Former News Anchor Allegedly Assaulted Daughter — Then Posted Online 'Bad Things Happen in Battle' By Christina Coulter

Once a familiar face on Bay Area newscasts, Frank Somerville is now facing assault allegations involving his 20-year-old daughter.

The 67-year-old former KTVU anchor was arrested Monday Sept. 15 on suspicion of battery with serious bodily injury, per jail records reviewed by PEOPLE. The call came in just before 5:45 p.m. to a residence on Arlington Avenue in Oakland, according to SFGATE.

In a since-deleted Facebook post shared by the outlet, as well as the San Francisco Chronicle and the Los Angeles Times, Somerville allegedly wrote that his daughter, Callie, came to his home upset about her overdrawn bank account, demanded money, grabbed his phone and “wouldn’t leave.”

“I love my daughter more than anything in the world,” the post read. “I would never deliberately try to hurt her. But bad things happen in battle.” He also claimed he acted only to restrain her. Callie told authorities he was the aggressor, according to the outlets.

Somerville was booked into Santa Rita Jail and later released on bail, according to jail records reviewed by PEOPLE and reporting from SFGATE and the Times.

The Alameda County District Attorney’s Office will now determine whether to file formal charges, per the outlets.

Somerville, who won multiple Emmys during his decades at KTVU, has faced public struggles and prior arrests in recent years — including an on-air slurring incident in 2021 followed by DUI charges, and two arrests in one night in 2023 after a family dispute, according to the outlets.

In his Facebook post, he also said he has been sober for nine months and was sober at the time of the altercation.

His attorney, Shannan Dugan, told the Chronicle and the Times that the situation is a delicate family matter and expressed hope it could be resolved outside court.