Former U.S. women’s national team goalkeeper Hope Solo refused to cooperate with police officers during her March arrest for driving while intoxicated, newly released video footage shows.
Police body camera recordings from Solo’s arrest were obtained under a court order by Fox affiliate Queen City News in Charlotte, N.C. She was found asleep in her car in a Walmart parking lot in Winston-Salem, N.C., on March 31, with her 2-year-old twins in the backseat.
Solo, 41, refused to exit her car when a police officer asked. After the officer pulled her from the car, she refused a sobriety test, then tried to pull away as they placed handcuffs on her.
When a police officer asked how much she had been drinking, Solo responded: “I have not. I’m perfectly fine, thank you sir.” But a blood test obtained by warrant found she was three times over the legal limit, according to the Forsyth County District Attorney’s Office.
“I underestimated what a destructive part of my life alcohol had become,” Solo said in a statement posted to social media after her arrest. “The upside of making a mistake this big is that hard lessons are learned quickly. Learning these lessons has been difficult, and at times, very painful.”
In July, she pleaded guilty to driving while impaired. Charges for resisting arrest and child endangerment were dropped as part of a plea agreement, Forsyth County district attorney Jim O’Neill told the New York Times.
Her two-year prison sentence was suspended for all but 30 days, which she fulfilled at an alcohol rehabilitation facility.
She is serving two years of probation, during which time she will see a court-approved addiction expert and abide by any other court-mandated treatment. Her driver’s license has also been suspended for one year.
“This choice by media outlets to show this is very traumatic, and heartbreaking, embarrassing and shameful for me and my family to relive through again, and again, and again,” Solo said in a statement to Queen City News. “My family and I have already suffered great consequences. I have addressed my personal issues openly and honestly publicly.
“It’s hard enough to move forward without shame and embarrassment when making such a mistake, but my family and I remain strong and everyday we put it further behind us. I refuse to be broken.”
A member of the USWNT for 16 years, Solo was a member of the team that won the World Cup in 2015 and is a two-time Olympic gold medalist.
In June 2014, Solo was arrested on domestic violence charges following an alleged altercation with her half-sister and 17-year-old nephew, but those charges were dropped. She was later terminated by U.S. Soccer after calling the Swedish team “a bunch of cowards” after the 2016 Rio Olympics.
