Sarah Palin's son arrested in Alaska on suspicion of domestic violence

[January 20, 2016]  (Reuters) - The elder son of former Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin has been arrested on suspicion of assaulting a woman and carrying a gun while intoxicated, police in the family's Alaska hometown said on Tuesday.

The arrest came just hours before Palin, the politician-turned-reality TV star, endorsed Donald Trump, the reality television star-turned-politician, in his bid for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination.

Track Palin, 26, was arrested late on Monday night after authorities responded to a domestic disturbance call at a home in Wasilla, Alaska, police said in a statement.

"An investigation revealed Track Palin had committed a domestic violence assault on a female, interfered with her ability to report a crime of domestic violence and possessed a firearm while intoxicated," the statement said.

Police provided no immediate further details.

Representatives for the Palin family could not immediately be reached for comment.

Sarah Palin shot to national prominence in 2008 during her first time as Alaska governor when U.S. Senator John McCain of Arizona picked her to be his vice presidential running mate in his failed general election campaign for the White House against the Democratic ticket of Barack Obama and Joe Biden.

She resigned as governor the following year but has remained in the public spotlight on the lecture circuit and as a conservative political commentator. She also has produced and starred in a series of staged television shows about her family set against the backdrop of Alaska's rugged outdoors.

In 2014, the Palins made national headlines when, according to an Anchorage police report, a booze-fueled brawl erupted at an outdoor party late on Sept. 6 involving Sarah Palin's husband, Todd, their son Track and daughters Bristol and Willow.

(Reporting by Curtis Skinner in San Francisco; Editing by Steve Gorman, Bernard Orr)

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