Ryan Lochte “over-exaggerated” his initial story about being robbed at gunpoint in Rio de Janeiro, and credited his “immature behavior” for what has become an global incident during an interview with NBC’s Matt Lauer airing Saturday. “We gave money, and we got out”, Lochte said in the interview.
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Police said that fellow swimmer, Gunnar Bentz, told them Lochte pulled a framed metal advertisement that was hanging on a brick wall and became belligerent after the guards drew their weapons. As inconsistencies emerged in the account, skepticism grew.
Rio police refuted his story altogether earlier this week.
Bush tried to soften the situation, telling Roker to “calm down”, but when he said that Lochte “lied about certain details”, Roker and co-anchor Morales took objection.
But Rio Police Chief Fernando Veloso denied the guards had used excessive force against the athletes. I refused, I was like we didn’t do anything wrong, so, I’m not getting down on the ground.
Lochte says, however, the group was scared. However, as Brazilian police further investigated Lochte’s claims, it was uncovered that the swimmers had in fact urinated behind the building, destroyed a door, and were asked to pay for the damages or else police would be called to the scene.
Lochte’s mom confirmed the crime and said the robbers “just took their wallets and basically that was it”.
“Whether you call it a robbery or extortion or paying just for the damages, we don’t know”, Lochte told Lauer. When he talked to me tonight, he said ‘that is when the guy pointed the gun in my direction and cocked it’. “We were held”, Lochte said. We were all frightened. And the only way we knew is – this guy saying, ‘You have to give him money.’ So we gave him money, and we got out.
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Matt also brought up that Ryan’s story about the “mean streets of Rio” was more a “negotiation settlement to cover up some dumb behavior”. “It was my immature behavior”. “I over exaggerated that story”.
