Brazilian police say Lochte, U.S. swimmers were not robbed
ASSOCIATED PRESS
American Olympic swimmers Gunnar Bentz, left, and Jack Conger, center, left the police station at Rio International airport early Thursday. The two were taken off their flight from Brazil to the U.S. on Wednesday by local authorities amid an investigation into a reported robbery targeting Ryan Lochte and his teammates.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Journalists surrounded American Olympic swimmers Gunnar Bentz, left, and Jack Conger, center, as they left the police station at Rio International airport early Thursday. The two were taken off their flight from Brazil to the U.S. on Wednesday by local authorities amid an investigation into a reported robbery targeting Ryan Lochte and his teammates.
RIO DE JANEIRO » Brazilian police said that swimmer Ryan Lochte and U.S. teammates were not robbed after a night of partying, and that the intoxicated athletes instead vandalized a gas station bathroom and were questioned by armed guards before they paid for the damage and left.
The robbery that was or wasn’t has become the biggest spectacle outside of the Olympic venues in Rio, and given American Olympians a black eye in Brazil after an otherwise remarkable run at the Summer Games. The ordeal was also a blow to Brazilians, who for months endured scrutiny about whether a city that has long had problems with violence would be able to keep athletes and tourists safe.
“No robbery was committed against these athletes. They were not victims of the crimes they claimed,” Civil Police Chief Fernando Veloso said during an afternoon news conference today.
But the police account raised questions about whether it’s possible Lochte and the swimmers believed they were victims of a robbery. Lochte’s attorney has maintained that one took place and insisted the swimmer had nothing to gain by making the story up. He, as well as Lochte’s father and agent, did not return phone calls seeking comment.
The swimmers could potentially face punishment — probation, suspension, a fine or expulsion — under USA Swimming’s code of conduct, which prohibits dishonesty or fraud. It was not immediately clear if the organization planned to act. It was also not clear if the swimmers would face criminal charges.
Lochte initially said that he and teammates Jack Conger, Gunnar Bentz and Jimmy Feigen were held at gunpoint and robbed after a night of partying on the final night of Olympic swimming. Police said earlier this week that they couldn’t find evidence to substantiate the claim, and a judge ordered the swimmers’ passports held as the investigation continued. Lochte had already returned to the U.S. but the others stayed, and Conger and Bentz were pulled off a plane at the Rio airport.
While some details in the official account of the story changed on Thursday — police first said no guns were involved, then backtracked and said two guards pointed weapons in their direction — security video confirmed that the athletes vandalized parts of the gas station, leading to an encounter with station employees.
The closed-circuit video shows one of the swimmers pulling a sign off of a wall and dropping it onto the ground. A gas station worker arrives, and other workers go to inspect the damage. Veloso said the swimmers broke a door, a soap dispenser and a mirror.
The swimmers eventually talk with security guards, who persuade them to walk to another section of the station. Their cab leaves.
As they talk, two of the swimmers put their hands up and all four sit down on a curb. After several minutes, they stand up and appear to exchange something — perhaps cash, as police said — with one of the men.
A police official speaking on condition of anonymity because the investigation was ongoing said two guards pointed guns at the swimmers. Veloso said the guards did not use excessive force and would have been justified in drawing their guns because the athletes “were conducting themselves in a violent way.”
A station employee called police, and the guards and employees tried to get the swimmers and the taxi driver to stay until authorities arrived, some even offering to help as an interpreter, Veloso said. But he said the athletes wanted to leave, so paid 100 Brazilian reals (about US $33) and $20 in U.S. currency and left.
Conger and Bentz told authorities after they were taken off the plane that the story of the robbery had been fabricated, said the police official who told the AP about the guns pointed at the swimmers.
Bentz and Conger gave testimony late Thursday. Upon leaving a police station in the upscale neighborhood of Leblon, they walked through a crowd of dozens of journalists and onlookers without stopping or answering questions. A few people in the crowd shouted at them, calling them “liars” and “shameful.”
It was not immediately clear if Feigen, who spoke to police on Sunday, was going to provide give another statement.
Police said the swimmers were unable to provide key details in early interviews, saying they had been intoxicated. The police official said officers grew suspicious when security video showed the swimmers returning to the athletes village and saw them wearing watches, which would have likely been taken in a robbery.
“We got pulled over, in the taxi, and these guys came out with a badge, a police badge, no lights, no nothing just a police badge and they pulled us over,” Lochte told NBC’s “Today” the morning after the incident. “They pulled out their guns, they told the other swimmers to get down on the ground — they got down on the ground. I refused, I was like we didn’t do anything wrong, so — I’m not getting down on the ground.
“And then the guy pulled out his gun, he cocked it, put it to my forehead and he said, ‘Get down,’ and I put my hands up, I was like ‘whatever.’ He took our money, he took my wallet — he left my cellphone, he left my credentials.”
