Richie Sambora Officially Charged with DUI

By: Shannon Gossage

The Orange County District Attorney’s office announced that Sambora was officially charged with the DUI on Tuesday, but he was not hit with child endangerment charges as was recently rumored. Laguna Beach Police originally recommended that Sambora be charged with child endangerment stemming from his March 25 arrest. Farrah Emami, a spokesperson for the Orange County District Attorney’s Office said, "We felt that in order to file additional counts – in this case, child endangerment – we would have needed additional aggravating circumstances. The evidence did not support that."

Sambora, 48, was arrested after being pulled over by police who witnessed his unsteady driving on the night of March 25. Police said that the Bon Jovi guitarist seemed as if he were under the influence and said that they could smell alcohol on him. His blood alcohol level was reportedly .13. The legal limit in California is .08. Also in the car at the time of his arrest were Sambora’s girlfriend, Jenn Mallini; his ten-year old daughter Ava with ex-wife Heather Locklear; and her teenage cousin. Sambora’s rep has not yet released a comment on the charges.

Sambora has battled his addiction to alcohol in the past. Last June it was reported that he checked into rehab for a week because he had been drinking too much and wanted to get his life back on track. It was a tough year for Sambora. His divorce from Locklear was finalized after almost 11-years. He lost his father to lung cancer later that same month and then split from his girlfriend Denise Richards after almost a year a few months later. If convicted, Sambora faces up to six-months in jail and he is set to be arraigned on May 7.