Paul Pelosi, the 86-year-old husband of former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, will face a misdemeanor hit-and-run charge for allegedly crashing into a parked vehicle and fleeing the scene.
The charge was announced by the Napa county district attorney on Friday.
While nobody was injured in the crash, the car was left with “major” damage.
A Pelosi family spokesperson said Paul Pelosi had spoken to the owner of the car, apologized and said he would assume full responsibility for the damage.
He has also been charged with an infraction of making an unlawful turn related to the 3 July incident in Yountville, California.
He faces arraignment on 14 August.
This is not the first time Pelosi has found himself on the wrong side of the law for his driving.
According to The Guardian, he “has traffic infractions in California stretching back at least to 2011, including citations for failing to stop at a red light, a stop sign violation and driving to the left of double yellow lines.
“In 2022, Pelosi pleaded guilty to misdemeanor driving under the influence charges after a crash in Napa county. California highway patrol officers observed that Pelosi’s speech was slurred and smelled a ‘strong odor of an alcoholic beverage,’ the Associated Press reported then. He was sentenced to five days in jail and three years of probation.”
In this latest case, Pelosi is not being charged with DUI, because no evidence of impairment has been presented.
It was also announced that bodycam footage of the incident will not be released until the conclusion of the case, to preserve Pelosi’s right to a fair trial.
In 2022, Pelosi was apparently the victim of a break-in at his California home, in which he was attacked with a hammer.
The burglar, David Depape, was convicted in federal court in 2023 of attempted kidnapping of a federal official and assault on a family member of one. He received 30 years.
In state court the following year, he was convicted on charges including burglary, kidnapping, and false imprisonment of an elder, and sentenced to life without parole.
At the time of the attack, many suggested it was not an attempted kidnapping or murder, but a “gay lovers’ quarrel” or that Depape was a “male prostitute.”
