Disgraced News Anchor Frank Somerville Is Back in the News After Yet Another Arrest

Back in June 2023, former KTVU anchor Frank Somerville was arrested twice in the span of two days. The first was for a disturbance at his parents' home in Berkeley, Calif., per the Berkley Scanner. Somerville reportedly got into a physical fight with his brother Mark, who was also at the house. Mark claimed that Somerville showed up inebriated and threatened their 91-year-old father. Following his release two days later, Somerville returned to his parents' home and was arrested again on suspicion of a DUI.

Those two arrests were not the first time Somerville struggled with legal issues. In December 2021, he ran into an Audi at a red light in downtown Oakland while attempting to go to a Taco Bell, which resulted in a DUI conviction. After a career that spanned 30 years, Somerville was let go in January 2022. Eight months later, another misdemeanor DUI conviction followed. In September 2025, he was arrested once again. This time it involved his daughter. Here's what we know.

According to the San Francisco Chronicle, Somerville was arrested on "suspicion of battery with serious bodily injury." He spoke with The Chronicle following his release, telling the outlet that a relative showed up at his home in Oakland, asking for money. The New York Post later revealed that the relative is his daughter.

Somerville told The Chronicle he was unwilling to let his daughter into the house. "We got into a full-fledged fight," he alleged. "I’ve got cuts all over my body." The former anchor posted, then deleted, pictures of himself with a bloody face on his Facebook, reports the SFGate. "I love my daughter more than anything in the world," he wrote. "I would never deliberately try to hurt her. But bad things happen in battle." He said he was sober during the fight and has been for nine months.

Sommerville later posted on Facebook that he is praying his daughter will go into treatment. "I'll leave it at that," he wrote in a post that is still up as of this writing. The post has over 4,000 likes and nearly a thousand comments, most of which showed support for Somerville, who has seen his fair share of struggles.

Several people suggested Somerville show his daughter the same grace she might have given to him when he was deep in his addiction. One person said Somerville should ask himself, "Is this what she felt when I was playing the role of the addict?" Another said he should not say anything else publicly as it would be bad for his recovery and hers.

"If my struggles of sobriety were aired on a social media platform by my parent, I’d likely go no contact," commented one Facebook user. Several people echoed this sentiment, expressing disappointment over the fact that Somerville seemed to have chosen to air his daughter's dirty laundry online. "Just like mistakes that you have made, no one wants it posted for the whole world to see," said one commenter.