SALT LAKE CITY – Olympic gold-medallist skier Picabo Street told police her father attacked her during a fight that led Utah authorities to charge her with domestic violence and assault, according to a 911 call recording released Thursday.
Picabo Street can be heard on the recording saying the fight started after her dad, Roland Street, bumped his car into her house in snowy weather.
"He got his hands on me and I put him down the stairs," she tells the dispatcher on Dec. 23.
A woman who she refers to as mom is audible in the background disputing that version of what happened.
"I saw what you did to him," the woman says.
"Oh my God, are you kidding me? He scratched me on my face," Picabo Street replies.
Prosecutors say an investigation found Picabo Street was the primary aggressor. She’s accused of throwing her 76-year-old father down the stairs and locking him in the basement.
Picabo Street says on the recording that she tried to help dig out her parents’ car so they could use hers, but he "freaks out on me, he always calls me all kinds of names, whatever, tells me I’m a freak."
Roland Street has not been charged in the fight near Park City, Utah. Summit County prosecutor Ivy Telles says he’s not under investigation.
"That’s not to say that Mr. Street was not involved in the altercation at all, it’s just to say that she basically started it," Telles said.
Roland Street told police his daughter got angry and started yelling after he hit the house while trying to leave, documents show. He said the physical altercation broke out after they re-entered the house and she pushed him down two flights of stairs. Police saw cuts on Roland Street’s elbow and neck.
Picabo Street, 44, was arrested and bailed out. She was later charged with three counts of misdemeanour domestic violence in the presence of a child and one count of misdemeanour assault.
Picabo Street’s lawyer says she denies wrongdoing in what she considers a private family matter. She’s hoping to find an "amicable resolution" in the case, attorney Jason Richards said.
Telles said she’s prepared to discuss a possible plea deal, but negotiations haven’t begun. A hearing is set for Feb. 16 in Park City.
Picabo Street had an illustrious skiing career highlighted by a gold medal at the 1998 Winter Olympics in the women’s super-G event. She also won silver in the downhill at the 1994 Olympics in Lillehammer, Norway, and competed in the 2002 Games in Salt Lake City.
She was the first American woman to win the World Cup downhill season title in 1995, and she repeated as champion the next season. She totalled nine downhill victories in World Cup races during her career.
More recently, she worked as an analyst for Fox Sports during the 2014 Winter Games from Sochi, Russia.