Shannon Beador of Real Housewives of Orange County fame was arrested for a DUI and hit-and-run early Sunday morning in Newport Beach.

According to TMZ, an intoxicated Shannon drove her car into the side of somebody’s house. Then, she turned back onto the road, drove for a bit, and parked her car “in the middle of the street.”

This next part is where things get really unhinged: Shannon got out of the car with her dog (poor Archie). When the cops showed up, she pretended she was walking Archie. Just an innocent woman who happened to stumble upon the scene! Unfortunately for Shannon, the cops weren’t fooled. She “appeared wasted” and was taken into custody.

TMZ says Newport Beach PD booked Shannon for two misdemeanors: a hit-and-run and DUI alcohol. She was cited and released without bond. Today, her lawyer told TMZ that the 59-year-old mom of three is “extremely apologetic and remorseful.” He adds, “Shannon is prepared to accept full responsibility for her actions.”

The Real Housewives of Orange County isn’t filming at the moment, so Bravo cameras won’t capture this legal drama. The 17th season is currently airing, and the reunion was filmed on September 7th. After a few meh seasons, Season 17 has been hailed as a return-to-form by Housewives fans. Unfortunately, a lot of that has to do with Shannon’s unhinged behavior (I know I already used “unhinged” to describe her, but it truly is the perfect adjective for Shannon Storms Beador).

Shannon’s main storyline on Season 17 is her relationship with John Janssen. According to the other Housewives, Shannon regularly gets wasted and drunk-dials them to bitch about John. Drunk-Shannon claims John is only with her for the fame, he won’t sleep over at her house, his daughter hates her, they get into huge fights, etc. But, according to sober Shannon, she and John are hunky-dory. And how daaaare these women gossip about her? And who is providing them with all these personal details? Um… she is.

Immediately after filming wrapped on RHOC Season 17, John dumped Shannon. She said she was “blindsided.” But the two have remained friends (or maybe more). In late July, Shannon was (allegedly) kicked out of a bar for screaming at John’s daughter. An eyewitness claimed Shannon appeared “wasted” and “had to be held back and removed by security.” Shannon denied the claims that she was kicked out, but admitted there was some screaming.

Now, Shannon is hardly the first Housewife to get a DUI. See: Sonja Morgan, Marysol Patton, Karen Huger, and Brandi Glanville. There’s also Shannon’s RHOC co-star, Gina Kirschenheiter, who got a DUI in 2019. Since then, Gina quit drinking and she seems to be in a much better place.

But, as Housewives DUIs go, I’d say Shannon’s is the worst. She drove into a goddamn house. Someone could have been killed! And then there’s the “I’m just walking my dog!” stunt. That particular bonkers detail kicks this whole thing into “Countess Luann assaults a cop” territory.

You remember Luann de Lesseps’ 2017 arrest, right? She got super drunk in Palm Beach, walked into the wrong hotel room, and got violent when cops tried to arrest her. Lu was charged with disorderly intoxication, resisting arrest, battery of an officer, and making threats against a public servant. Upon her release, she entered an alcohol treatment program. Since then, Luann has (mostly) been sober, barring a few very public relapses.

As RHOC fans know, Shannon has been in deep denial about her alcohol issues for many years. But this latest incident has got to be a massive wake-up call. My gut says that Shannon will head to rehab as soon as she can. If we’re being cynical, it’s the best PR move. If we’re being actually good people, it’s the smartest decision for Shannon’s well-being (as well as poor Archie’s, her daughters’, and the world at large). Oops, second smartest decision. #1 would be to leave reality TV forever. But we all know that’s never going to happen.