Lochte story a fabrication: cop
Print Edition
A BRAZILIAN police official says that American swimmer Ryan Lochte fabricated a story about being robbed at gunpoint in Rio de Janeiro.
The official, who has direct knowledge of the investigation, spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak about an ongoing probe.
He said that around 6am last 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. One of the swimmers tried to open the door of an outside bathroom. It was locked.
A few of the swimmers then pushed on the door and broke it. A security guard appeared and confronted them, the official said, adding the guard was armed with a pistol, but he never took it out or pointed it at the swimmers.
According to the official, the gas station manager then arrived. Using a customer to translate, the manager asked the swimmers to pay for the broken door. After a discussion, they did pay him an unknown amount of money and then left.
The official says that swimmers Conger and Bentz, who were pulled off a plane going back to the United States late on Wednesday, told police that the robbery story had been fabricated.
Lochte and the others said they were robbed at gunpoint early on Sunday. The report caused the Olympic authorities huge embarrassment, highlighting security worries at an Olympics where Brazil has deployed 85,000 police and soldiers — double the number used in the 2012 London Games.
On Wednesday, a Brazilian judge ordered the swimmers to be detained, saying their story contained inconsistencies.
Lochte, a 12-time medalist, who has already gone back to the US, and Feigen, who remains in Brazil, will cooperate with the investigation, broadcaster NBC reported. Conger and Gunnar had already cleared customs and boarding at Rio’s international airport when they were detained.
(Agencies)
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