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A former California television newscaster was arrested twice this week in the space of about nine hours after he allegedly got into a fight with his brother at a relative’s home and later returned to find his cell phone, reports say.
Frank Somerville, 65, now faces multiple charges following the two incidents at a Berkeley home, according to The Berkeley Scanner.
The website reported that police were first called to the home around 6:30 p.m. Monday for a situation involving the ex-KTVU anchor.
Somerville’s younger brother Mark told The Berkeley Scanner that Frank showed up angrily and threatened their 91-year-old father before asking him to leave. Mark reportedly said he then got into a physical altercation with Frank and restrained him until officers arrived.
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Berkeley police responded to a California townhouse residence twice this week over alleged incidents involving Frank Somerville, reports say. (Berkeley Police Department)
“Police contacted all parties involved and determined that Somerville was intoxicated and showed up regarding ongoing family issues at the residence,” a Berkeley police spokesman told SFGate. “When asked by the family, Somerville was told to vacate the property, but refused to leave. Somerville threatened the victim, which led to a physical altercation.”
Mark suffered facial injuries in the fight while Frank was taken into custody on suspicion of criminal threats, battery, public intoxication and violation of probation, The Berkeley Scanner reported, citing community members at the scene and police.
Frank Somerville then reportedly posted his $32,500 bail and was released from Berkeley Jail around 2:20am the next morning.
About an hour later, police received a call from the same property Frank was believed to have been at on Monday night.
Police told The Berkeley Scanner that Frank Somerville went there to pick up his car and then returned again to find his missing cell phone from the night before.
“In an attempt to recover his property, Somerville kept ringing the doorbell until the victim spoke to him,” police also told SFGate.
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The Berkeley Police Department headquarters in Berkeley, California. (Paul Chinn/The San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images)
When officers showed up a second time, Frank Somerville was found in his car, “exhibiting objective signs and symptoms of public intoxication and witnessed driving under the influence of alcohol,” The Berkeley Scanner reported, citing law enforcement.
He was arrested on suspicion of drunk driving and a probation violation and has since been held in Dublin’s Santa Rita Prison on $15,000 bail, the website added.
Frank Somerville told The Berkeley Scanner in an email Tuesday afternoon that he was “not drunk” when he was taken into custody Monday night.
It is not the first time Somerville has run into trouble with the police. In December 2021 he was arrested for a DUI accident.
“I was wrecked,” Somerville told KRON4 about the incident earlier this year. “I mean, there’s no other way to put it. I got trashed in my apartment and I wanted to go to Taco Bell, two and a half blocks from where I live. I made the crazy decision to drive. I absolutely had no matter to drive – not at all.”
Somerville had hit another car from behind in an incident that was captured on video, according to the station.
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“I have absolutely no recollection of the accident,” he later told KRON4, adding that his blood alcohol content was 0.24% at the time of the incident, three times higher than California’s legal limit of 0.08%.
Somerville started at KTVU in 1991 before leaving last year.
Greg Norman is a reporter at Fox News Digital.
