Prosecutor facing DUI charge was driving 38 mph above speed limit, report says
A Clark County prosecutor who is facing a DUI charge was driving at a speed believed to be more than double the posted limit when she was pulled over and arrested Sunday, according to a Metropolitan Police Department arrest report.
Kayla Farzaneh-Simmons, 28, was in a white Kia SUV that was heading west on Sunset Road at 5:07 p.m. Sunday when a Metro officer pulled her over west of Rainbow Boulevard.
The officer saw that the vehicle was traveling at a “high rate of speed” and paced the Kia as traveling at 73 mph in a 35 mph zone, according to the arrest report.
The officer approached the Kia and saw that the driver had “watery and slightly bloodshot eyes” and spoke with “slightly slurred speech,” the report said. The Kia had three passengers.
The officer could smell a “strong odor of an unknown alcoholic beverage” from the vehicle and asked Farzaneh-Simmons how much she had had to drink, to which she replied “not much at all” and then “one or two seltzers,” the report stated.
Asked if she would perform standardized field sobriety tests, which include the walk-and-turn as well as the one-leg stand, Farzaneh-Simmons declined, the report said.
She was then put in the back of the Metro patrol vehicle. The Metro police officer, Phillip Bruen, wrote that a strong odor of alcohol was coming from Farzaneh-Simmons.
Farzaneh-Simmons then agreed to submit a blood sample, the report said.
Bruen wrote that while he helped Farzaneh-Simmons into the back of the patrol vehicle, she appeared to almost fall. The officer said he thought she was going to fall.
“I’m not that drunk, I promise,” Farzaneh-Simmons said, according to the report.
Farzaneh-Simmons was arrested on misdemeanor charges of DUI and reckless driving, court records show.
On Monday, Clark County spokesman Erik Pappa said Farzaneh-Simmons was hired in September 2022 and is a deputy district attorney. Pappa said in a text message Tuesday that she was currently employed by the county.
Contact Brett Clarkson at bclarkson@reviewjournal.com.
