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A 41-year-old Tampa lawyer was arrested Saturday after she left two ladies — ages 3 and seven — unattended simply toes from the Gulf of Mexico for at the least a half-hour, throughout which period the youthful lady wandered into the water alone, in response to the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Workplace.
Patricia Anne Bronson, 41, of Clearwater, was arrested Saturday morning at Upham Seaside, 6850 Seaside Plaza in St. Pete Seaside. She was booked into the Pinellas County jail on two counts of neglect of a kid with out nice bodily hurt, in response to arrest reviews from the Sheriff’s Workplace. The cost is a third-degree felony.
Bronson’s employer is White & Case LLP, a global regulation agency with a location in Tampa, in response to the arrest report. The Florida Bar additionally lists Bronson as a lawyer for White & Case LLP.
Reached by cellphone this week, Bronson declined to remark. A lawyer who she mentioned is representing her couldn’t be instantly reached.
On Saturday morning, witnesses watched Bronson drop the women off at Upham Seaside, then get again in her automotive and go away, an arrest report states. The arrest report described Bronson as a “caregiver” to the women.
One witness instructed deputies that she requested the 7-year-old the place her sister was and the lady responded by pointing to the water. The witness ran to the water and located the 3-year-old in “waist deep” water by herself, reviews state. The lady continued to run off, the witness instructed deputies. The witness later persuaded the 3-year-old to stick with her and the 7-year-old.
Bronson left the youngsters by themselves for 30 to 45 minutes, the arrest report states. Bronson instructed deputies that she was “parking the automotive,” although she confirmed nobody was watching the women whereas she did so, the report states.
Whereas being booked into the Pinellas County Jail, deputies added an extra third-degree felony cost of introducing/possessing contraband in a county detention facility in opposition to Bronson, in response to an arrest report.
Bronson was “appearing nervous and fidgeting” and when deputies requested if she was hiding something, Bronson mentioned she was simply chilly. Deputies later discovered a small vape pen containing a liquid substance after Bronson handed by means of an X-ray machine.
Bronson was launched on a $15,000 bond on Sunday, in response to jail data.
A spokesperson for White & Case LLP mentioned they’d look into the matter however had not responded to the Tampa Bay Occasions’ request for remark as of Wednesday morning.
White & Case LLP’s Tampa workplace is a “World Operations Middle” and employs legal professionals within the firm’s “Expertise and Transactions” group, the regulation agency’s web site states.
The Florida Bar web site states Bronson graduated from Florida Coastal College of Regulation in 2007 and that her observe space is within the federal appellate courts. A Bar spokesperson mentioned it didn’t have any open case concerning the Saturday incident as of Tuesday.
Bronson was additionally arrested in 2022 in Hillsborough County on a cost of driving underneath the affect. Bronson later pleaded no contest to a lesser cost of reckless driving, a second-degree misdemeanor. The Bar spokesperson confirmed that they’ve an open case concerning that incident.
In keeping with the Bar, Bronson, who beforehand glided by Patricia Anne Horal, was suspended for 90 days in 2017. A Florida Supreme Court docket doc states Bronson admitted to participating in a companies partnership with a non-lawyer who improperly solicited shoppers and practiced regulation with no license.
A member of the bar is required to inform the manager director if they’ve been charged with a felony, in response to group guidelines. Moreover, if an legal professional is discovered responsible of a felony, they’d be robotically suspended.
Nevertheless, whatever the final result in a misdemeanor or felony case in opposition to an legal professional, the Bar can open a disciplinary case, group guidelines state.
