By Paul Pelosi, the husband of former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, is once again making headlines after California authorities recommended that he face a misdemeanor hit-and-run charge, marking the latest in a string of legal controversies surrounding the Pelosi family.
According to the Napa County Sheriff’s Office, deputies responded to the 6700 block of Yount Street in Yountville shortly after 2:30 p.m. on July 3 following a 911 report of a hit-and-run. A witness reported seeing a brown convertible traveling north strike an empty, legally parked vehicle, damaging its rear end and pushing one of its tires over the curb. The driver reportedly stopped briefly before driving away.
Deputies later located the damaged convertible a short distance away on Yountville Cross Road, where a California Highway Patrol officer had already stopped behind it. The vehicle had significant damage to its front-right side and was partially blocking the roadway. Authorities identified the driver as 86-year-old Paul Pelosi through his driver’s license. According to investigators, Pelosi acknowledged that he knew he had struck something but said he did not know what it was.
A roadside breath test registered 0.00, ruling out alcohol as a factor, according to the sheriff’s office.
Authorities are recommending that the Napa County District Attorney file a misdemeanor hit-and-run charge involving property damage. Pelosi was not arrested, which the sheriff’s office said is standard procedure for this type of misdemeanor offense. He was also referred to the California Department of Motor Vehicles for a driving re-evaluation, a routine step for older drivers involved in traffic incidents.
A spokesperson for Pelosi told The California Post: “Mr. 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 former Speaker Nancy Pelosi would not comment further on what was described as a private matter.
The incident revives scrutiny of Paul Pelosi, whose legal troubles have drawn national attention before. In 2022, he was arrested in Napa County after crashing his Porsche while driving under the influence. He later pleaded guilty to misdemeanor DUI and was sentenced to five days in jail and three years of probation, ultimately serving one day through a courthouse work program. NCP previously covered that arrest, which raised questions about preferential treatment given Pelosi’s political connections.
The latest episode also comes as the Pelosi family has continued to face public criticism over other controversies. NCP previously reported on the family’s remarkably well-timed stock trades, which have fueled long-running allegations that members of Congress and their families benefit from access to nonpublic information. While no evidence has established that Paul Pelosi’s investments violated insider trading laws, the Pelosis’ financial success has repeatedly renewed bipartisan calls to ban congressional stock trading.
Nancy Pelosi, who served as House speaker from 2007 to 2011 and again from 2019 to 2023, now holds the honorary title of speaker emerita and has announced plans to leave Congress in early 2027.
Months after Paul Pelosi’s 2022 DUI case, he was seriously injured when an intruder broke into the couple’s San Francisco home looking for Nancy Pelosi and struck him repeatedly with a hammer, fracturing his skull. He later recovered from the attack.
[Read More: Republicans Trying To Reshape The Constitution]
