The two were taken off their flight from. O Globo Newspaper reported that Jack Conger and Gunnar Bentz were stopped as they tried to board a flight out of the country on Wednesday.
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American Olympic swimmers Gunnar Bentz, left, and Jack Conger, center, leave the police station at Rio International airport early Thursday Aug. 18, 2016. The two were taken off their flight from Brazil to the U.
RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) – A Brazilian police official is telling The Associated Press that American swimmer Ryan Lochte fabricated a story about being robbed at gunpoint in Rio de Janeiro. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation is ongoing.
Lochte and Feigen told police they and their fellow swimmers had returned to the Olympic village at 04:00 local time (08:00 GMT).
A few of the swimmers then pushed on the door and broke it.
An attorney for Conger and Bentz says they won’t be allowed to leave Brazil until they provide testimony about the reported robbery.
Feigen swam in the 4x100m freestyle relay; he lives in Charlotte, N.C., according to his official Olympics biography. After damaging the door, the swimmers and manager and security guard had a discussion.
Police interviewed Lochte and one other swimmer, who said they had been intoxicated and could not remember what type and color of taxi they rode in or where the robbery happened, the police official said.
A police news conference was scheduled for Thursday afternoon.
Lochte’s attorney did not return calls for comment.
USOC spokesman Patrick Sandusky said late Thursday morning that Jack Conger, Gunnar Bentz and Jimmy Feigen were scheduling a time and place to meet with authorities.
They are being held at the airport but are being treated well and cordially, the sources said.
In the four days since Ryan Lochte and his U.S. swimming teammates Jimmy Feigen, Gunnar Bentz, and Jack Conger were reportedly robbed (then not robbed, then robbed) at gunpoint in Rio, a Brazilian judge ordered their passports be seized and prevented the swimmers who hadn’t yet left Rio from leaving the city because footage of the athletes holding what looked to be their wallets when they returned to the Olympic village that night emerged.
Court officials had called for the four swimmers’ passports to be seized, but Lochte had already returned to the United States before authorities could enforce the decision.
Representatives from the US consulate arrived at the airport shortly after the swimmers were held.
The removal came amid increasing tension between Brazilian authorities and the American swimmers over their account of the robbery.
Police probing Ryan Lochte’s armed robbery account are understood to have spoken to the taxi driver who will be able to confirm or deny his hotly-contested claims.
Police sources say they have been unable to find the taxi driver or to verify details provided by the swimmers.
The judge also noted that video footage of the swimmers showed them returning to the Athletes Village joking with one another and in possession of many of their belongings, including cellular phones and Olympic accreditation.
Earlier Wednesday, Judge Keyla Blank “issued warrants for searches and the seizure of the passports for the USA swimmers”, a statement from her office said.
Lochte – along with the rest of his relay team – said they were robbed at gunpoint in Rio early Sunday.
NBC reported Wednesday night that Lochte backed off some of his earlier claims about the robbery. The robbery – during which one of the bandits was said to have put a gun to Lochte’s forehead – reportedly occurred after the athletes left a hospitality house hosted by France.
The US committee told CNN that Brazilian authorities had removed the swimmers from the plane Wednesday night for questioning about the robbery.
“Why would anybody fabricate anything?”
“That video shows me nothing – it shows guys coming home at 6 or 7 in the morning and shows me they’re happy that they’re alive”, he said.
Ostrow said Lochte had “fully cooperated”.
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On Wednesday, The Guardian newspaper reported that a British team member had been held up at gunpoint while enjoying a night out in Rio in the early hours of Tuesday.
