Baltimore police say other driver ran red light, causing crash with Olympic champion Phelps

Police say other driver at fault in Phelps crash

BALTIMORE — A crash involving Olympic gold medalist Michael Phelps was blamed on the other driver, who ran a red light, Baltimore police said Friday.

Phelps, 24, was not injured, and two passengers in his Cadillac Escalade sport utility vehicle were also unhurt. The unidentified female driver of the car that caused the crash was treated at a hospital after saying she had neck and arm pain, and released Thursday night after the accident, authorities said.

Police planned to release a report later Friday that would provide additional details and show whether the woman was ticketed, said Anthony Guglielmi, the department’s chief spokesman.

Phelps’ Escalade had a crumpled front hood after the collision, which happened shortly before 9 p.m. Thursday. The car, a Honda Accord, had considerable damage to the front driver’s side.

The crash occurred at an intersection of two one-way streets north of downtown. The woman was heading north when she went through the stoplight, and Phelps’ eastbound vehicle ran into the driver’s side of the Accord, Guglielmi said.

Onlookers quickly gathered and snapped photos of Phelps and his vehicle.

Alcohol did not play a role in the crash, and police did not conduct field sobriety tests because it was obvious that neither driver had been drinking, Guglielmi said.

“There’s nothing sexy about this accident. There were no drugs involved. There was no alcohol involved. It was a traffic accident,” Guglielmi said.

Phelps has had brushes with the law. He pleaded guilty to drunken driving in 2004, shortly after he won six gold medals at the Athens Olympics, and was sentenced to 18 months’ probation.

Earlier this year, USA Swimming suspended Phelps after a British tabloid published a photo of him using a marijuana pipe. The Richland County, S.C., sheriff’s office investigated the photo but found there wasn’t enough evidence to charge Phelps, who apologized for his behavior.

Phelps won a record eight gold medals at last year’s Beijing Olympics.

He lives and trains in Baltimore and recently returned from the world swimming championships in Rome, where he won five golds and a silver.

John Cadigan, a senior coach with the North Baltimore Aquatic Club, which is based at the swim center operated by Phelps and his coach, said Friday he hadn’t talked to Phelps about the crash.

Cadigan said Phelps was not scheduled to be back at practice until next week.

Associated Press writers Kasey Jones and Aaron Morrison contributed to this story.