NAPA, Calif. (KRON) — Paul Pelosi is facing more fallout from his DUI arrest and conviction in Napa County.
The CHP 11-99 Foundation was not too happy after an arrest report revealed that Pelosi may have attempted to sway a California Highway Patrol officer who caught him drunk driving.
Pelosi, who is married to Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, drank wine and champagne at a dinner party on May 28, according to investigators. Later that night, a Jeep crashed into his Porsche while Mr. Pelosi was driving on Highway 29.
A CHP officer at the crash scene said Mr. Pelosi appeared to be intoxicated.
When the CHP officer asked Paul Pelosi for his registration and driver’s license, Nancy Pelosi’s husband handed the officer his driver’s license and CHP 11-99 Foundation membership card, according to an arrest report. The CHP officer still asked Mr. Pelosi to perform a field sobriety test.
“His eyes appeared red/watery, he was unsteady on his feet, his speech was slurred, and he had a strong odor of an alcoholic beverage emanating from his breath,” the CHP officer wrote in the arrest report.
Mr. Pelosi pleaded guilty to DUI causing injury on Tuesday. He was immediately sentenced by Napa County Superior Court Judge Joseph Solga to serve five days in jail, pay more than $6,000 in fines, and enroll in a 3-month-long DUI class.
On Thursday the CHP 11-99 Foundation board wrote in a statement, “After evaluating the events that led to Mr. Pelosi’s arrest and conviction, we are revoking Mr. Pelosi’s lifetime membership with the CHP 11-99 Foundation, effective immediately. The mere presentation of his 11-99 Foundation identification credentials to law enforcement made it appear that he was presenting them for preferential treatment.”
“These actions reflected poorly on the 11-99 Foundation and undermined our important mission. In our letter to Mr. Pelosi, we requested that he return all membership items he was issued upon joining the 11-99 Foundation,” the board wrote.
It is illegal to drive in California with a Blood Alcohol Content of 0.08% or more. A blood sample taken from Paul Pelosi two hours after the crash determined his blood alcohol content was 0.082%.
The purpose of 11-99 membership is to show support for the sacrifice and life-saving work CHP employees carry out daily, as well as support CHP officers’ families, the foundation’s board stated.
“The overwhelming majority of our members truly support the 11-99 Foundation because of the work we do to support grieving spouses, families whose children have been diagnosed with a terminal illness, and temporary housing for CHP families who lost homes due to wildfires or other natural disasters, and our vocational and academic scholarship program for CHP children,” the board wrote.
Over the past four decades, donations raised by the foundation have provided more than $45 million in assistance to CHP employees and their children.
