Once one of the most recognizable faces in Bay Area news, former KTVU anchor Frank Somerville is back in the headlines, this time for allegedly choking his own daughter during a brutal fight at his Oakland home.
Police say the 67-year-old veteran broadcaster, who spent more than three decades at KTVU, was arrested Monday evening after a violent altercation with his 20-year-old daughter, Callie Somerville.
According to reports, the argument began over money when Callie discovered her bank account was overdrawn. The fight escalated after she tried to take her father’s phone. Somerville allegedly tackled her to the ground, pressing one hand on her neck and another over her mouth until she nearly lost consciousness.
Photographs later showed the disgraced newsman with bloody cuts across his face. Somerville claimed he was acting in self-defense after Callie hit him first, telling police he responded on “instinct.” He also suggested his daughter was a “full-blown weed addict in withdrawal,” writing on Facebook: “I PRAY my daughter goes into treatment.”
Callie, however, told officers her father was the aggressor, and that she only acted in self-defense. Somerville was booked into Santa Rita Jail but quickly released on bail. The Alameda County District Attorney’s Office is now reviewing the case.
A Pattern of Violence
The shocking incident comes just months after Somerville admitted to another drunken outburst — a November 2024 altercation in which he punched his girlfriend, Elaine Coleman, and her daughter, Madeline Gordon.
Court filings later revealed Gordon said he was even more violent, alleging he pushed her into a TV, pulled her hair, and punched her in the face, leaving her with bruised ribs, an injured finger, and hair loss. Coleman described the episode as “what happens when you’re dealing with an alcoholic who’s not pursuing sobriety.”
Somerville has since claimed that he sought rehab and is “a totally different guy now,” though the latest arrest suggests otherwise.
Career Collapse and Public Downfall
Somerville’s downfall has been swift and highly public. Once a five-time Emmy winner, he was suspended twice from KTVU in 2021: first after slurring his words on-air, and again after clashing with producers over coverage of the Gabby Petito case.
In 2021, he crashed his Porsche while driving drunk, recording a blood alcohol level of .24 — three times the legal limit. He later pleaded no contest, was sentenced to probation, and ordered to attend DUI classes.
In 2023, police arrested him twice within nine hours during a pair of drunken disputes with relatives. His 31-year run at KTVU had already ended the previous year, after the station allowed his contract to quietly expire following his 2022 DUI crash.
Rock Bottom
Somerville has repeatedly admitted that alcohol fueled many of his public meltdowns, telling the San Francisco Chronicle he was “completely drunk off [his] ass” during one violent episode and adding: “I did a lot of bad s**. But I’m clean now, right?”*
Yet his latest arrest paints a troubling picture of a man still battling demons. Once celebrated as a trusted news anchor, Somerville’s life now reads like a cautionary tale of fame, addiction, and repeated self-destruction.
