A former Bay Area news anchor was arrested this week on suspicion of assault with serious bodily injury after a physical altercation involving his daughter, according to a social media post and jail records.
Frank Somerville, 67, a former mainstay anchor for KTVU in Oakland, said in a now-deleted Facebook post that he was taken into custody Monday evening after a fight with his daughter. Alameda County jail records showed that Somerville was in custody at Santa Rita Jail on Tuesday morning.
The Oakland Police Department declined to disclose the circumstances surrounding Somerville’s arrest, saying only that they responded to a report of a physical assault at 5:45 p.m. Monday at a residence on Arlington Avenue. They also declined to confirm that Somerville was arrested.
Somerville’s online post alleged that his daughter was experiencing marijuana “withdrawal” and demanded money when she arrived at his home unannounced.
“We got into a physical fight because she wouldn’t leave … I kept trying to tell her to calm down but she wouldn’t,” Somerville wrote. “I love my daughter more than anything in the world. I would never deliberately try to hurt her. But bad things happen in battle.”
Attempts by The Times to reach Somerville’s daughter were unsuccessful.
Somerville also could not be reached for comment by The Times. His attorney, Shannan Dugan, said her client’s arrest resulted from an altercation and was the result of a “delicate” family issue that she believes will be settled out of court.
“He’s very sad about what happened … He ended up with a lot of superficial injuries and I think she probably did too,” Dugan said. “I just hope the criminal justice system doesn’t irrevocably damage that relationship.”
This week’s incident marks Somerville’s fourth arrest in four years, according to published reports.
According to SFGate, Somerville was arrested and faced two DUI charges the same year he parted ways with KTVU after slurring his speech and mispronouncing words on air.
In 2023, he was arrested twice in one night after an altercation in Berkeley that family members allege occurred after Somerville showed up to a family home intoxicated, according to the outlet.
The post Former KTVU anchor arrested for fourth time following altercation with daughter appeared first on Los Angeles Times.
