Rio authorities believe that the four swimmers actually arrived at a gas station, where one of them proceeded to vandalize a bathroom.
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A police source said Feigen’s passport would be released once he made the payment and presented a receipt to authorities. “And that’s when he says two men approached the vehicle with guns and badges”. “I should have been much more responsible in how I handled myself”.
As a result of the discrepancies, two of Lochte’s fellow swimmers were pulled from their flights back to the USA for further questioning, and a third has agreed to pay about $11,000 to a Brazilian charity in exchange for permission to leave the country. The pair denied playing any part in the invented story and were allowed to leave on another US-bound flight. He also provided a revised statement to police.
Rio de Janeiro’s police chief Fernando Veloso said it was still not decided what charges, if any, would be brought against the swimmers.
Paes said on Friday that the behavior of the four swimmers did not represent the good spirit that the rest of the American delegation had shown.
Bentz, who arrived back in the U.S. early Friday, emphasised that he was considered a witness, not a suspect, by Brazilian police and never made a false statement about the incident at any time.
Lochte, a 12-time Olympic medalist, apologized Friday for his behavior surrounding the early-morning incident.
“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.
It’s certainly left a bad taste for many Americans who were so energized and proud to watch as our fellow Americans – men and women – made us proud time and time again in Rio over the last 16 days.
The saga began when Lochte said he, Conger, Bentz and Feigen were held at gunpoint and robbed several hours after the last Olympic swimming races ended Saturday night.
The 32-year-old has said sorry for not being “more careful and candid” about the claim. Shifting accounts in TV interviews and social media posts.
“I was like ‘whatever, ‘” Lochte said in his initial account. ABC’s description of that confrontation: “one of the swimmers was seen on CCTV footage breaking down the door to the bathroom at the gas station and fighting with a security guard”.
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CNN’s Marilia Brocchetto wrote and reported from Rio de Janeiro, while CNN’s Joshua Berlinger reported and wrote from Hong Kong, Steve Almasy wrote in Atlanta and journalist Angela Dewan wrote from London.
