Shannon Beador of “The Real Housewives of Orange County” will serve no jail time for multiple DUI charges.
Instead, Beador agreed on Nov. 2 to plead no contest to the misdemeanor DUI charges in exchange for a misdemeanor charge being dismissed.
Beador was given three years of informal probation, which means she does not have to report to a probation officer, and 40 hours of community service. Orange County Senior Judge Brett London also ordered Beador to enroll in a first-time offender alcohol program.
The prosecution, which had asked Beador to serve 30 days in jail, argued that Beador was getting off lightly because of her celebrity. However, Beador’s attorney accused prosecutors of seeking a punishment “beyond the normal sentencing range for a first-time DUI where no one was injured.”
Beador crashed her car just before midnight on Sept. 16 at an apartment complex in the 500 block of Clubhouse Avenue in Newport Beach. security camera plan shows Beador speeding around a corner and losing control of her vehicle. After crashing into the apartment building and narrowly missing the front door, she quickly backed her car off the curb before cruising away.
Arriving police found “moderate” property damage — later estimated at $24,100 — and a wet vehicle trail and debris leading to a wrecked vehicle on Via Lido.
When she met Beador, she was crying and “stumbling” on a sidewalk “with a big dog by her side” — Page Six suggested “tried to act like he was walking her puppy” Archie, who was in the car with her – according to a prosecution. She suffered multiple injuries in the crash, including a fractured left wrist, a cut and bruising around her left eye. Her blood alcohol level was 0.24%, three times the legal limit.
According to Deputy Regional. Atty. Dang Vu, Beador told the officer “they had to be careful because it was part of a TV show” and “the current incident could not be publicized or posted on social media.”
The officer found that Beador’s speech was slurred and that she smelled of alcohol. She explained that she had gone to a restaurant at 6:30 p.m., had three large shots of tequila, and after dinner had gone to an ex-boyfriend’s house before being kicked out. He said he had left the scene of the accident because he did not think the damage was significant, prosecutors wrote.
She was arrested and released on September 17 on a $2,500 bond.
“I am thankful that no one else was injured in this incident other than myself,” Beador said in a statement after the hearing. “I learned so much from my terrible mistake that night and realize that driving any distance while impaired is too far.”
