Paul Pelosi, the 86-year-old husband of former Speaker Nancy Pelosi, was charged Friday with leaving the scene of an accident after he crashed into a parked car and continued driving this month, the Napa County District Attorney’s Office said.

The misdemeanor hit-and-run charge carries a maximum sentence of six months in county jail, or a fine not exceeding $1,000, or both. Paul Pelosi was also charged with the infraction of making an unlawful turn, the district attorney’s office said in a news release.

A lawyer for Pelosi, Amanda Bevins, declined to comment Friday. A representative for Nancy Pelosi also declined to comment.

Prosecutors say that on July 3, Paul Pelosi was driving a Maserati convertible in Yountville, California, when he struck a parked Tesla and continued down the street until his own car broke down about half a mile away. He told authorities that he had known he hit something but was not sure what.

Criminal Complaint: ‘Pelosi Feld the Scene’

Pelosi “fled the scene and did not make any attempts to contact the owner of the Tesla,” according to a complaint filed Friday with California Superior Court in Napa. He later told law enforcement officers that he had “intended to go back to leave his information,” according to the complaint.

The incident prompted authorities to request that Pelosi take a behind-the-wheel driving test to evaluate whether he could safely operate a vehicle. The district attorney’s office said Friday that it could ask the court to stop Pelosi from driving only as a condition of probation. The maximum probation for a hit-and-run charge in California is one year.

The crash alarmed a circle of Pelosi’s longtime acquaintances in Northern California, especially given his troubled driving record. In 2022, he pleaded guilty to driving under the influence after he crashed his Porsche into an oncoming Jeep.

A review of court records by The New York Times revealed that Pelosi had at least seven additional traffic violations in the San Francisco Bay Area over 13 years.

The infractions, between 2011 and 2023, include going the wrong way down a one-way street, speeding, and, on more than one occasion, driving through a red light. The violations did not appear to cause Pelosi to lose his license.

Pelosi is scheduled to appear in court Aug. 14.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

By Livia Albeck-Ripka/Pete Marovich

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