Jimmy Feigen, Gunnar Bentz and Jack Conger are in the process of scheduling a time to meet with authorities, USOC spokesman Patrick Sandusky said. The pair were part of a group of four United States swimmers who reported being robbed.
Advertisement
Ryan Lochte of the United States attends a press conference in the Main Press Center on Day 7 of the Rio Olympics on August 12, 2016, in Rio de Janeiro.
United States swimmer Ryan Lochte returned home but three of his teammates remain in Brazil amid questions over their alleged robbery in Rio. Well, after digging a little further in the case, the police found many inconsistencies with the swimmers’ accounts of the incident – and a judge made a decision to confiscate their passports and forbid them from leaving Brazil until the case is closed.
Jack Conger and Gunnar Bentz left the Rio de Janeiro airport early Thursday after being taken off the plane Wednesday.
Lochte told NBC’s Matt Lauer that he and his partners weren’t pulled over, as he had beforehand expressed yet that they were at a service station when they were looted. NBC is broadcasting the Games in Rio. He won a gold in Rio in a relay race alongside Phelps.
The judge said there were inconsistencies between Lochte’s story, who said only one man was involved in the robbery, and James Feigen who said several men had robbed the group.
But the athletes were not there.
Lochte already is back in the U.S. A message seeking comment was left with Lochte’s attorney. A second guard came behind him and pointed another gun.
Police say they have yet to locate the taxi driver. “With this, they are banned from leaving the country”, the statement said.
Sandusky said that due to security protocols, he could not disclose the swimmers’ whereabouts. Lochte has left Brazil and is back in the United States.
Lochte, though, gave interviews in which he described the incident in detail and Brazilian Olympic authorities were eventually forced to issue a public apology for the security slip-up.
“Had they asked, he would have stayed and assisted”.
The video, which was first published by The Daily Mail, also seems to show the athletes in a relaxed mood, with Lochte swinging his credential at one of his friends.
“You can see the supposed victims arriving without signs of being physically or psychologically shaken, even joking amongst themselves”, Judge Keyla Blanc de Cnop said in a statement, according to The New York Times, which reported that a prosecutor in Rio said the swimmers could face charges of providing false testimony if they had lied to investigators.
Lochte did not repeat part of his story that their taxi was pulled over by the robbers, Lauer said.
The Australian team also said they had property stolen during an evacuation of the team’s building.
Another potential issue highlighted by judge was the behavior of the athletes on arrival at the Olympic Village in the aftermath.
CNN is unable to authenticate the video.
A police official told The Associated Press authorities have not been able to verify that the robbery took place.
She added that the issuance of search and seizure warrants was not a routine procedure but was sometimes done when concerns arose that information had been withheld.
Sergio Riera, an attorney for the Conger and Bentz, said the pair has been ordered not to leave the country until they give a statement to police about the reported incident. So far, only one had done so, she said.
Reports originally conflicted on whether Lochte was robbed, and later reports show that the Rio police seriously doubt whether the crime happened.
“Their taxi was stopped by individuals posing as armed police officers who demanded the athletes’ money and other personal belongings”, the Committee said in a statement.
Advertisement
In an interview with TODAY’s Billy Bush on Sunday, just hours after the alleged robbery, Lochte had said the gun was put against his forehead – but said in Wednesday’s telephone conversation that the gun was pointed in his general direction but the weapon was cocked, Lauer reported. “I refused, I was like, ‘We didn’t do anything wrong, so – I’m not getting down on the ground'”.
