By Editor,Jensen Bird

Copyright dailymail

A veteran news anchor who was arrested last year after drunkenly attacking his girlfriend and her daughter in their California home has given a shocking reason for his vile attack.

Frank Somerville, 67, is currently under investigation for allegedly choking his own daughter during a violent altercation at his home, and was arrested Monday for the fourth time in five years.

He has now shared details about another attack last year involving his partner and her daughter, telling the San Francisco Chronicle: ‘I was completely drunk off my ass, and I’m ashamed.

‘I feel guilty. I’ve apologized to everyone. It’s horrible, and it’s all me,’ the disgraced former anchor said.

The Berkeley native worked for the Fox affiliate KTUV for 31 years and won five Emmys during his career.

According to reports from the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office, on November 19, Somerville punched his girlfriend, 59-year-old Elaine Coleman.

He then punched her daughter, 28-year-old Madeline Gordon, when she tried to stop him, the report states.

Somerville, 67, said that the violence happened before he sought treatment for his substance issues in December 2024.

He said: ‘Please remember it was before. I’m a totally different person now. I’m not a bad guy.

‘I did a lot of bad s***, though, and that was one of the cases, but all I can say is I’m clean now, right?’

Coleman applied for a restraining order three days after his arrest, claiming that Somerville was abusive to her and had assaulted her daughter.

She later dropped it and the couple is still together.

Gordon said that he had pushed her into their TV, pulled her hair, and punched her in the face.

She also told Alameda County Courts that he ‘tried holding me down by putting force on my neck.’

She described ‘extreme chest pain’ thanks to bruising on her ribs, an injured finger, and hair loss from Somerville pulling it out.

In August 2024, Somerville posted a photo with his girlfriend calling her his ‘soulmate.’

He also wrote that both of them valued a diet with ‘no processed foods’ and ‘no alcohol.’

Coleman said that the day he attacked her, he’d been drinking all day and she thought he may have been experiencing a mental health episode.

She asked courts to order Coleman to pay for the costs of her emergency room visit, the furniture he damaged, and her attorneys’ fees.

She also asked that he enter an intervention program.

Despite the severity of their injuries, the women chose not to pursue restraining orders because they didn’t think Somerville was an ‘ongoing threat.’

Coleman said her boyfriend reached rock bottom later that year and he finally pursued rehab.

She called his behavior leading up to the assault ‘what happens when you’re dealing with an alcoholic who’s not pursuing sobriety.’

Although he claimed that he’s a ‘totally different guy now,’ this incident is just one of Somerville’s ongoing legal issues, many of which involve alcohol.

Just this week, Somerville was booked in the Santa Rita Jail for suspected battery.

During Monday’s incident, he allegedly tackled his 20-year-old daughter to the floor and gripped her neck until she almost lost consciousness, which he said was out of ‘instinct.’

Somerville claimed he was acting out of self-defense because his daughter scratched his face, leaving a bloody wound.

Somerville, who studies the Israeli fighting method Krav Maga said: ‘If I wanted her to pass out, she would’ve passed out.’

He was also arrested twice in June 2023 over the span of just 12 hours for getting into a drunken fight with his brother and again when he showed up at his brother’s home displaying ‘objective signs and symptoms of public intoxication,’ according to Berkeley Scanner.

Berkeley Police also said he’d been seen driving drunk.

His former new outlet, KTVU suspended him twice in 2021, the first time for slurring his words on a newscast.

The second time, he had argued with the show’s producers about how they were covering the Gabby Petito investigation in September 2021.

A month after he crashed his Porsche during a DUI in 2022, KTVU let his contract expire, ending his 31-year-career at the station.

Daily Mail reached out to Coleman for comment.