Hope Solo, a former goalkeeper for the U.S. women’s national soccer team, was arrested after being found passed out behind the wheel of her car with her 2-year-old twins in a Walmart parking lot in North Carolina.
Police in Winston-Salem arrested the 40-year-old Thursday on charges of driving while impaired, resisting a public officer, and misdemeanor child abuse.
Due to the impending prosecution, the police will release no other information regarding the arrest, police said in a statement.
Rich Nichols, an attorney for Solo, said in a statement: “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.”
In a statement posted on social media Saturday, Solo, 40, thanked her supporters, saying, “Our family is strong and surrounded with love. Our kids are strong, intelligent, happy and vibrant, and we are present every day giving them the best life possible.”
She added that she will be able to “share the facts in due time.”
“In the meantime, our kids are enjoying the NC sun, eating popsicles and playing on our property,” Solo said. “Life can be tough, but these are truly the moments that matter. I feel blessed to have this kind of love in my life.”
This is not the first time Solo has been in trouble with the law.
Solo was arrested in 2014 on domestic assault charges after police said she assaulted two relatives at home near Seattle. The charges against Solo, who entered a not-guilty plea, were officially dropped in 2018.
