Hope Solo, a former USWNT goalkeeper, was allegedly detained on accusations of driving while drunk, resisting arrest, and misdemeanor child abuse in Winston-Salem, North Carolina on Thursday.
Solo was arrested at a Walmart parking lot with two small children in the car, according to TMZ. Solo and her husband, former NFL star Jerramy Stevens, have 2-year-old twins, although it’s unclear if they were in the car with her at the time. She was allegedly processed at the Forsyth County Jail following her arrest.
Solo’s lawyer, Rich Nichols, issued a statement on her Twitter account on Friday afternoon.
“On the advice of counsel, Hope can’t speak about this situation, 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 she looks forward to opportunity to defend these charges.”
Solo’s run-in with the law isn’t his first. She was arrested in 2014 and charged with two counts of misdemeanor violence against two family members. The accusations were first withdrawn in 2015, but prosecutors got them revived, and they were finally dismissed in 2018 after both witnesses declined to testify. Solo said she was protecting herself from an assault by her nephew.
Solo, 40, earned two Olympic gold medals with the United States Women’s National Squad and was a member of the 2015 Women’s World Cup winning team.