Police cite beer-drinking Phelps over license after crash

BALTIMORE, Maryland — Police cited US swim star Michael Phelps on Friday for driving with an expired license and said the Beijing Olympic hero admitted drinking a beer about 75 minutes before a car crash.

Baltimore city police said the accident Thursday night at an intersection was not the fault of Phelps and he showed no signs of being impaired so no sobriety tests were administered.

Phelps, who won an unprecedented eight gold medals at last year's Beijing Olympics, was driving when his sports utility vehicle was struck by a car that ran a red light.

Phelps told police his right ankle was sore but did not seek medical treatment. Two passengers in the vehicle driven by Phelps were unharmed.

The driver of the other vehicle, Amanda Virkus, will be cited for failing to stop at a red light and causing an accident. She was treated at a hospital for back pain and released.

Her car suffered driver's side damage. Phelps's vehicle had hood damage. Two parked cars were also damaged.

Phelps, 24, faces citations for driving without as license and failing to establish Maryland residency.

The driver's license he showed police was an expired one from Michigan, where Phelps attended college before moving back to his hometown of Baltimore last year. Maryland citizens must renew residency and obtain new licenses.

While there is no fine involved, Phelps must appear in court.

Phelps won five titles at the World Swimming Championships in Rome that ended earlier this month and is training for the 2012 London Olympics.

Shortly after winning six gold medals at the 2004 Athens Olympics, Phelps pleaded guilty to drunken driving and was sentenced to 18 months on probation.

Phelps was suspended for three months earlier this year by USA Swimming after a photograph of him holding a pipe commonly used to smoke marijuana was published in a British newspaper.

Police in South Carolina investigated the incident but found insufficient evidence to charge Phelps, who apologized and said he had learned a lesson from the incident.