Working in collaboration with the U.S. Consulate in Rio, we have coordinated the athletes’ cooperation with local authorities and ensured their safety throughout the process, but we have not seen the full statements provided by Bentz and Conger.
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“He took our money, he took my wallet – he left my cell phone, he left my credentials”.
Police there now saying his own teammates admitted that the story that they were robbed at gunpoint was fabricated.
“The behavior of these athletes is not acceptable, nor does it represent the values of Team USA or the conduct of the vast majority of its member”, said USOC CEO Scott Blackmun.
Brazilian police have accused the athletes of vandalism.
The USOC states that the two other swimmers present, Gunnar Bentz and Jack Conger, have given revised statements about the August 14 incident. Memes mocking the Lochte lie proliferated nearly immediately.
A Brazilian official said the questioning will take place in Leblon, south of Rio, which is investigating the alleged robbery that targeted 12-time medalist Ryan Lochte and three teammates.
Rio de Janeiro’s police chief said it was not clear if the Team USA athletes would face any charges over the incident.
“They had fun, they made a mistake, life goes on”.
Police concluded that the only crimes committed were by Lochte and his cronies. No criminal charges were initially brought because the athletes coughed up a small amount of money to pay for the damages, he said. “Their claim that they are a victim of an assault or robbery or any kind of violence is not true”.
Police said they interviewed a taxi driver, a customer who translated for the men, and two girls who had been partying with the swimmers.
Veloso says the other swimmers say it was Ryan Lochte who created the lie.
Lochte’s lawyer, Jeff Ostrow, has said there is no question the robbery happened.
While some details in the official account of the story changed on Thursday – police first said no guns were involved, then said two guards pointed weapons at the swimmers – security video confirmed the athletes vandalized parts of the gas station, leading to an encounter with station employees. They were then confronted by a security guard, who was armed, but never drew his gun. The group, as well as Olympic officials, publicly expressed disappointment and said they would further examine the matter. He emphasized, however, that the ongoing investigation still had not conclusively assigned blame. “All four athletes are safe and cooperating with authorities”. But a police source later told Reuters that this had not yet happened.
At one point, a security guard pulled a firearm after one swimmer behaved erratically, Veloso said, adding that the guard had not over-reacted: “From the moment the gun was pulled out, they calmed down”. Lochte had however already returned to the US. After Lochte refused to get down, he said a man cocked a gun and pressed it against his head.
Lochte, 32, one of the most visible faces of the Olympics and victor of six gold medals, told media that the four had been robbed at gunpoint by a man claiming to be a policeman.
The police account came in direct contrast to claims from Lochte’s attorney made earlier in the week.
He says his client, who won his sixth Olympic gold medal in the pool in Rio, has been cooperative with authorities and has not been asked again for assistance.
The robbery that was or wasn’t has become the biggest spectacle outside of the Olympic venues in Rio, casting a shadow over American Olympians in Brazil amid an otherwise remarkable run at the Summer Games. Lochte himself left the country earlier this week.
“He’s the victim. He didn’t commit a crime”. “The deputy insisted that they would be heard as witnesses, but with their passports being detained, we – and rightly so – have doubts that they were really being heard as witness”. But he said the athletes wanted to leave, so they paid 100 Brazilian reals (about USA $33) and $20 in U.S. currency and left.
Now Brazilian officials are suggesting the U.S. swimmers may have made up their account and could face charges for filing a false report.
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The two officers were authorized to carry weapons, Veloso said, and their names won’t be released for their protection.
