Lance Armstrong in Crash, Girlfriend Took Rap

It's the headline Lance Armstrong was allegedly attempting to avoid: The Aspen Daily News today reports the cyclist was behind the wheel during an alleged Dec. 28 hit-and-run but that girlfriend Anna Hansen took the blame. Per the police report, Hansen on Dec. 29 told police she drove the SUV home from an Aspen Art Museum party because Armstrong had drank a bit. She said she lost control, hit two parked cars, drove around the corner, then returned to speak to the homeowner. The homeowner backs up the latter half of the story: "A woman, well-dressed, 30ish, blond … came running around the corner in her high heels in 6 inches of packed snow, which was pretty impressive; she ran directly to us and said, 'We're so sorry, we came around the corner and slipped on the ice, and we hit your cars.'"

The "we," she explained, were the Armstrongs, and the report states that she told him Lance "was just driving too fast around the corner or something." Detective Rick Magnuson then spoke to a valet who had worked the art event; "he told me that he assisted Hansen to the passenger side of the GMC, and Armstrong entered the driver’s side and drove away," per Magnuson. During a Dec. 31 interview, Magnuson says Hansen owned up to being in the passenger seat. She allegedly framed it as a "joint decision" to have her take the blame. "We’ve had our family name smeared over every paper in the world in the last couple of years and honestly, I've got teenagers, I just wanted to protect my family." Her two tickets for failing to report an accident and exceeding safe speed for conditions were transferred to Armstrong on Jan. 12; he has a March 17 court date. (More Lance Armstrong stories.)