“Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” star Ty Pennington was pulled over on May 5, 2007, on suspicion of driving under the influence and subsequently charged with the misdemeanor crime. Sources told TMZ that the television host’s blood alcohol level was at a .14 at the time of the arrest, which is almost double California’s legal limit of .08. Shortly after the arrest, he was released on a $5000 bail.
Later, Pennington released a lengthy statement via his publicist Stan Rosenfield wherein he admitted he was embarrassed by his “lapse in judgment” and apologized to fans, ABC Television, and his design team. “Under no circumstances should anyone consume alcohol while driving. I could have jeopardized the lives of others, and I am grateful there was no accident or harm done to anyone. This was my wake-up call,” he said.
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Pennington plead “no contest” to the DUI charges and was ordered to complete three years of probation as well as three months of alcohol education classes, attend a Mothers Against Drunk Driving impact panel, and pay a $390 fine. In his first interview following the arrest, he admitted that in retrospect, he should’ve taken a cab home. But as the old saying goes, hindsight is always 20/20. “If we could hit rewind in our life, I think we would do a bunch of things differently,” Pennington told Entertainment Tonight. “But you can’t do that. All you can do is accept what’s happened and learn from it.”
But Pennington’s legal woes were just getting started.
