Former KTVU anchor Frank Somerville anchors the five o'clock news at the KTVU studio on Tuesday, May 5, 2009, in Oakland, Calif. (Jane Tyska/Staff)
BERKELEY – Ex-KTVU anchor Frank Somerville was arrested Monday night in Berkeley after getting into a fight with a family member, according to jail records and media reports.
Officers were called around 6:30 p.m. to a home in the 800 block of Indian Rock Avenue, where Somerville’s brother was restraining Somerville, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.
A spokesperson for the Berkeley Police Department told the newspaper Somerville had arrived at the residence intoxicated. He then got into a dispute that quickly escalated, police said.
Somerville, 65, was being held at the Berkeley City Jail on misdemeanor charges of battery, criminal threats and disorderly conduct, according to jail records. His bail was set at $27,500.
Somerville is set to be arraigned Thursday at the Wiley M. Manuel Courthouse in Oakland.
The police spokesperson did not immediately return messages seeking details about the arrest.
Somerville’s 31-year career at KTVU ended on Jan. 31, 2022, when his contract expired and the station opted not to bring him back. He had been arrested a month earlier on suspicion of driving under the influence in Oakland. Somerville told this news organization that he did not believe his arrest was a factor in the station’s decision.
In November 2021, Somerville said in an interview that management had not contacted him since September, when he was suspended from his anchoring duties for an off-air dispute about coverage of the Gabby Petito case. The suspension was his second.
Check back for updates.
Originally published at Jason Green