Setting herself straight. Hope Solo is working on finding her way back after her recent arrest for drunk driving.
“It’s been a long road, but I’m slowly coming back from taking time off,” Solo, 40, wrote via Instagram on Monday, July 25. “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.”
The U.S. women’s soccer player, who entered an in-patient treatment facility for alcohol abuse in April, revealed that the events leading up to her March arrest were “easily the worst mistake of my life,” adding that she “underestimated what a destructive part of my life alcohol had become.”
While the Washington native explained how “proud” she is of herself and husband Jerramy Stevens for what they have “done day in and day out for two years throughout the pandemic with two-year-old twins,” she noted that it has also been an “incredibly hard” time for her family.
“I want to thank my beautifully strong husband for supporting me through this in so many meaningful ways and my mom for being there for us, always,” she gushed in the open letter. “I [also] want to thank all the friends who showed me support and also the ones who pushed me to take the hardest steps.”
Us Weekly confirmed in April that the Solo: A Memoir of Hope author was taken into custody in North Carolina on charges of impaired driving (DWI) and resisted arrest but was subsequently released.
“On the advice of counsel, Hope can’t speak about this situation,” Rich Nichols, a lawyer for the soccer star told Us in a statement at the time. “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.”
According to the police report obtained by Us, Solo had allegedly been “passed out behind [the wheel]” for more than an hour while the engine was running. The Washington native’s children — Lozen and Vittorio, both 2 — were also in the vehicle. When local police officers woke Solo up, they allegedly noticed the scent of alcohol on her breath and claimed her eyes were red.
The Dancing With the Stars alum later broke her silence via Instagram, writing, “For those who have reached out showing love and support, thank you. Our family is strong and surrounded with love. “Our kids are strong intelligent, happy and vibrant and we are present every day giving them the best life possible.”
Following the arrest, the professional athlete revealed via Twitter that she had contacted the Hall of Fame and “respectfully requested a postponement of my [National Soccer] Hall of Face Induction ceremony to 2023” in lieu of her “voluntarily entering an in-patient alcohol treatment program” to address her substance abuse challenges.
“My energies and focus are totally directed to my health, healing and taking care of my family. I want to thank the Hall of Fame for their support and for understanding my decision,” she wrote at the time.
In July, Solo pled guilty while driving impaired. According to an article from The Washington Post published Monday, July 25, a news release from the Forsyth County District Attorney’s Office confirmed that a judge gave the goalkeeper a suspended sentence of 24 months and an active sentence of 30 days. She was given 30 days credit for her time spent in an in-patient rehabilitation facility and ordered to pay $2500 in fines and a $600 fee for the cost of lab tests. All other charges were dropped.
Solo’s most recent legal troubles weren’t her first run-in with the law. In June 2014, the Olympic gold medalist was arrested and charged with two misdemeanor counts of assault in the fourth degree against her half-sister and nephew. The athlete was reportedly intoxicated when the alleged incident occurred, but the charges against her are later dropped.
