At some point, they make their way back to the bathroom, where police say they vandalized one of the stalls.
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Lochte originally said last weekend that he and his teammates were the victims of an an armed robbery.
Bentz and Conger said in revised testimony before their departure that they were not robbed, senior Rio police officer Alexandre Braga told Reuters. A man Bentz believes was a customer then offered to translate, and was told the guards told them they needed to pay them in order to leave. “They let down Americans”.
The guards lowered their guns and the swimmers left, walking down the street to find another cab to take them back to the Olympic Village.
Bentz, who is 20 years old, released his statement via the University of Georgia, where he is now a student.
The swimmers were trying to leave in a cab when two security guards ordered them out of a cab. “I yelled to them to come back toward us and they complied”.
“Both guards pointed their guns at us and yelled at us to sit on a nearby sidewalk”, Bentz said.
In his statement, Bentz apologized to USA officials, his teammates and his university.
It was then that Lochte got into the argument with the guards, Bentz said.
The case quickly spiraled into an worldwide matter involving consular officials, lawyers and judicial orders.
Many Brazilians have reacted angrily to the news that the swimmers fabricated their story, but others have said it shows the underlying problems in their crime-ridden nation. Bentz added that he was “unsure” why Lochte pulled the sign to the ground.
Bentz said Friday he never made a false statement to anyone, he said.
He said he accepted responsibility for his role in the case and had “learned some valuable lessons”. Authorities are considering charges of falsely reporting a crime and destruction of property, both of which can carry up to six months in jail or a fine, police said. The incident turned into a black eye for the United States swim team.
‘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.
Brazilian police announced on Thursday that Lochte and three of his teammates had not been held at gunpoint, as Lochte claimed.
“Regardless of the behaviour of anyone else that night, I should have been much more responsible in how I handled myself and for that am sorry”, Lochte said. “In everything I do, I am representing my family, my country and my school”. Police had pulled them off a flight on Wednesday night for further questioning. The pair flew to Miami on Friday morning.
Bentz said he gave them $20 and Feigen gave 100 Reals, for about $50 Dollars total, and were allowed to leave. In the following days, the veracity of Lochte’s claims were called into question by Brazilian officials.
However, Bentz’s statement was also critical of Lochte’s behavior.
“We got 1,800,000 people on Rio 2016 Twitter complaining about the whole thing”.
The gas station employee said that he thought 100 Reals would cover the damage, according to Deluz’s statement and Deluz passed that message on to the athletes.
Andrada said the country will accept the swimmer’s apology and hoped this matter comes to an end.
Lochte said he wanted to wait until their situations were resolved before issuing a statement.
The police early on appeared to have doubts about the 32-year-old swimmer’s veracity. Shifting accounts in TV interviews and social media posts.
Veloso said the other swimmers say it was Lochte who created the lie. Brazilian authorities said no robbery occurred. Lochte said one of the men even pointed a gun to his forehead and robbed the men of their cash.
But Veloso insisted there was no evidence the guard’s actions were unreasonable. Speedo has said it is following the situation and does not comment on ongoing legal investigations.
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He added: “We’re not flawless”. Everyone makes mistakes, but once you make a mistake, then the clock starts with how you handle it.
