ABC News reports that Real Housewives of Orange County cast member Shannon Beador was arrested over the weekend on the charge of DUI hit-and-run following an incident in Newport Beach on Saturday.
The 59-year-old reality TV star was arrested at approximately 1:17 a.m. on Sunday on Via Lido near Via Oporto after allegedly hitting and damaging property while behind the wheel. Beador did not stop or exchange insurance information after the incident and left the scene.
Sgt. Steve Oberon with the Newport Beach Police Department told reporters that the crimes Beador was arrested for are misdemeanors. Sgt. Oberon also said that officers had not yet concluded their investigation or submitted their incident reports to department supervisors.
Beador was released from custody Sunday afternoon.
Attorney for Beador, Mike Fell, told the Los Angeles Times that his client was “extremely apologetic and remorseful.” Fell said that Shannon Beador is prepared to take full responsibility for her actions.
In an interview with the Messenger, Jeff Lewis, Beador’s close personal friend, told reporters that she will be entering into counseling this week.
“I don’t think Shannon is an alcoholic,” Lewis said. “As her close friend, I think she’s going through a lot of personal struggles right now, and I think that she probably has been leaning on alcohol. I don’t believe she’s an alcoholic.”
Lewis also said that in all the years he’d known her, he had never known Beador, a mother of three children, to ever drink and drive before the incident on Saturday.
