In 2014, Hope Solo was arrested on two counts of domestic violence. It started when one of the world’s best soccer goalies got herself into an altercation with her sister and nephew on the evening of June 21st and ended with a lot of insults and drunken threats made to police officers.
According to an ESPN report USA Today Sports says that, Teresa Obert and her son arrived at home around 10 p.m. and found Solo parked outside their house with a bottle of wine in her cup holder and they reported that she was already drunk.
Solo’s sister called 911 when things got violent.
Officer Goguen arrived on the scene and collected statements from everyone involved. He said, “When [Solo] spoke, her speech was slurred and I could smell the odor of intoxicating liquor on her breath.”
“It was apparent to me [Solo] was unwilling to go into detail of exactly what happened,” wrote Goguen. She denied pushing or hitting her sister or nephew despite what they were telling the officers. She responded, “I did not hit anyone. He hit me with a stick.”
According to records, after looking at Obert and her son’s “obvious” injuries, they believed there was probable cause to arrest Solo. When Goguen came to arrest her, she became upset, and continued to deny any wrong doing.
Cpl. Robert Russell was one of the officers who processed Solo when she was brought to the Kirkland jail to be booked on two counts of domestic violence. In his report he stated when Solo arrived at the jail, “I could hear the arrestee yelling profanities inside the patrol vehicle. She showed signs of being intoxicated. Her eyes were bloodshot, speech was slurred, lack of good coordination, and the smell of intoxicants coming from her breath were present.”
Solo insulted Russell and Goguen many times, according to the report. She even accused the two jailers of having sex and called an officer a “14 year old boy.”
She was asked to remove her necklace and responded that the piece of jewelry was worth more than the officer made in one year.
When Russell was fingerprinting Solo, she “made numerous statements that I was not worth anything, and should be proud to have such authority.”
Russell said that he and Goguen took Solo to another jail facility just before 3 a.m., where she would spend the next few days. Solo was persistent with her insults towards Goguen and Russell. According the report, she became extremely aggressive and had to be forced to the ground to gain compliance. She yelled at one officer and said, “You’re such a b—-. You’re scared of me because you know that if the handcuffs were off, I’d kick your ass.”
In response to questions about Solos behavior, her lawyer, Maybrown, wrote: “Any of us would be upset at being wrongly arrested.” He stated that her behavior was resulting from “significant head injury” rather than being drunk. “Hope was not intoxicated; she was concussed.”
Solo continued to play soccer despite saying she was “concussed pretty severely.” She was at a game just one week after the incident, although she did not play. There were no injuries reported.
U.S. Soccer, which oversees all national teams, kept quiet about the incident. It wasn’t until three months later that they commented on the issue saying that they would allow Solo to play while the case unfolds, and will reevaluate if further details come out. It is unclear what kind of investigation they did. Neither Obert, her son, nor the Kirkland Police were contacted.
Solo’s case was dismissed by Judge Michael Lambo on procedural grounds. However, prosecutors have filed an appeal with the Superior Court of Washington, which required rare city administrator approval. Prosecutors are expected to file their argument by July 13, with the defense due to respond by Aug 10.
After the incident, Obert applied for and was granted a long-term restraining order. It states that Solo can’t come within 1,000 feet of Obert and her son for two years.
