Mystery deepened over the incident on Thursday when a Brazilian police source told U.S. media that swimming superstar Ryan Lochte made up the robbery claim and the swimmers were actually involved in a fight with an armed security guard at the petrol station.
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Local media reports said the four athletes stopped at the petrol station shortly after 6am on Sunday to use the bathroom, but it was locked. A security guard appeared and confronted them, the official said. Lochte said the robbers took his money and wallet, but left his cell phone and credentials. U.S. State Department spokesman John Kirby said the agency was ready to “to provide all appropriate consular assistance”, referring further questions to Brazilian officials. The 32-year-old swimmer was going to pick up his vehicle and buy a new wallet to replace the one that he said was stolen in the robbery.
Brazilian authorities continued pressing the American swimmers over the ever-changing account of the robbery. But the other three US swimmers he was with that night – Jack Conger, Gunnar Bentz and James Feigen – weren’t so lucky. However, on Wednesday Lochte suddenly remembered a number of details that contradicted his own story, telling NBC on Wednesday that the taxi had not been pulled over, but that they were robbed at a gas station, and that while a gun was pointed at him, it was not pointed at his forehead. “They had fun, they made a mistake, it’s part of life, life goes on”. They told officials the story had been fabricated, the AP reported.
Judge Keyla Blank wrote in her filing that there were questions about a gap between when the swimmers said they left France House and arrived at the athletes’ village. Veloso claims that one of the swimmers, whom he did not name, confirmed this account.
Conger and Bentz, who were pulled off a USA -bound plane Wednesday night, gave up Lochte to cops and said he fabricated the robbery tale, a police official told ESPN.
Thursday, the U.S. Olympic Committee says that Bentz and Conger, along with Feigen, “are cooperating with authorities and in the process of scheduling a time and place today to provide further statements to the Brazilian authorities”.
“Then the guy pulled out his gun”, Lochte said. Just Thursday morning, a British newspaper reported that a British athlete had been robbed at gunpoint, causing the Great Britain delegation to issue detailed warnings to its members about travelling outside Olympic zones.
At 21 years old, the Rockville native has developed into perhaps the most promising young butterfly/freestyle swimmer in the United States – which means his path to the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics goes straight through two of the most iconic figures in the sport. The story got a little more high-profile than Lochte wanted, but he addressed it, backing up what his mother said, and he put a lid on it. Lochte and Feigen both told police that they left Club France at 4 a.m. and arrived back at the Olympic village 30 to 40 minutes later.
The Rio Olympics have been dogged by a series of security scares, including the robbery of two visiting government ministers, a mugger being shot dead outside the opening ceremony and stray bullets being fired into the equestrian center. The video shows a security guard pulling a gun on the group and asking for someone to pay for the damages.
A Brazilian judge said the men in the video appeared to be joking and appeared to be “unshaken”.
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Security footage from inside the station shows the swimmers vandalizing the bathroom.
