Shannon Beador, cast member of “The Real Housewives of Orange County,” was arrested early Sunday on suspicion of drunk driving and hit-and-run in Newport Beach.
Beador, 59, was released shortly after she was booked. On Tuesday, a Balboa Peninsula resident said she wasn’t around when a car collided with a concrete flower bed in front of her home, but a neighbor called police. Beador was arrested a few blocks away, at Via Oporto and Via Lido, according to Police Sgt. Steve Oberon.
Both charges, if filed, would be misdemeanors in Beador’s case, police said.
“I spent quite a bit of time with Shannon yesterday. She is extremely apologetic and remorseful. We will be awaiting the official information on this case as it becomes available, and Shannon is prepared to accept full responsibility for her actions,” Beador’s attorney Michael Fell said in a statement Monday.
Jeff Lewis, a real estate agent and radio personality who is friends with Beador, said on his Sirius XM radio show that he spoke with Beador following the crash, in which he said she was injured.
“I was shocked because I’ve never known Shannon to ever, ever, ever drink and drive,” Lewis said. “That is something that we both have discussed previously.
“I will tell you she’s accepting full accountability,” Lewis said ‘She is ashamed, she’s embarrassed … I think she’s going through a lot of personal struggles right now.”
Beador joined the Bravo Housewives show in 2014.
Drinking is a major part of almost every episode of the RHOC. Beador, Tamra Judge and former housewife Vicki Gunvalson called themselves the Tres Amigas for their tequila-shot-taking, hard-partying ways, especially on girls trips the show has done several times each season. Earlier this month the Tres Amigas were reunited on a Cabo girls trip and got hammered.
In July 2019, Orange County “Housewife” Gina Kirschenheiter pleaded guilty to DUI, according to news reports appearing on the Bravo site. She previously made a public apology on Instagram.
Register staff writers Mona Darwish, Sean Emery and Peter Larsen, City News Service and CNN contributed to this report.
