Her side of the story. Hope Solo issued a statement about her family after she was arrested for driving under the influence with her children in the car.
“On the advice of counsel, Hope can’t speak about this situation,” Rich Nichols, a lawyer for the former soccer player, 40, told Us Weekly in a statement on Friday, April 1. “But she wants everyone to know that her kids are her life, that she was released immediately and is now at home with her family, that the story is more sympathetic than the initial charges suggest, and that she looks forward to her opportunity to defend these charges.”
The Olympic gold medalist was arrested on Thursday, March 31, in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, after she was allegedly caught driving under the influence. The athlete was brought to the Forsyth County jail for processing after authorities booked her on charges of impaired driving (DWI) and resisting arrest. She was later released.
According to police, Solo’s children were in the car at the time of her arrest. She shares twins Lozen and Vittorio, 2, with husband Jerramy Stevens, whom she wed in 2012. Authorities also charged her with misdemeanor child abuse.
Thursday’s arrest isn’t Solo’s first run-in with the law. In June 2014, the Dancing With the Stars alum was arrested and charged with two misdemeanor counts of assault in the fourth degree against her sister and nephew, allegedly while intoxicated. A judge dropped the charges in 2018 after ruling that the incident was “unlikely to recur.”
The Solo: A Memoir of Hope author was a goalie for the U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team from 2000 to 2016. Her contract was terminated in August 2016 after she called the Swedish women’s soccer team “a bunch of cowards” during the Rio Olympics.
“For 17 years, I dedicated my life to the U.S. Women’s National Team and did the job of a pro athlete the only way I knew how — with passion, tenacity, an unrelenting commitment to be the best goalkeeper in the world, not just for my country, but to elevate the sport for the next generation of female athletes,” the Washington native said in a statement at the time. “In those commitments, I have never wavered. And with so much more to give, I am saddened by the Federation’s decision to terminate my contract.”
Solo was part of the USWNT during the 2008, 2012 and 2016 Olympics, and she played in the 2007, 2011 and 2015 FIFA World Cup tournaments. Though the U.S. lost to Japan in the 2011 finals, the former Seattle Reign player won the Golden Glove award for best goalkeeper.
