Paul Pelosi, the husband of Nancy Pelosi, is facing hit-and-run charges after he allegedly struck a parked vehicle with his convertible in Napa County — adding to a history of crashes that includes a decades-old wreck in which his brother was killed.
The 86-year-old San Francisco businessman, married to the former House speaker for more than six decades, was also arrested on a DUI charge following a separate Napa County crash in May 2022.
In that incident, Pelosi, then 82, had just left a dinner in Oakville with a longtime Democratic donor and got behind the wheel of a black 2021 Porsche 911 around 10 p.m., intending to drive about six miles to his Napa Valley country home.
As Pelosi attempted to cross State Route 29, a Jeep traveling along the highway collided with his vehicle. His blood alcohol level was later recorded at 0.082%, and he ultimately pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor count of driving under the influence of alcohol causing injury.
The New York Times later reported that Pelosi had undergone cataract surgery in the days before the crash, a factor that may have played a role in the collision.
After entering his guilty plea in August 2022, Pelosi was sentenced to five days in jail. He was also ordered to pay $6,800 in fines and restitution, complete a DUI program and serve three years of probation.
Pelosi was involved in another fatal crash in 1957, when, at age 16, he overturned a sports car while driving near San Mateo, south of San Francisco, killing his 19-year-old brother, David. A patrolman quoted by the San Francisco Examiner said David, who was riding as a passenger, had urged him to slow down before the crash.
That deadly accident happened in the early morning hours of February 1957, after the brothers reportedly chose to go for a joyride instead of heading home. The vehicle was said to have flipped and landed upside down on the shoulder of the road.
David was reportedly strangled by a brace he was wearing for a neck fracture, while Paul was trapped under the car but managed to free himself to call for help.
Pelosi was cited for a misdemeanor manslaughter but later exonerated by a coroner’s jury.
Pelosi also had two minor infractions on the road in 2011. He was cited for running a red light and also for veering over the center line while driving.
