Lawyer is accused of leading cop on high-speed chase, suggesting pizza outing after arrest
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Updated: A Florida lawyer was held at gunpoint and forced out of her car after allegedly leading a Florida Keys deputy on a high-speed chase, according to an arrest report. She later suggested that they go out for pizza, the report said.
Lawyer Reena Patel Sanders, 38, was charged with felony fleeing and eluding police, felony drug possession, misdemeanor driving under the influence, refusing to accept a citation and obstruction, the Miami Herald reports. She was arrested Monday at 12:35 a.m.
The drug charge is based on gummy worms allegedly infused with marijuana found inside a purse in the car, a Monroe County, Florida, arrest report said.
Sanders’ member profile with the Florida Bar said Tuesday morning that she works at Kelley Kronenberg in Plantation, Florida. The bar profile was revised later Tuesday to eliminate the Kelley Kronenberg reference.
Sanders reached speeds of up to 90 miles per hour in her Lexus sport-utility vehicle during the chase through Marathon, a city in the Florida Keys, during the early-morning hours of Aug. 17, according to the arrest report. A deputy said he first tried to pull Sanders over after she was clocked going 80 miles per hour in a 45-mile zone.
The chase ended when Sanders’ Lexus fishtailed and the deputy boxed in the car. Sanders allegedly inched the car in the deputy’s direction, leading the deputy to loudly command that she stop. Sanders “began to laugh, taking her hands off of the wheel of her vehicle,” the report said.
When a backup officer arrived, the deputies held Sanders at gunpoint and pulled her from the car. During the arrest, Sanders “was shouting obscenities at deputies and began to name off famous actors, such as Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson, Owen Wilson and Ryan Reynolds,” a deputy wrote in the arrest report. “When asked why she fled from me, Reena stated she was ‘scared.’”
At the police station, Sanders asked the deputy when she could go back to her hotel and insisted that they get pizza, the report said. She also said she worked for a “big law firm,” and she hung out with multiple celebrities.
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.
An October 2017 press release said Sanders had been elevated to partner in Kelley Kronenberg’s Fort Lauderdale, Florida, office after joining the law firm in 2015. She focuses on property litigation, according to the press release.
A search for Sanders’ name on Kelley Kronenberg’s website turns up nothing.
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.
Updated Aug. 18 at 4:30 p.m. to remove information and a statement included in the initial version of the story because of a misunderstanding and to report on Sanders’ voicemail.
