RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) – Brazilian police said Thursday that swimmer Ryan Lochte and three USA teammates were not robbed after a night of partying, and the intoxicated athletes instead vandalized a gas station bathroom and were questioned by armed guards before they paid for the damage and left.
Advertisement
This minor shift in his story is significant because on Thursday, Brazilian police told ABC News that “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”.
A security guard appeared and confronted them. Another person stepped in to translate between the athletes and the guards, and the athletes left money, police said. Police were called to the scene, but the swimmers had left by the time they arrived, reportedly after paying the service station employees for the damage.
“The story did have some sense of validity but it didn’t bear out and it made them look bad worldwide”, he said.
“The security guy saw them and started arguing with them, telling them they had to pay”. They have not been able to find the taxi driver who took the guys back to the Village. He pointed his gun at them and insisted they pay for the damage. They were then released with the understanding they would continue their discussion concerning the incident on Thursday.
Also, Lochte may or may not have pissed all over the gas station.
It’s believed one of the security guards did point a firearm at at least one member of the group, but it’s not being considered as “an excessive use of force”.
The identity of the swimmer has yet to be revealed.
He said that around 6 a.m. on Sunday, Lochte, along with fellow swimmers Jack Conger, Gunnar Bentz and Jimmy Feigen, stopped at a gas station in Barra da Tijuca, a suburb of Rio where many Olympic venues are located.
Sen. Marco Rubio’s office has contacted the Brazilian Embassy in Washington over the investigation into claims Ryan Lochte and three other US swimmers were robbed in Rio de Janeiro. Lochte recalled the robbers told them to get down on the ground, but Lochte refused to do so and subsequently had a gun pointed at his forehead. They got down on the ground. He took my wallet. “He left my credentials”. Conger and Bentz, the two swimmers who were pulled off their flight on Wednesday, allegedly admitted that the story had been fabricated.
Originally, Lochte stated they had been pulled over by people posing as police.
“It really all depends on how much the U.S. government and Lochte want to cooperate”, said Steve Vladeck, a CNN contributor and professor of law at the University of Texas. Feigen swam for UT in 2009-12.
A lawyer for Conger and Bentz said Thursday that they won’t be allowed to leave Brazil until they provide testimony to investigators.
On Wednesday, a judge ordered the swimmers’ passports confiscated so they could not leave the country while the investigation is ongoing. We should all be hesitant trusting anything a Brazilian police official says. He was the first to speak to police.
Conger and Bentz, who will be a junior at the University of Georgia, were questioned late Wednesday. Upon leaving a police station, they walked through a crowd of dozens of journalists and onlookers without stopping or answering questions.
“I will know much more today“, Bauerle said, according to the Atlanta Journal Constitution.
Advertisement
This post will be updated as the story develops.
