Olympic swimming champion Michael Phelps, driving a late model Cadillac Escalade, was involved in a traffic accident in Baltimore last night at the intersection of Calvert and Biddle Street. One of the vehicles reportedly went through a red light, causing the two car collision.
The other vehicle involved in the crash was a Honda Accord. The female driver, Amanda E. Virkus, was taken to Maryland Shock Trauma Center with neck and arm injuries. She was treated and later released. Police charged her with failure to obey a red light.
Police questioned Phelps following the crash and allowed him and his two passengers to leave the scene. Phelps was not given a breathalyzer test, though he did admit that he had consumed a beer approximately one hour prior to the accident. According to police official Anthony Guglielemi,“There was no need. He was completely coherent. He was cooperating with police. He gave a witness statement as to what occurred.”
Phelps pleaded guilty in 2004 to driving while impaired by alcohol in Wicomico County. He will be required to go before a judge once again to explain why he was driving with a suspended Michigan drivers license. According to police officials, his license is no longer valid because he failed to pay an earlier fine – the result of having no proof of insurance.
View video coverage of the crash scene below.