News & Community
Michael Phelps Busted for DUI
The Baltimore native and Olympic champion was nearly twice the legal limit.
By Jess Mayhugh. Posted on September 30, 2014, 11:47 am
-Michael Phelps
Baltimore native and Olympic champion Michael Phelps was arrested for a DUI early this morning, reports TMZ Sports.
According to the gossip site, he was pulled over around 1:40 a.m. in his white Range Rover and failed the sobriety test, with a blood alcohol level almost twice the legal limit.
Law enforcement officials said that Phelps was initially pulled over for going 84 in in the Fort McHenry Tunnel, and was subsequently charged with a DUI, excessive speeding, and crossing double lane lines.
This is Phelps's second DUI arrest—the first was in Salisbury in 2004, after which he struck a plea deal with prosecutors and plead guilty in exchange for 18 months probation. Additionally, in 2009, a photo was released of Phelps smoking marijuana, something we asked his publicist Peter Carlisle about in our July 2012 cover story:
Phelps’s marketability is so strong it withstood the 2009 marijuana incident with minimal financial damage.
“It’s impossible to know what opportunities didn’t come because of it,” Carlisle says. “I’m sure it had an effect, but most of the sponsors he had he still has, and he’s added to it. Fortunately, his brand has been resilient.”
However, this could be an entirely different scenario as it's much more negligent in nature, especially with the advent of ride-share companies like Uber and Lyft (not to mention the money he has to spend on a private driver). It should be interesting to see how Michael Phelps, who announced he was coming out of retirement in April, can bounce back from this.
Check back to TMZ for the developing story.
Jess Mayhugh is the digital editor for Baltimore, where she covers nightlife, sports, food, and events.
Read more from Jess Follow @jessmayhugh
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