Paul Pelosi struck a parked car in Yountville on Friday afternoon, and now he faces a possible hit-and-run charge for driving away afterward, sheriff's deputies say.
But let's be clear: No one was injured. His blood alcohol level was tested at 0.00. He has accepted responsibility and offered to pay for the damage to the other car.
Deputies responded to the 6700 block of Yount Street around 2:30 p.m. Friday after a witness called 911 to report the crash. The witness saw a brown convertible traveling north hit an unoccupied, legally parked car, causing major damage to its rear and forcing the front right tire onto the curb, according to the Napa County Sheriff's Office. The driver briefly stopped, then left the scene.
A short time later, deputies found a California Highway Patrol unit stopped behind a disabled brown convertible partially blocking Yountville Cross Road, about a quarter mile away. They identified the driver as Pelosi, the 86-year-old husband of Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi, through his California driver's license. He told officers he knew he had hit something but was not sure when or what, according to the Associated Press.
Pelosi was not arrested, which the sheriff's office said is common for this type of misdemeanor under California law. He is no longer driving and has been referred to the DMV for a review of whether he can keep his license, a step the department described as routine for older drivers. The sheriff's office recommended a misdemeanor charge of fleeing the scene of an accident and sent the case to the Napa County District Attorney's Office; no charge has been filed yet.
A spokesperson for the Pelosi family said Paul Pelosi apologized directly to the car's owner and pledged to cover the cost of repairs. Speaker Pelosi will not be commenting further, describing it as a private matter.
It's the second crash involving Pelosi in Napa County in recent years. In May 2022, he was involved in a late-night DUI crash that injured another driver; he pleaded guilty that August to a misdemeanor and was sentenced to five days in jail and three years of probation. Months later, an intruder broke into the Pelosis' San Francisco home and attacked him with a hammer; his assailant, David DePape, was later sentenced to decades in prison.
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