approached the vehicle, it sped away. It was observed moments later by another officer, who was conducting an unrelated traffic stop, WPEC reported.
After a short pursuit, the teens left the Hyundai and ran toward Mar-a-Lago, where they illegally entered the property.
The teens hid on the resort’s grounds. Officers surrounded the area and a helicopter and police dog were used to find them, the Herald reported.
The teens were charged with trespassing with a firearm, burglary with a firearm and resisting arrest without violence, the newspaper reported.
The boys are being held at the Juvenile Assessment Center in West Palm Beach, WPTV reported. Prosecutors are deciding whether to charge the teens as adults, according to the Herald.