American swimmers Gunnar Bentz and Jack Conger were taken off a plane at Rio airport as local police investigate Sunday’s alleged robbery involving them and two team-mates.
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Two U.S. swimmers were taken off a plane in Rio de Janeiro on Wednesday in an escalating dispute with local police about a reported armed robbery.
Only days ago the world was shocked by claims from USA superstar swimmer Ryan Lochte and his teammates that they were robbed at gun point by muggers in Rio after a night out celebrating their medal wins.
A Brazilian judge issued an order to seize the passports of Lochte and Feigen Wednesday after viewing footage of the swimmers returning the Olympic village. Lochte has already returned to the US but Feigen is believe to be in Rio. Police in Rio say they can not locate the driver of the Taxi the Americans claim to have been in, and have not been able to find corroborating witnesses. The other three men were stopped by police at Rio’s global airport on Wednesday evening, one police source said.
Associated Press reporters waiting outside Lochte’s home in North Carolina did not see the 12-time medallist. If they need to get in touch with me, we have always been fully cooperating.
“They were essentially taken from the cab and robbed”. “We are gathering further information”. According to their lawyer they will not be allowed to leave Brazil until they provide testimony about the robbery.
Jeff Ostrow, Lochte’s attorney, has said there is not any question the robbery occurred. The incident happened following the last night of Olympic swimming competitions.
In Rio, he swam in two events, winning gold in the 4x200m freestyle relay.
They were allegedly ordered to get the ground, with the thieves taking their wallets and belongings.
The Rio swimmers disclosed that they were robbed on Sunday.
“As part of our standard security protocol, we do not make athlete travel plans public and therefore can not confirm the athletes’ current location”, the Olympic official said in a statement.
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Conger and Bentz were detained at the Rio de Janeiro Galeao International Airport on Wednesday and their passports were confiscated. “They pulled out their guns, they told the other swimmers to get down on the ground – they got down on the ground”. The judge said she was examining “possible inconsistencies in the swimmers’ stories”, including different accounts of how many assailants had taken part in the reported mugging. In an interview with “Today’s” Billy Bush, Lochte described having a gun pointed at his forehead as the robbers stole their wallets.
