Reena Patel Sanders
A Florida attorney is facing a whole host of charges — felony fleeing and eluding police, felony drug possession, misdemeanor driving under the influence, refusing to accept a citation, and obstruction — after allegedly leading police on a high-speed chase. According to reports, when Reena Patel Sanders was eventually apprehended by authorities, she insisted they go for pizza. Of course, this happened in Florida.
As reported by the Miami Herald, Deputy Corbin Hradecky says he clocked Sanders going 80 mph in a 45 zone. According to Hradecky’s report, when he pulled up behind Sanders’s Lexus with his lights flashing, she sped up to 90 mph. Hradecky says a chase ensued until Sanders lost control of her car.
According to the police report, when apprehended, Sanders showed “several signs of impairment” and smelled of alcohol. Several pot-laced gummy worms were also found in a purse. The report also details Sanders’s belligerence when police arrested her:
“During the encounter, Reena was shouting obscenities at deputies and began to name off famous actors such as Dwayne the Rock Johnson, Owen Wilson and Ryan Reynolds,” Hradecky wrote. “When asked why she fled from me, Reena stated she was ‘scared.’”
Sanders also had a hankering for pizza, which she reportedly let the police know:
The deputies took Sanders to the Marathon sheriff’s office substation, where she asked when she would be going back to her hotel, according to the report.
“I advised Reena she was going to jail on a litany of charges. Reena insisted she was not going to jail and insisted we get pizza,” Hradecky said.
The police report also notes Sanders boasted about working at a “big law firm.” According to the ABA Journal, her Florida bar profile used to say she works at Kelley Kronenberg in Plantation, Florida (so, like Florida big, not like Biglaw big) but was later edited to remove that reference. Despite a 2017 press release announcing Sanders’s elevation to partner, she’s since been scrubbed from the firm’s website. The ABA Journal was also able to get a choice comment from Sanders:
When reached at the phone number listed by the Florida Bar, Sanders told the ABA Journal Tuesday morning that she just got out of jail in Key West, another city in the Florida Keys, and could comment later in the week.
When an ABA Journal reporter told Sanders that the story would run Tuesday, she replied, “My comment is just that I’m f- – -ing innocent. How about that?”
Sanders said she is a great litigator, and she knows how to get stuff done.
….
Sanders contacted the ABA Journal late Tuesday afternoon and left a voicemail saying she was sorry for failing to return our call. The ABA Journal did not leave a message Tuesday morning, however, because the woman thought to be Sanders had answered the phone.
Which is really the perfect ending to this bizarre story.
Kathryn Rubino is a Senior Editor at Above the Law, and host of The Jabot podcast. AtL tipsters are the best, so please connect with her. Feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter (@Kathryn1).