Why was Frank Somerville arrested? Former KTVU news anchor detained again a year after clearing reckless driving charge

TV journalist Frank Somerville faced another arrest on Monday, September 15, on suspicion of battery with serious bodily injury, the Mercury News confirmed. 

Following his release on Tuesday, the former KTVU news anchor later told KRON 4 that he acted in self-defense and the charges against him were being dropped. According to the San Francisco Chronicle, Somerville was previously facing multiple charges, including DUI, assault, criminal threats, and more. They were dropped last year for a “wet reckless” charge. 

In a now-deleted Facebook post, Somerville confirmed that the altercation happened between him and his daughter. According to the SFGate, the controversial TV anchor addressed his arrest on Facebook, while recounting his side of the story. Per the New York Post, Frank Somerville described his daughter as a “full blown weed addict.” 

He claimed that his daughter, Callie, “smokes morning, noon, and night.” Somerville asserted that she arrived at his house on Monday and “was in withdrawal,” while asking for money. The news anchor wrote (via SFist): 

“We got into a physical fight because she wouldnt leave.” 

Frank Somerville asserted that she left for his ex-wife’s residence, where she lives. He claimed to have called his former spouse before going there himself. Somerville added (via SFist): 

“By the time I got there Callie had called the police. They arrested me even though Callie told them she didn’t want to press charges.” 

In his currently deleted post, Frank Somerville also claimed: 

“I love my daughter more than anything in the world. I would never deliberately try to hurt her. But bad things happen in battle. I can only hope my daughter gets treatment.” 

Callie is the adopted daughter of Donna Wright and Frank Somerville. The couple divorced in 2022 and made Callie a part of their family in 2004. Donna and Frank also share a biological daughter, Sydney. 

Frank Somerville dedicated a post to Callie on her 21st birthday, two months before his arrest following their altercation

The former KTVU anchor has consistently posted about his adopted daughter on social media. In July, he posted an image carousel, featuring pictures of Callie at different stages of her life, dedicated to her on her 21st birthday. Frank wrote: 

“My god my baby is about to turn 21!!!!!
I love Callie with all my heart .
I remember poking my head in her room every night after I finished to 10 pm newscast.
I would just stare at how beautiful she looked sleeping.” 

He added: 

“And I’d always say the same thing to myself:
She doesn’t look like me.
I don’t look like her.
But she’s my daughter.
And I’m her dad.
And now she’s so happy living in her own apartment (last picture) and going to school and working.” 

Somerville concluded by thanking Callie’s biological mother, Erika, for letting him and Donna adopt her after she was born.  

However, after two months, the father-daughter duo was involved in a domestic dispute, leading to Frank’s first arrest in over two years. Frank Somerville was first arrested in December 2021 for an alleged DUI crash. The controversial news anchor was also seen slurring speech during a newscast earlier that year. 
 
Following the DUI incident, Frank was fired from KTVU in January 2022, after the channel did not renew his contract. In 2023, Somerville was arrested twice within hours following a dispute with his family members. He faced multiple charges, which were dropped in 2024, but he was convicted of a wet reckless charge. 

Frank Somerville, who has struggled with alcohol addiction in the past, has claimed to have gone sober. In his recently deleted Facebook post about his dispute with Callie, Somerville asserted that he was sober during their argument.