Details emerge after Hope Solo arrested on 'child abuse' charges

Hope Solo, the former goalkeeper for the US women's national soccer team, has been arrested in North Carolina and charged with impaired driving (DWI), resisting arrest and misdemeanour child abuse.

Winston-Salem Police Department said Solo was arrested in a Walmart parking lot after she was found passed out behind the wheel with her two children in the vehicle.

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She was processed and subsequently released and has a court date of June 28.

"Based on the impending prosecution, no further information will be released regarding this arrest," said a department spokesperson.

According to an arrest warrant, a passerby noticed Solo passed out behind the steering wheel for more than an hour with the vehicle's engine running and the two children in the backseat.

A responding officer could smell alcohol, and the warrant said Solo refused a field sobriety test and her blood was drawn instead.

A mugshot of Solo was also released.

A statement posted to the 40-year-old Twitter account and attributed to her counsel Rich Nichols addressed the incident.

"On the advice of counsel, Hope can't speak about this situation, but she wants everyone to know that her kids are her life, that she was released immediately and is now at home with her family, that the story is more sympathetic than the initial charges suggest, and that she looks forward to her opportunity to defend these charges," the statement read.

Solo is widely regarded as one of the greatest female goalkeepers in football history.

She helped the US win two Olympic gold medals and a World Cup during her career.

The goalkeeper made 202 appearances with the national team, with 153 wins and an international-record 102 clean sheets.

During the 2015 World Cup championship run, she allowed just three goals in seven games with five clean sheets.

Hope Solo's career marred by controversies

However she was dismissed from the national team following the 2016 Olympics in Brazil after calling the Swedish team “cowards”.

Solo was critical of Sweden for taking a defensive stance against the defending gold medallists, ending a laudable playing career that was also marred by controversy.

She was suspended for 30 days in 2015 after she and husband Jerramy Stevens were pulled over in a US Soccer-owned van and Stevens was charged with DUI.

She was also benched after publicly questioning coach Greg Ryan’s decision to start Briana Scurry against Brazil during the 2007 World Cup, comments many felt were a slight against Scurry.

Solo was also involved in an altercation with family members in 2014 that resulted in her arrest, although charges in that case were eventually dropped.

She was elected to the US Soccer Hall of Fame in January, with her induction ceremony scheduled for May 21.

Solo has been married to Stevens, a former tight end in the NFL, since 2012.

The couple have twins - Vittorio Genghis and Lozen Orianna Judith Stevens - born on March 4, 2020.

with agencies

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