FILE - In this April 18, 2005, file photo, Olympic gold medalist Michael Phelps speaks to a group of seniors at Parkside High School in Salisbury, Md., as part of his sentence after pleading guilty to a DUI charge. Authorities say Phelps has been arrested on a DUI charge in Maryland. Transit police say they stopped the 29-year-old Phelps at the Fort McHenry Tunnel in Baltimore around 1:40 a.m. Tuesday, Sept. 30, 2014. (AP Photo/Matthew S. Gunby, File)
BALTIMORE — Olympic champion Michael Phelps is apologizing for his latest brush with the law, saying he is “deeply sorry to everyone I have let down” with an arrest early Tuesday on a DUI charge.
Police charged the 18-time gold medalist after officers said he was speeding and failed field sobriety tests when pulled over in his native Baltimore.
This is the second time Phelps has been arrested on drunken-driving charges, the first coming in 2004 after he competed at the Athens Olympics. He also was photographed using a marijuana pipe after the 2008 Beijing Games, which resulted in a three-month suspension from USA Swimming.
Phelps issued a statement saying he understands “the severity of my actions” and takes “full responsibility.”
He is hoping to compete in his fifth Olympics at Rio.