Veteran TV news anchor – and reformed alcoholic – Bree Walker arrested on DUI charges after being pulled over looking 'disheveled'



61-year-old allegedly failed roadside sobriety test

Police claim Walker smelled of alcohol when they stopped her

Worked as a radio talk show host and TV news anchor for stations in New York, Los Angeles and San Diego

First news anchor with rare genetic condition that caused her fingers and toes to be fused together



Veteran TV news anchor Bree Walker has been arrested on suspicion of drink-driving in Orange County, California, after police pulled her over in the early hours of Wednesday morning.



The 61-year-old radio talk show host and disability rights activist was described as looking disheveled and smelling of alcohol by the officers who stopped her.



The former CBS News anchor was stopped at 12.30am after allegedly failing to stop at a red traffic light.



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Arrest: Bree Walker was booked on a misdemeanor charge after allegedly failing a roadside sobriety test

She failed a roadside sobriety test and was booked for a misdemeanor DUI charge, before being released a few hours later, according to TMZ.



Walker allegedly was unable to provide a driver's license to police and declined to take a breathalyzer test.

She was taken to a police station for a blood alcohol test, Lieutenant Tim Schmidt told the OC Register. The results of the test are not available.



Walker, who worked as a news anchor in California and New York City, had her pet pit bull in the car with her at the time.



The dog, named Petey, was put in the care of animal control during Walker's arrest.



Popular: Walker had a high-profile career as a news anchor and is known for being a disability rights activist

Walker checked herself into rehab for alcohol abuse five years ago.

Then in December 2012 it was reported that she had sadly fallen firmly off the wagon and had been spotted drinking regularly - over a period of months - at the Roosterfish bar, near her home in Venice, California.

An eyewitness at the time described Walker as 'way off the wagon' and said she had been regularly seen acting ‘very boisterous and loud, and throwing her legs up on the bar’ and knocking back shots in the bar.

‘Bree got to the bar around 11:30 pm and stayed right up until it closed at 1:45 am, she was knocking the shots back at an impressive pace,’ the source told RadarOnline.com.



Walker was described as ‘unsteady’ on her feet when she departed and left behind her black jacket

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Walker has a rare genetic condition which results in her fingers and toes being fused together so they look like claws

Bree Walker, left, in a recent reality show called My Unique Family, and right, in her early days as a TV anchor in the early 1980s



When Walker checked into rehab for alcoholism in February 2007, she released a statement confessing to her battle with the bottle and pledging to overcome it.

‘As part of a continuing series of positive steps for unity, which have been taken in my family this past year, I have chosen, of my own accord, to enter a treatment program for alcohol dependency,’ she said.

Walker, who has been married three time and has two children, is also known as a disability rights advocate.



She has a rare genetic condition - inherited ectrodactyly - which causes missing fingers and toes, and also has syndactyly, which results in her fingers and toes being fused together so they look like claws.

She gained fame as the first news anchor with the rare condition when she decided to go public with it after she had established her career at the ABC affiliate KGTV Channel 10 in San Diego.



As an actor, Walker has appeared in TV shows including Carnivàle and Nip/Tuck, in both instances as someone who has ectrodactyly

Previously she had kept her deformed hands hidden inside a pair of glove-like prosthetic hands.

Her television career started in 1980 at KGTV as a consumer advocacy reporter.