Abby Wambach, one of the faces of women’s soccer in the United States, was arrested early Sunday morning and charged for a misdemeanor driving under the influence of intoxicants (DUII) in Portland, Oregon.
Wambach was released from Multnomah County Jail shortly after being charged. Portland police report that Wambach ran a red light in downtown Portland and failed field sobriety tests, according to KATU in Portland. In Oregon, the charge for a DUII can be treated in similar fashion to a more standard DUI offense. First-time offenders of the DUII in Oregon are subject to at least a 90-day suspension of a driver’s license (and up to two years). The specifics of the incident remain unknown, and what intoxicants were involved have not been identified publicly.
Wambach, 35 years old, retired from the game last October following a storied career representing the United States. During her 15-year career, Wambach was a part of two gold medal teams in the Olympics and the World Cup championship team that won it all in Canada just last year and a silver four years earlier in Germany.
JUST IN: Soccer star Abby Wambach arrested for DUII last night #LiveOnK2 pic.twitter.com/eqSlSgg1tD
— KATU News (@KATUNews) April 3, 2016
Wambach is scheduled to deliver the keynote address at the OWN IT Summit later this week on April 9. According to The Hoya, the student newspaper at Georgetown, OWN IT is a student-run organization that connects students with women in leadership roles. At this point there is no reason to believe that will change, and it also presents an opportunity for Wambach to share a life lesson to those attending the summit.
UPDATE: Wambach posted a statement on her Facebook page taking “full responsibility” and apologizing for what happened.
[KATU]
