Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Report: Brockovich-Ellis argued with husband before arrest at Lake Mead

Erin Brockovich

Chris Pizzello / AP

Erin Brockovich meets the photographers at the premiere of the film “Erin Brockovich” Tuesday, March 14, 2000, in the Westwood section of Los Angeles. The film dramatizes Brockovich’s rags-to-riches tale as a single mother and file clerk who discovered an environmental disaster in a seemingly ordinary real-estate deal, and won the largest settlement ever paid in a direct-action lawsuit in the U.S.

Click to enlarge photo

A booking photo of Erin Brockovich-Ellis after her arrest Friday, June 7, 2013, at Lake Mead on a count of operating a boat while intoxicated.

Erin Brockovich-Ellis, an environmental activist whose story was made into a movie, slapped her husband and threw a cell phone into Lake Mead before her arrest Friday on a count of operating a boat while intoxicated, according to a Nevada Department of Wildlife arrest report.

Authorities were first alerted to Brockovich-Ellis when she and her husband were seen having an argument on a boat docked at a marina about 9 p.m. Friday, the report said.

Brockovich-Ellis was seen slapping her husband and throwing a cellphone into the lake before a Department of Wildlife game warden approached the boat, the report said. She started the boat and attempted to leave before the warden ordered her to stop, the report said.

Brockovich-Ellis told the officer that she was not very good at driving her boat and relinquished control of the vessel to the warden, the report said. He then guided the boat back into the slip and conducted a field sobriety test on Brockovich-Ellis, the report said.

A Breathalyzer test indicated levels above the legal blood-alcohol limit of 0.08 percent to operate a boat, leading to her arrest, the report said.

A criminal complaint charging Brockovich-Ellis with a misdemeanor count of operating a boat while intoxicated was filed Tuesday. Her court date was set for Oct. 7 in Henderson Justice Court.

In a statement released Sunday, Brockovich-Ellis said she didn’t pose a public safety risk but was sorry for her actions.

“I know better and I am very sorry,” she said. “After a day in the sun and with nothing to eat it appears that a couple of drinks had a greater impact than I realized.”

Brockovich-Ellis came to fame in the 1990s when she helped lead a class action lawsuit against Pacific Gas & Electric for leaking toxic chemicals into a small California town. A movie based on her life was released in 2000 and netted actress Julia Roberts an Academy Award for best actress.

Join the Discussion:

Check this out for a full explanation of our conversion to the LiveFyre commenting system and instructions on how to sign up for an account.

Full comments policy