Mitch McConnell’s sister-in-law Angela Chao was over alcohol limit during horror Tesla drowning

Chao’s blood alcohol level was nearly three times state’s legal limit

Angela Chao and her husband Jim Breyer are seen here attending the AFI Awards Luncheon in Beverly Hills on 12 January 2024 (Getty Images)

Shipping tycoon Angela Chao was intoxicated at the time she drowned reversing her Tesla into a pond last month at a Texas ranch, according to police.

Law enforcement found that her blood alcohol level was nearly three times the state’s legal limit when the incident happened.

Blanco County Sheriff’s Office had initially declined to share many details around the death, which was first reported last month, stating they were still investigating.

But newly-released police records reveal that Chao was drunk at the time she reversed her Tesla Model X SUV into a pond in an estate on 10 February in Blanco County, outside Austin.

Chao was the sister-in-law of former Republican Senate leader Mitch McConnell and married to venture capitalist Jim Breyer. She was chair and chief executive of her family’s shipping business, the Foremost Group, and the president of her father’s philanthropic organisation, the Foremost Foundation.

On Wednesday, the Blanco County Sheriff’s Office made public 62 pages of records concerning Chao’s death. The documents described the incident as an “unfortunate accident” and revealed that her blood-alcohol level was 0.233 grams per 100 millilitres – approximately three times the legal driving limit of 0.08 grams per 100 millilitres.

Chao, 50, intended to drive from one building to another on the ranch due to the cold weather, police said. However, shortly after she entered her car, she mistakenly put the vehicle in reverse and ended up backing into a pond, according to police reports.

Angela Chao and Jim Breyer arrive at the Ninth Breakthrough Prize Ceremony at Academy Museum of Motion Pictures on April 15, 2023 in Los Angeles, California (Getty Images for Breakthrough Pr)

According to a report by Business Insider, a number of Tesla owners had earlier communicated to federal authorities their experiences of confusion and potentially hazardous scenarios over the unconventional gear-shifting mechanisms in their vehicles.

But Chao’s family did not blame Tesla for the death.

"Angela’s passing was a terrible tragedy, and words cannot describe the family’s profound grief," a spokesman for her father James SC Chao and the wider family said in an emailed statement. “The family is grateful for the first responders and friends who tried so hard to save her.”

Additional reporting by agencies