Jimmy Feigen during the medal ceremony at the U.S. Olympic Team Swimming Trials in Omaha, Nebraska, on July 3.
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FILE – In this August 9, 2016, file photo, United States’ Ryan Lochte checks his time after a men’ 4×200-meter freestyle relay heat during the swimming competitions at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
The men allegedly vandalized a mirror and sign, and urinated on the property.
The incident followed a series of muggings and armed robberies of high-profile athletes and visitors in Rio, including two government ministers.
However, Rio’s civil police chief Fernando Veloso stated that no robbery was committed and the quartet “were not victims of the crimes they claimed”. Police still want to speak to Lochte, who was also summonsed to appear before the judge on Friday, and say they hope to agree with US authorities to interview him in the United States. Lochte himself left the country earlier this week. “They did not make any untruthful testimony”. “They never lied to journalists”.
“The money will reportedly be given to the Reaction Institute, a sporting program for at-risk youth”, NPR’s Lulu Garcia-Navarro reports. Charges are unlikely because, under Brazilian law, a donation can be made to avoid criminal prosecution for minor offenses.
Jeff Ostrow, the lawyer of the highly decorated athlete, insists that, “This [robbery] happened the way he [Lochte] described it”, he told AP news.
“There was a uniformed person with a gun who forced them to hand over their money”, Ostrow told the newspaper.
Lochte managed to make it out of Rio before his story about being robbed began to unravel, and so Feigen comes out of the whole ordeal as the biggest loser of the four.
Riera had a different account of the gas station incident.
He added that at least one of the swimmers had vandalised a toilet in a petrol station and offered to pay for the damage. Bentz and Conger were about to leave Brazil when they were pulled from their plane.
Police said the swimmers had been unable to provide key details in early interviews, saying they had been intoxicated.
Police said the officers likely used guns “to control” the men, but denied that a gun was put to Lochte’s head like he initially claimed.
USA Swimming Executive Director Chuck Wielgus issued his own statement tonight, in which he said, “The last five days have been hard for our USA Swimming and United States Olympic families”.
The other three swimmers didn’t have it as easy.
“I’ve got boys that age”, said Lee McNutt, a 61-year-old Silicon Valley salesman returning from the Games.
“The story did have some sense of validity but it didn’t bear out and it made them look bad worldwide”, he said.
Bentz and Conger answered questions for several hours at a Rio police station Thursday before flying out.
While he’s medaled often, Lochte’s accomplishments have always been overshadowed by teammate Michael Phelps – the most decorated Olympian in history. Lochte, a 12-time medalist, won a gold in Rio in a relay race alongside Phelps.
The swimmers could potentially face punishment – probation, suspension, a fine or expulsion – under USA Swimming’s code of conduct, which prohibits dishonesty or fraud. The group, as well as Olympic officials, publicly expressed disappointment and said they would further examine the matter.
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On Thursday, Brazilian sources released surveillance footage that shows one of the swimmers fighting with a gas station security guard.
