Conger and Bentz were being questioned by Brazilian authorities, NBC reported.
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He also said the assailant pointed a gun at him rather than putting it to his head.
The action came hours after a special prosecutor here issued an order to seize the passports of U.S. Olympic swimmers Ryan Lochte and James Feigen, under suspicion of falsely reporting a crime, a penalty carrying a sentence of up to three years here. It is unclear whether the other athletes are in Brazil or not – in a statement, the U.S. Olympic Committee declined to disclose their whereabouts.
Judicial sources said the judge would consider whether to ask Lochte to return to Brazil to give testimony or allow him to do so in the United States.
Bentz, reached Wednesday afternoon, said he was at the airport and could not talk.
Lochte’s father reportedly told the Associated Press that his son is back in the U.S., but he U.S. Olympic Committee would not disclose the location of Lochte or Feigen.
Globo, a leading Brazilian news organization, posted a video online showing the two swimmers walking into a police station.
“I wouldn’t make up a story like this, nor would the others”, Lochte said, according to Lauer. I don’t know what they’re trying to do down there. They were allegedly robbed at gunpoint Saturday, a claim the International Olympic Committee denied before backtracking. “The main thing is he’s very lucky that he’s safe and that all they got was his cash and wallet”. Per Lochte, one put a gun to his forehead.
But Lochte, a 12-time Olympic medalist, reportedly flew back to the United States before the order was issued.
Ryan’s lawyer, Jeff Ostrow, confirmed that Ryan is stateside and has gone on record to say that the swimmer did everything he could to cooperate with authorities.
A police official with knowledge of the investigation told The Associated Press that witnesses, along with the taxi driver, can not be located.
There is also a surveillance video which shows the men in good spirits after the incident when they returned to the Olympic village.
Three days after claiming that he and his teammates were robbed at gunpoint, American swimmer Ryan Lochte has tempered his initial, dramatic description of the alleged incident.
Such a trip during early morning hours would take 30 to 40 minutes.
“Why would anybody fabricate anything?”
Police discovered after checks at Rio’s global airport that Lochte, 32, had already left Brazil, where he won a relay gold medal in the Olympic swimming competition that ended on Saturday. Feigen, 26, received gold for swimming in the heats of the 4×100 free relay, which was won by the U.S.
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According to Lauer, however, Lochte said his initial interactions with police were “casual”, “friendly” and “vague”, and that “never during the questioning did they question his truthfulness”. The gunmen ordered them to drop to the ground and demanded their wallets and belongings, Lochte said.
