Paul Pelosi, the 86-year-old husband of former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, faces a misdemeanor hit-and-run charge after his brown convertible struck a parked car in Yountville, California, on Friday afternoon and left the scene, the Napa County Sheriff's Office said.
The collision happened around 2:30 p.m. local time on the 6700 block of Yount Street, about 50 miles north of San Francisco. Deputies said the unoccupied parked car was left with major rear damage. A witness reported that the driver briefly stopped, then drove north. Officers found Pelosi's damaged convertible a short distance away, partially blocking Yountville Cross Road, after his vehicle became disabled.
What deputies found
Pelosi told investigators he knew he had struck something but did not know what, and kept driving until his car would no longer move, the sheriff's office said. A preliminary breath test administered at the scene returned a reading of .00.
"The investigation also determined that no alcohol (.00 on Preliminary Alcohol Screening Device) was detected upon testing, therefore Driving Under the Influence was ruled out," the sheriff's office said.
Pelosi was not arrested at the scene, which the sheriff's office said is standard for misdemeanor offenses. The case was forwarded to the Napa County District Attorney's Office. Deputies also submitted a driver re-evaluation referral to the California Department of Motor Vehicles, a step the office described as common for elderly drivers.
Family response
A spokesperson for the Pelosi family said Paul Pelosi "has personally apologized to the owner of the vehicle and assured them that he would take responsibility for the damage to their vehicle." The spokesperson added that "Speaker Pelosi will not be commenting further on this private matter."
Second Napa case
Friday's incident is Pelosi's second criminal matter in Napa County in four years. He previously pleaded guilty to misdemeanor drunken driving causing injury after a May 2022 crash in the county. A judge sentenced him to three years of probation, five days in jail — most of it satisfied through custody credits and a work program — a three-month DUI education program, a one-year ignition interlock requirement and restitution to the injured driver. The sheriff's office said Friday's crash, unlike the 2022 case, did not involve alcohol.
Paul Pelosi has remained in the public eye since the October 2022 hammer attack that left him with a skull fracture inside the San Francisco home he shares with the former speaker. Neither the owner of the parked car nor the Napa County District Attorney's Office has spoken publicly about the referral.
The district attorney's office has not said when it will decide whether to file the misdemeanor complaint.