Disgraced ex-news anchor Frank Somerville was arrested twice in one night in Berkeley, Calif., in the latest public scandal to befall the former Bay Area journalist.
Somerville, 65, was first cuffed shortly after 6:30 p.m. Monday after tussling with his younger brother over “ongoing family issues” involving their 91-year-old dad, whom he allegedly threatened at his home, according to the Berkeley Scanner.
The longtime KTVU anchor was accused of showing up drunk and angry at his father’s home and refusing to leave, prompting the fight between the siblings that left his brother Mark with bruises on his face, the local crime outlet reported.
Somerville was arrested on suspicion of criminal threats, battery, public intoxication and probation violation, Berkeley police told the Berkeley Scanner.
He was placed in Berkeley Jail on a $32,500 bond, which he posted, and was released at 2:20 a.m. Tuesday, police said to the outlet.
He then went back to his father’s house to get his car.
He retrieved his vehicle and left, but returned soon after.
Somerville went back to the house to look for his phone, which he had lost Monday evening, according to the outlet.
He continuously rang the doorbell of the home as he attempted to locate his phone, police said.
Cops were called once again at 4:20 a.m. and arrived to find the ex-newsman sitting in his car while intoxicated, the publication reported.
Somerville “displayed objective signs and symptoms of public intoxication and was witnessed driving under the influence of alcohol,” according to Berkeley police.
He was arrested again, this time on suspicion of DUI and probation violation, and was placed behind bars at Santa Rita Jail in Dublin on $15,000 bail.
He was subsequently released and told the Berkeley Scanner that he “wasn’t drunk” when reached by email Tuesday afternoon.
Somerville has dealt with alcohol abuse and driving while intoxicated in the past.
He became the news in December 2021 when a viral video captured him ramming his Porsche into an Audi stopped at an intersection in Oakland.
He was arrested for driving under the influence and admitted his guilt in a televised interview this March.
“I got trashed,” he admitted. “I mean, there’s no other way to say it. I got trashed in my apartment and wanted to go to Taco Bell, which is two and a half blocks away from where I live. I made the idiotic decision to drive. I had absolutely no business at all to drive — at all.”
Months before the car crash, Somerville was taken off the air by KTVU after he slurred his words during a 10 p.m. live newscast on May 30, 2021.
Somerville maintained that he was not drunk on the job during the same interview earlier this year and claimed that he had mistakenly taken two Ambien instead of a prescription drug.
Following the live TV debacle, Somerville was taken off the air and went to rehab for nine weeks.
He returned to his anchor seat in August 2021 but was ultimately let go when he and the station disagreed over the coverage of the Gabby Petito case.
At the time of the March interview, Somerville said he was completing a DUI program and was hoping to return to TV news.
“I mean that’s what I love,” he said. “I love what I do. I love anchoring.”
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Bummer poor guy alcoholism isnt pretty and its expensive ^5