Ryan Lochte has clearly been spinning out of control because after his drunken door kicking incident on the West Coast, he caused a bad car crash on the East Coast the very same day ... TMZ Sports has learned.
Lochte was driving in Gainesville, FL Thursday at around 9:45 PM when he rear ended a car.
Lochte had just landed in Gainsville after flying from Orange County, CA, where he drunkenly kicked in his hotel room door at around 3 AM. Cops were called, came to the hotel but no arrests were made. Lochte settled up with the hotel and smoothed things over.
As for the car crash, according to the police report, Lochte was driving his Porsche to his home when he realized he was about to hit the car in front of him and slammed on his brakes at the last minute ... to no avail.
The driver of the car Lochte hit was taken by ambulance to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. Lochte was okay and cited for "careless driving." There's no mention of alcohol in the police report.
Lochte's lawyer, Jeff Ostrow, told TMZ Sports Friday, "Ryan has been battling alcohol addiction for many years and unfortunately it has become a destructive pattern for him." Ostrow says Lochte realizes he needs professional help and will seek it.
As you know ... Lochte got into trouble in Brazil during the 2016 Olympics during a drunken incident at a gas station.