“Again, I can not speak to his actions, but Ryan stood up and began to yell at the guards”.
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One of the U.S. swimmers involved in an controversial incident at a Rio de Janeiro gas station said Friday that men with badges pulled guns on them and ordered them to pay money in order to leave the scene.
Bentz went on to clarify that while a pair of security guards who drew their guns confronted them, there was no holdup, as Lochte previously claimed.
Bentz also said he is “confident” that some video angles that would substantiate his account have either not been released by Rio authorities or were skipped over. Ultimately, Bentz said he and Feigen paid the equivalent of about $50.
However, Lochte’s statement stops short of specifically apologising for destroying the station’s bathroom during the drunken night out.
The swimmers were trying to leave in a cab when two security guards ordered them out of a cab.
“Then the second guard drew his weapon, and both guards pointed their guns at us and yelled at us to sit on a nearby sidewalk”, he continued. “It was clear that much of the population felt humiliated by this false robbery claim and people anxious that the image of Brazil was damaged by this incident”, Mario Andrada, the Rio Committee’s communications director, says in a Portuguese statement obtained by Us Weekly. Conger said Lochte then ripped off a sign on the door of an outside bathroom “and made a lot of noise”, according to summaries of their statements taken by Rio police.
The United States Olympic Committee apologized for the situation on Thursday.
The case quickly spiraled into an worldwide matter involving consular officials, lawyers and judicial orders.
“I want to offer a honest apology to the United States Olympic Committee, USA Swimming, the extraordinary women and men of Team USA, and the University of Georgia”, Bentz said in his statement.
Lochte, who flew back to America while the police investigation was ongoing, was indicted on Thursday night for the false reporting of a crime to police, Brazil’s Globo news channel reported. He characterized his interaction with investigators as being a witness.
He said he accepted responsibility for his role in the case and had “learned some valuable lessons”.
The AP also mentioned the swimmers involved in the altercation could be subject to punishment under USA Swimming’s code of conduct.
“I want to offer a honest apology to the United States Olympic Committee, USA Swimming, the extraordinary women and men of Team USA, and the University of Georgia”.
Lochte, who has six Olympic gold medals, claimed that the quartet had been robbed at gunpoint by someone impersonating a police officer when their taxi stopped to refuel. “They lowered the guns, and I used hand gestures to ask if it was OK to leave, and they said yes”.
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“It’s traumatic to be out late with your friends in a foreign country – with a language barrier – and have a stranger point a gun at you and demand money to let you leave”, Lochte said on Instagram.
