Former Bay Area news anchor Frank Somerville was arrested Monday night in Berkeley on suspicion of driving while intoxicated, his second such arrest in less than last two years.
Somerville, 65, was arrested shortly after 7 p.m. on suspicion of several offenses — including driving while under the influence of alcohol, refusing to submit to a blood alcohol test, among others — according to a booking sheet for Berkeley Jail obtained online from Alameda County’s website.
The arrest comes about 18 months after Somerville was arrested Dec. 30, 2021, on suspicion of driving under the influence following a collision in Oakland between his 2014 Porsche 911 and a silver Audi.
After the initial collision, the driver of the Audi got out of their vehicle and Somerville, in his Porsche, pushed the Audi across the intersection of Broadway and West Grand Avenue until the Audi hit a pole on the southwest corner of the intersection, according to Oakland police.
45 comments
He was one of my favs … the real Anchor Man … praying he can get his life back on track and learn how to dowload Uber.
I agree. Before his spiral down, he was one of the only objective journalists. You could count on him to tell it like it was. So sad to see him fall like that. I hope and pray he can get the help he needs to turn things around.
I wonder if Frank has been hanging out with Laura?
Birds of a feather?
Beat me to it…..
I still don’t understand how she was chosen to lead our city..
Alcoholism is no joke. It is extremely irresponsible to drive intoxicated , and while I empathize for Frank and respect his journalistic integrity, he should be held accountable. Thankfully nobody was killed. I hope he gets some help.
I kind of feel sorry for the guy. He’s apparently a very troubled individual. I stopped watching him on the news broadcast when he started swinging way to the left. Maybe that’s part of the trouble.
What does alcoholism have to do with politics? One of my best friend were a hardcore alcoholic, he was also to a hard core right winger on most issues
Hanne, we all know you listen to right-wing talk-show hosts and have lots of right-wing friends. But if you think that is in any way relevant, then you don’t understand Badge’s post.
I only listen to Tom Sullivan and l don’t have lots of right wing friends, although l have some, my friend that was an alcoholic passed away. My other good male friend since 1967 is also very conservative. I wonder if it’s a male female thing l find it easier to have conservative male friends and debate with them, and l do with female friends or at least a few. We can’t seem to disagree without becoming disagreeable, were as my male friends we can have a heated debate, but it does not hurt our friendship.
Do you not feel sorry he could’ve killed people
You aren’t limited to a single one-dimensional thought per issue. You can feel sorry for more than one thing at a time.
Again??
So many people said so many things about him – like he is a great guy & all.
Drunks kill people & he can not stop.
His license should be revoked.
Stop treating him like a king – he reads news other people wrote.
He should run for mayor of concord!
HaHaHa, LOL,lol lol. ove it.
KRON reports it differently:
(KRON) — Former Bay Area news anchor Frank Somerville was arrested Monday night, the Berkeley Police Department confirmed to KRON4.
Berkeley police responded to a home in the 800 block of Indian Rock Avenue at 6:36 p.m. for the report of a family altercation. The home is owned by Frank Somerville’s brother, BPD said.
Gunman opens fire on Oakland carjackers
Officers found Somerville being restrained by his brother when they arrived, police said. BPD also said that Somerville was intoxicated.
He was arrested for criminal threat, assault, public intoxication and violation of probation.
Somerville was previously a longtime anchor at KTVU in the Bay Area. He was arrested for DUI in Oakland on Dec. 30, 2021.
Heard on the news that after the first arrest as you point out, he was released, got in the car and was drunk heading back to the brothewr’s house. Was stopped and arrested a second time for driving intoxicated. Re
His other offenses were criminal threats, battery and probation violation. His issues are beyond alcoholism. He claims his divorce worsened his addiction. Sad.
Sad.
Frank the Tank!!!
The guy has mental health & alcoholism issues, but I don’t think he is such a big celebrity to warrant so much attention. I hope he gets the help he needs and quits fighting with his family.
rough night for Frank! hope he gets the help he needs
https://www.berkeleyscanner.com/2023/06/06/arrests/frank-somerville-arrested-berkeley/
Sorry, why does the public care?
