Ex-NFL player, married to Hope Solo, charged with drunken driving in California

[March 17, 2015]  SEATTLE (Reuters) - Former National Football League tight end Jerramy Stevens, the husband of U.S. women's soccer goalkeeper Hope Solo, was charged with drunken driving on Monday following his arrest in the Los Angeles area earlier this year, a county prosecutor said.

Stevens, 35, was charged with one misdemeanor count each of driving under the influence of alcohol and driving with a .08 percent blood alcohol content, both within 10 years of another DUI, the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office said in a statement.

Stevens, a resident of the Seattle-area city of Kirkland, was arrested on Jan. 19 after he was pulled over by a Manhattan Beach police officer who saw him driving without headlights. Solo, who has played on U.S. Olympic gold medal-winning teams in 2008 and 2012, was in the car with Stevens at the time.

After Stevens refused a chemical blood or breath test, officers obtained a search warrant to get a blood sample. He had a blood alcohol concentration that was .15 percent or more, the prosecutor said. He had a 2007 DUI conviction in Scottsdale, Arizona.

If convicted, Stevens faces a possible maximum sentence of one year in county jail, Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office said.

A representative for Stevens, who played nine seasons for the Seattle Seahawks and Tampa Bay Buccaneers, could not immediately be reached for comment.

U.S. media said Stevens was driving a U.S. women's National Soccer team van when he was arrested and that Solo was inside.

Solo was suspended for 30 days by U.S. Soccer following the incident, which happened during a training camp. Solo did not immediately return a phone call requesting comment.

(Reporting by Eric M. Johnson in Seattle; Editing by Mohammad Zargham)

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