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PARK CITY — Former Fox 13 news anchor Hope Woodside was arrested two days in a row last month and accused of driving under the influence both days.
Woodside, 57, was charged March 31 in Summit County Justice Court with DUI, a class B misdemeanor; open container, a class C misdemeanor; and failure to signal, an infraction, stemming from an arrest on March 29.
Woodside was charged on April 1 in the same court with driving under the influence, a class B misdemeanor; open container, a class C misdemeanor; and failure to stay in one lane, an infraction, stemming from another arrest on March 30.
On March 29, dispatchers received a complaint accusing Woodside of drinking alcohol and driving in the Pinebrook/Jeremy Ranch area of Park City, according to a police affidavit filed in Summit County Justice Court.
"There is prior history of complaints against Mrs. Woodside of operating a motor vehicle while suspected of being under the influence of alcohol," the affidavit states.
Woodside's attorney, Greg Skordas, said she has entered not guilty pleas to the charges. He declined additional comment Monday.
Police found Woodside in the Jeremy Ranch area driving on the shoulder of Homestead Road and making a right hand turn at a three-way stop without signaling, the affidavit states.
An officer pulled her over and reported detecting an odor of alcohol. She performed field sobriety tests but declined to take a preliminary breath test, according to the affidavit. She was then arrested.
When police searched Woodside's car, they found an open Diet Coke can in the center console that was a quarter full of an alcoholic beverage, the affidavit states. They also found on the floor a bottle of chardonnay with the seal broken, police said. She allegedly told officers she had consumed alcohol and operated the car.
The next day, police received a call about a vehicle that had run off the road on a freeway off-ramp. A bystander told an officer that Woodside was "in the vehicle on the back seat," according to a second police affidavit.
When asked what had happened, Woodside said that "another vehicle was swerving which caused her to crash into the snowbank in the gore area. While Hope got out of her vehicle I noticed she stumbled and struggled to maintain balance while standing and talking with me. Her eyes were red and glossy," the officer wrote in the report.
When Woodside performed field sobriety tests, the officer noticed clues that she was under the influence, the affidavit states. The officer reported finding an open container of alcohol in her car.
Woodside left Fox 13 in September 2018 after 23 years at the station, saying as she signed off on a newscast that she decided "now is the right time to step away from the newsroom."
