Former USWNT Star Hope Solo Arrested for DWI, Misdemeanor Child Abuse

The two-time Olympic gold medalist was taken into custody Thursday in North Carolina.

Former U.S. women’s national team star Hope Solo is facing multiple charges, including DWI, after her Thursday arrest in Winston-Salem, N.C.

The news of Solo’s arrest was first reported by TMZ, and later confirmed to Sports Illustrated by the Winston-Salem Police Department.

According to an email from Winston-Salem PD, Solo, 40, has been charged with impaired driving (DWI), resisting arrest and misdemeanor child abuse. The latter charge came after officers discovered her two children, two-year-old twins Vittorio and Lozen, in the car at the time of the offense.

Solo was taken to the Forsyth County Law Enforcement Detention Center and subsequently released after processing. Further details regarding the specifics of the incident remain unavailable.

Solo’s lawyer Rich Nichols later issued a statement via social media with an update on the situation.

“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 that she looks forward to her opportunity to defend these charges,” Nichols wrote.

A World Cup champion and two-time Olympic gold medalist, Solo’s past includes several reported run-ins with law enforcement.

She was arrested in June 2014 on two counts of fourth-degree domestic violence assault for allegedly striking her half-sister and then 17-year-old nephew. The charges were dismissed eight months later before being re-instated in October ’15. The charges were officially dropped in May ’18. 

In January 2015, Solo was suspended for 30 days by U.S. soccer after her husband, former NFL player Jerramy Stevens, was charged after driving a U.S. soccer van while under the influence.

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