He is a public figure, as someone pointed out when you watch someone deliver good and bad news year after year, you feel like you know them. Then of course some like a trainwreck especially if they didn’t care for him. However, if you don’t care skip the stories about Frank Somerville.
If we can make his crimes (accused) public knowledge, why can’t we do this for the career criminal stealing from Macy’s? Why can’t we do this with the bit/run drivers? Why do we hide their names/faces?
My opinion; we cannot because he is a public straight white male figure in the Bay Area. And today all the big bash wolves are white straight males … yeah, he is going through a tough time and should be prosecuted for his actions. But does he have to be dragged through the public when while he pays for his crimes?
Bet ya if he was a POC or a transwhatever, it would not be public.
Do you think that is the most likely reason? One plausible explanation is that people aren’t as interested in the identity of a random criminal as they are a locally famous television personality having a run-in with the law. I think between the two hypotheses, the latter is simpler and probably more likely.
T
I think you are wrong. I think most people would like to know the names of those people arrested for DUI in the area, or those arrested with stolen goods in their car, or with illegal weapons …. And that is just based off the comments on this board.
We share all this about a former public figure, but we cannot get the name of Joe Q Citizen because of “privacy reasons”.
I personally think we should blast everyone’s names when they are charged, not just the poor straight white male who is a former public figure.
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This epidemic of DUIs calls for the establishment of Safe Drinking Sites paid by tax dollars so that alcoholica have access to counseling services and resources.
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It’s the common sense thing to do.
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(Sarcasm intended)
Somerville had a busy night.
t.https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/frank-somerville-arrested-18137067.php
If we offered “safe drinking sites’, maybe have them next to” safe injection sites”, this would not have happened. Frank would have went to the site, got wasted and they would help him sober up before letting him out.
When you’re in a profession that lies to people daily, it becomes easy to lie to yourself.
Oddly, KTVU doesn’t mention his two arrests in the past 24 hours. At what point does his drunk driving become a felony?
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Don’t not be naive.
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Media outlets, like CNN, will only report what they want to report whether it is factual or not (e.g., Russia-Trump Collusion).
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Frank was just having some spring time fun. Quit dragging his name through the mud.
He allegedly threatened his 91 year old father. That certainly speaks volumes about someones character.
Had he been in Prison from the first DUI; this would not have happened.
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side note: I’ve no tolerance for drunk drivers. 5 to 10 years in Prison on first offence is my opinion.
Agree. And after that, firing squad. I don’t know why so many people stick up for these low lifes. If you drink and drive, you clearly do not give to flips about anyone else.
The guy went over the edge. He needs help but has gotten it but he’s way out there, he was losing it long before he retired. He had family problems as well and seemed to thing his sh** didn’t stink cause he had a black daughter.
Lots of reasons he went downhill and who’s to blame.
Honestly why is he even in the news?
Frank is retired and no longer in the public eye and I think the it shouldn’t be made public because the public is coming up with their own scenarios of what Frank may be going through. I bet if anyone was arrested for DUI….Again, you wouldn’t want it to be public. Look at all the fatal accidents that’s cause by someone under the influence and has a record of DUIs. You only hear about it when it actually happens. Not a word when it’s someone’s 2nd DUI.
he is retired cause he got fired….
Another issue for the family is that starting around 2018 his mother, who seems to still be alive today, started suffering a severe case of dementia. His father, who is now 90 years old, still lives in the family household.
Frank Somerville, unfortunately, seems to have ended up with some mental health baggage. On the plus side, that touch of autism, or whatever it is, enabled him to be an excellent news reporter who related things to listeners with seemingly little bias. FWIW, his brother is also very articulate. On the minus side, Frank seems to have some personality quirks that make him difficult to get along with on a personal level.
Alcoholism, and for some people, drug addiction, seems to be all too common.
Autism? Is there some reason to believe he has autism?
Many times I’m all about my political party bur never online because I do not wish to offend those of my friends on the other side ive also seen several friendships end over it so I stay out of that online but PLEASE TELL ME WHAT DRINKING AND DRIVING HAS TO DO WITH YOUR POLITICAL AFFILIATION?
Being a left wing propagandist will do that to ya.
We still believe in you, Frank. Please get help. Some things can not be done alone.
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