Lance Armstrong blamed girlfriend after hit-and-run in Aspen, police say

<p>(AP Photo/Aspen Police Department)</p>
<p>This Dec. 28, 2014 photo provided by the Aspen Police Department shows one of the two vehicles involved in a hit-and-run in Aspen, Colo. Disgraced cyclist Lance Armstrong hit two parked cars after a night of partying but agreed to let his longtime girlfriend take the blame to avoid national attention, police reports show.</p>
Photo: Lance Armstrong hit-and-run
This Dec. 28, 2014 photo provided by the Aspen Police Department shows one of the two vehicles involved in a hit-and-run in Aspen, Colo. Disgraced cyclist Lance Armstrong hit two parked cars after a night of partying but agreed to let his longtime girlfriend take the blame to avoid national attention, police reports show.

Police say they cited Armstrong after the Dec. 29 hit-and-run but only after his girlfriend, Anna Hansen, admitted to lying for him.

Police say Hansen told them she had been driving home from a party when she lost control of Armstrong's SUV, hitting the cars. But Hansen eventually told officers Armstrong was driving, and they both decided to let her take the blame.

The Aspen Daily News published this excerpt from a police report:

“I asked Hansen if Armstrong asked her to take the blame for the accident once they got home,” [Aspen police detective Rick] Magnuson wrote. “She replied, ‘No, that was a joint decision, and, um, you know 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 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 is due in court in March, the Daily News reports.