Karen Huger, a star of the reality TV series “The Real Housewives of Potomac,” has been charged with drunken driving in Maryland after police said she was at the wheel of a 2017 Maserati late Tuesday that crossed a median strip and crashed into street signs.
Police said officers responded to the intersection of Oaklyn Drive and Beman Woods Way in Potomac shortly before midnight Tuesday for a single-vehicle crash. They said Huger was arrested at the scene. No one else was in the Maserati, which was rendered inoperable, police said.
Huger has been a cast member of the “The Real Housewives of Potomac” since it originally aired in 2016 as the Washington-area installment in the Bravo’s network’s array of “Real Housewives” reality shows, based in several cities. She has been known as the grande dame and social arbiter of the show, living in a Potomac-area mansion with her husband. A manager for Huger did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The gossip website TMZ quoted Huger as saying in a statement Wednesday that the crash was “a very frightening experience.”
“Last night I met a girlfriend for dinner, we talked and brought up some very emotionally sensitive topics,” Huger said, according to TMZ. “I was crying on my way home and saw a car heading right for me. I swerved to avoid the head-on collision, hit the divider and then a tree. I’m hurt, bruised up a bit, but so grateful I am alive! I did receive citations, one of which was unrelated to the incident.”
The reality show’s website describes Huger as “a pillar of strength and a force to be reckoned with. She grew up in Virginia on a large family farm that has been in her family for more than 100 years.” It says she “witnessed her father succeeding through hard work and perseverance, and she took her strong family values and followed her heart.”
“Karen successfully launched her signature fragrance, La’Dame by Karen Huger,” the website says.
Court records show Huger previously pleaded guilty to driving while impaired by alcohol in a 2006 case. Between 2000 and 2015, she paid about $1,514 in connection to six traffic-related charges, court records show.
It was not immediately clear from court records when she will be required to appear in court.
