Sport

Lance Armstrong let girlfriend take blame for car crash

Cyclist charged with causing damage to two parked vehicles in Colorado

One of the two vehicles involved in a hit-and-run in Aspen, Colorado. Disgraced cyclist Lance Armstrong agreed to let his girlfriend take the blame for the incident to avoid media attention, police reports show. Photograph: Aspen Police Department.
One of the two vehicles involved in a hit-and-run in Aspen, Colorado. Disgraced cyclist Lance Armstrong agreed to let his girlfriend take the blame for the incident to avoid media attention, police reports show. Photograph: Aspen Police Department.
Wed Feb 04 2015 - 20:35

Disgraced cyclist Lance Armstrong has been charged with crashing into two parked cars in the Colorado ski resort town of Aspen, with his girlfriend initially telling authorities that she was driving, according to police reports.

Armstrong was cited for leaving the scene of an accident and driving too fast for the snowy conditions in the late December incident in the resort, authorities said. No one was injured in the accident.

Armstrong was stripped of his seven Tour de France victories and banned for life from racing in 2012 by the US Anti-Doping Agency after he admitted using performance-enhancing drugs.

Aspen police said the 43-year-old Armstrong and his girlfriend, Anna Hansen, were driving home from a fundraising event when a GMC Yukon registered to Armstrong crashed into two parked cars.

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Police said an Aspen resident called 911 to report a hit and run after hearing the crash and seeing two vehicles rented by his relatives were damaged.

The man said that shortly after placing the call Hansen ran up from around a corner and apologised for hitting the vehicles, said she would pay for the damages, and left her contact information with him, police said.

When police arrived at the home Armstrong and Hansen share, the officer noted the Yukon had “significant damage”, the report said.

When questioned by police, Hansen, 33, said she had been driving because “Lance had a little bit to drink” and that she lost control of the vehicle on the icy road, the report said.

Suspicious

The officer was suspicious of her story and checked with the valet at the hotel where the event was held, who said Armstrong was behind the wheel when the couple left the parking lot.

Police confronted Hansen about the discrepancy in the story and she admitted that Armstrong had been driving and the couple made a “joint decision” to say she was driving to avoid publicity, the report said.

Pitkin county prosecutor Andrea Bryan said by telephone that Hansen was not charged for filing a false report because authorities encourage witnesses to be truthful.

A message left for Armstrong’s attorney, Pamela Mackey, was not immediately returned. Armstrong is due in court on March 17th, court records show.