Paul Pelosi’s mugshot. (Image via the Napa County Sheriff’s Office.)
The 82-year-old husband of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D), pleaded guilty on Tuesday to driving drunk in Napa County, California.
Paul F. Pelosi Sr. agreed to spend five days in jail, with credit for time served, for a count of DUI alcohol while causing injury, records show. He must also serve three years of probation, complete a three-month DUI program, and do eight hours of a work program. He must also have a BAC ignition interlock device installed on his vehicle. This is meant to stop him from driving after drinking.
Defendant Pelosi Sr. was out driving the night of Saturday, May 28, when a Jeep hit his vehicle, authorities have said. Investigators soon arrested him. Prosecutors eventually saying saying his BAC was at .082, above the legal limit of .08, when investigators took his blood sample at 12:32 a.m. on May 29, less than two hours after the 10:17 p.m. crash.
Humans generally remove 0.015 units of alcohol from their bloodstream every hour — about one average drink, according to an online table calculated by Bowling Green State University in Ohio.
San Francisco television station KRON reported that the arrest occurred after “a minor car crash.”
Earlier reports said the collision occurred at State Route 29 and Walnut Lane in Oakville, but the distinction is one of nomenclature only; State Route 29 bisects a single road named Walnut Lane west of the intersection and Oakville Cross Road east of the intersection.
Though investigators initially said there were no injuries and both drivers declined medical attention at the scene, the other man, 48-year-old California man Jesus V. Lopez, said in a June 2 interview with authorities that he suffered “pain in his upper-right arm, shoulder and neck,” according to documents obtained by the Press Democrat,
Lopez “stated it was difficult to lift things with his right arm and he was suffering from headaches that had not been present prior to the collision,” according to authorities.
“The charges filed today include Driving Under the Influence of Alcohol Causing Injury and Driving With .08% Blood Alcohol Level or Higher Causing Injury,” the DA’s office has previously said. “Under California law, these charges can be filed as a misdemeanor or felony. Based upon the extent of the injuries suffered by the victim, the District Attorney filed misdemeanor charges. This decision is consistent with how our office handles these cases with similar injuries.”
Nancy Pelosi was scheduled to give a commencement address at Brown University the day after the arrest; she was reportedly not with her husband when the arrest occurred.
Aaron Keller contributed to this report.
[Booking photo via Napa County Sheriff’s Office]
