Paul Pelosi, the husband of former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), has been charged with misdemeanor hit-and-run following a traffic incident earlier this month in Napa County, California, prosecutors announced Friday.
The Napa County District Attorney’s Office filed one misdemeanor count of hit-and-run involving property damage and one traffic infraction for an unsafe turning movement stemming from a July 3 collision.
According to the criminal complaint, Pelosi, 86, allegedly struck a parked Tesla while driving a burgundy Maserati convertible before leaving the scene without identifying the vehicle’s owner or providing the information required under California law.
Authorities said sheriff’s deputies later located Pelosi about a half-mile from the crash site. According to the complaint, Pelosi told officers he intended to return to the scene.
Prosecutors allege that leaving the scene before providing the required information forms the basis of the misdemeanor hit-and-run charge, while the circumstances of the collision resulted in the accompanying traffic citation.
The Napa County District Attorney’s Office said it does not typically issue public announcements for misdemeanor hit-and-run cases involving only property damage but made an exception because of the significant public interest surrounding the case.
The criminal complaint does not indicate whether anyone else was in Pelosi’s vehicle at the time of the incident.
Pelosi, a venture capitalist, has long maintained a residence in Napa County.
The case marks Pelosi’s second high-profile traffic-related criminal matter in recent years.
In 2022, he pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor driving under the influence charge after a separate crash in Napa County.
As part of that case, Pelosi was sentenced to probation, ordered to pay fines and restitution, complete a DUI education program and install an ignition interlock device in his vehicle.
News reports have also noted that Pelosi was involved in a fatal automobile crash in San Mateo County in 1957 that resulted in the death of his 19-year-old brother. A jury later cleared him of wrongdoing in that case, per Fox News.
Public records cited by The New York Times have also documented several traffic infractions involving Pelosi over the years in multiple Bay Area counties, including citations for speeding, driving the wrong way on a one-way street, using a handheld cellphone while driving and failing to stop at a red light.
Pelosi is scheduled to make his initial court appearance on Aug. 14 in Napa County Superior Court.
