Judge Keyla Blank “issued warrants for searches and the seizure of the passports for the USA swimmers”, a statement from her office said. 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. Such a trip during early morning hours would take 30 to 40 minutes.
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Civil police say they are still looking for the taxi driver the athletes say they were with when they were robbed.
The judge also noted that the swimmers do not appear to be shaken up in the security video, despite Lochte’s dramatic account of the robbery. She watched surveillance video of the swimmers arriving at the athletes village.
On Wednesday, a judge requested that the swimmers’ passports be seized so officers could investigate whether or not the men had made a false report. But to our knowledge, he’s the only Lone Star who has mired himself in controversy with Brazilian authorities in the process.
A spokesperson for the US consulate in Rio declined to answer specific questions on the case but said parties should work with Brazilian law enforcement in the investigation.
The US Olympic Committee (USOC) later confirmed the swimmers’ accounts.
Sandusky said that due to security protocols, he could not disclose the swimmers’ whereabouts.
Police went to the athletes’ village to speak with the swimmers, who were not there.
Lochte and three of his teammates said they were robbed at gunpoint in a taxi Sunday morning as they returned to the athletes village from a party, several hours after the last Olympic swimming events were held. Bentz, who swims for the University of Georgia, originally planned to return to the United States on Thursday, Georgia sports information director Claude Felton said.
Authorities are reportedly still searching for another United States swimmer, James Feigen.
Instead, he told NBC that the swimmers had a gun pointed “in their direction” when they emerged from a petrol station rest room.
In a statement released on the court’s website on Wednesday, Blanc said that in Lochte’s testimony to police, he said that the athletes had been stopped by one robber in the early hours of August 14, who demanded all their money ($400).
Police said they have found little evidence to support the robbery claim. The four swimmers were unable to provide key details in police interviews, according to the AP.
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In a fresh interview with NBC that has yet to be aired, Lochte had slightly modified an aspect of his story, Today Show host Matt Lauer said. “It’s a hassle. But I’m safe, everything’s fine”. At one moment Lochte playfully hits a team mate with his Olympic accreditation.
