Traveling with Lochte and Feigen were Gunnar Bentz and Jack Conger. Authorities are still seeking answers about how they allegedly were robbed Sunday morning.
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The swimmers said they were robbed on Sunday as they travelled back to the Athletes’ Village after a party at Club France – part of France’s Olympic hospitality venue. Police have found little evidence to support their accounts.
A Brazilian judge has issued a search and seizure warrant for US Olympic swimmer Ryan Lochte and teammate James Feigen as questions emerge about their account of being robbed at gunpoint early Sunday in Rio de Janeiro.
Lochte’s lawyer Jeff Ostrow said that his client was already back in the US.
Accompanied by Brazilian lawyer Sergio Viegas, second from right, American Olympic swimmers Gunnar Bentz, center, and Jack Conger, right, leave the police station at Rio International airport early Thursday Aug. 18, 2016.
Sandusky said the swimmers were released by authorities with the understanding that the swimmers would return and resume speaking with them Thursday.
Feigen said he did not want to comment further until the matter is resolved. “With this, they are banned from leaving the country”, the statement said.
Judicial sources said the judge would consider whether to ask Lochte to return to Brazil to give testimony or allow him to do so in the United States. He added the USOC would “continue to cooperate with Brazilian authorities”.
Gunnar Bentz stands during the medal ceremony for the men’s 400-meter relay team in Omaha, Neb., on July 3.at the U.S. Olympic Swimming Trials.
“It’s a hassle”, Feigen said.
While Lochte and Feigen returned to the USA before they can be interrogated, Conger (pictured left) and Bentz (right) weren’t so lucky.
Lochte said he wouldn’t make up a story like this, NBC’s Matt Lauer reported Wednesday night.
The group did not call police, authorities said, and officers began investigating once they saw media reports in which Lochte’s mother spoke about the robbery.
When reached by phone at 4 p.m. local time, Bentz said he was at the airport and could not talk.
Lochte’s father told The Associated Press by phone from his Florida home that his son called him Tuesday after arriving in the United States. Steve Lochte said. “It’s just ridiculous”. He said Lochte told him he and his three teammates were victims. I don’t know what all the controversy is. Lochte later told NBC News in an on-camera interview that the robbers, who claimed to be policemen, stopped the taxi in which the swimmers were riding and forced them out at gunpoint, demanding cash.
Steve Lochte, Lochte’s father, affirmed his son returned safely to home in North Carolina.
The office of Judge Keyla Blank confirmed the order Wednesday in a statement. Sandusky declined to say whether Lochte and Feigen were still in the country.
“The swim team moved out of the village after their competition ended, so we were not able to make the athletes available”, Sandusky said in a statement. “We refer you to Brazilian authorities for more information about this case”. The two were taken off their flight from Brazil to the USA on Wednesd.
Police previously said the swimmers were unable to provide key details during interviews.
“Why would anybody fabricate anything?” Steve Lochte said. “It’s just ridiculous”.
A police official with knowledge of the investigation told The Associated Press that police can not find their taxi driver or witnesses.
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“My opinion is they are trying to use Ryan’s situation to use as a scapegoat to show that things down there are not as bad as it looks”, Ostrow told ESPN on Wednesday. If they need to get in touch with me, we have always been fully cooperating. The two were taken off their flight from Brazil to the U.
