The longtime girlfriend of Lance Armstrong took the fall for the ex-cycling star after Colorado police say she initially lied and claimed she was the driver who slammed into two parked cars in Aspen.
But it wasn't until three days after the Dec. 28 hit-and-run when Anna Hansen admitted to investigators that Armstrong, 43, was in fact the driver — and that they both agreed she should take the blame, Aspen police said in an accident citation first obtained by the Aspen Daily News.
"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," Hansen told police, according to the report also obtained by NBC News. "I just wanted to protect my family because I thought 'Gosh, Anna Hansen hit some cars,' it's not going to show up in the papers, but 'Lance Armstrong hit some cars,' it's going to be a national story."
Armstrong was famously stripped of his seven Tour de France titles after confessing two years ago that he won using performance-enhancing drugs.
Police say Armstrong and Hansen had left an Aspen Art Museum gala with the disgraced cyclist behind the wheel, when their GMC Yukon struck two parked cars as the couple headed home.
The family that claimed the Jeep Wrangler and Toyota Four Runner heard the accident from inside the home, and later told police that the woman involved identified herself to them as "the Armstrongs" and said her "husband," Lance, was driving too fast around the corner. Hansen left a phone number and the couple drove away instead of waiting for police. When cops first contacted Hansen, she claimed she was the driver because Lance had "a little bit to drink," the accident report said.
Hansen won't face any charges, police said. Armstrong, meanwhile, received a summons for failing to report an accident and driving too fast for the conditions. He is scheduled to appear in court March 17, reported NBC Denver affiliate KUSA. His attorney didn't immediately return a call seeking comment Tuesday.
IN-DEPTH
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