But Lochte backed off some of those claims as the week went on, saying the taxi wasn’t pulled over by men but rather the athletes were robbed after stopping at a gas station. Lochte also said a man pointed a gun toward him, but didn’t put the gun to his head.
Authorities said that after the incident, the swimmers did not call police; officers began investigating after they saw news coverage with Lochte’s mother speaking about the incident.
Lochte told USA Today that the swimmers didn’t initially tell U.S. Olympic officials about the incident because “we were afraid we’d get in trouble.”
The debacle prompted both wild speculation and social media mockery, which quickly turned to scorn after the official account went public. #LochteGate was trending on Twitter, with users sharing video footage and posting comments about white privilege and rude Americans.
David Fleischer, a political scientist at the University of Brasilia, said the incident touched a nerve in Brazil because of the country’s history of urban violence and cases of people impersonating police and committing crimes.
“The story did have some sense of validity but it didn’t bear out and it made them look bad worldwide,” he said.
While he’s medaled often in the Olympic pool, Lochte’s accomplishments have long been overshadowed by teammate Michael Phelps — the most decorated Olympian in history. Lochte won a gold in Rio in a relay race alongside Phelps. He is a 12-time Olympic medalist.
57 responses to “Brazilian police say Lochte, U.S. swimmers were not robbed”
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He just won the gold for being the douche bag of these Olympics and an utter embarrassment as a representative of the U.S.
His behavior was very irresponsible. Sort of university frat boy behavior and it is a horrible embarrassment for the USA. Obama also gets blamed for “Americans” jailed in Iran. Truth is, they are Iranian-Americans who were doing illegal things there. They should be tried in Iranian courts and allowed to serve their full term.
interesting, in light of the state department being unable to discover what charges they were arrested for, what evidence did your investigation reveal that determined the iranian-americans committed any illegal acts?
Or maybe just pay $400 million ransom and lie about it.
Of course, this whole affair is going to get swept under the carpet, just like every other potential embarrassment to this “presidential” administration. So, how’s the “Most TRANPARENT presidential administration in history” working out for you, America?
The phrase, “allowed to serve their full term” escapes me? Who has jurisdiction or has custody of the accused? Inference?
He endorsed Crooked Hilliary. Had to get back to The United States and join her campaign. Liars stick together like birds of a feather. But, of course, you knew that.
Brazil SUCKS!
You do…
Punks.
Brazil over reacted to the Lochte incident, if they just let the story die, there would be very little damage from this event. Now the readers will decide who is telling the truth as the story gets repeated over all of the media outlets, and it is resulting in a tremendous amount of bad mojo, which Brazil has had a lot of lately.
So basically, the Americans lie about being robbed in Brazil, smearing the country, and Brazil overreacted? Maybe the swimmers should have owned up to a bad choice and this would be over. You condone lying. My boys know better.
Well said jimmyhouse67. The American swimmers should be ashamed of themselves. Lochte is just plain dumb and to let him be the ringleader in this fabricated story just shows the other swimmers aren’t that bright either.
I totally agree with both of you. These “Americans” basically are embarrassing themselves as well as the United States. If they were out partying and got drunk, so be it; they were over with their events anyway, but DO NOT start up a story like this hoping for more publicity and guess what!, you got it!!!
Apparently the lie started with a post by Lochte, but Lotche was the first one to high-tail it out of Rio, leaving his teammates behind to face the music. It didn’t take very long for his teammates to drop the lie. My take-away: Lochte is an @ss.
Sponsorships just went down the drain.
I agree with jimmyhouse. It’s the US team that overreacted by making up a foolish story about being robbed. Since they did apparently pay some money for the damage they caused it sounds like the gas station owner was willing to let the story die (after all, no one from the station came forward until the investigation started). It was the Americans’ fault that they told others they were robbed, which made it to the news media, which drew the attention of the authorities.
If they lied they need to come clean. Bad enough there was lots of negative comments going into the Olympics about Brazil and they don’t deserve to have more negative news especially if the robbery didn’t happen.
“…just let the story die” Really? If Brazil had done what you suggested, the media uproar would be deafening for not investigating the supposed robbery. The only bad mojo is on the ugly Americans.
not correct ..wrong lesson to people ALL people
Looks like it was misreported. This was handled very badly by the swimmers.
Don’t blame it on misreporting. The media reported correctly on what they were told by the swimmers. Swimmers lied.
They can join the Australian golfer here who got beat up in Waikiki, so he says.
Lol! I was thinking the same thing but at least the golfer got a beating and a black eye for his troubles in that one.
The manager of Femme Nu said Robert Allenby was not the one who visited the strip club. A month later, someone else was arrested for using Allenby’s credit card. Allenby did have a badly bruised up face.
It’s pretty clear that he was attacked, and that he had no direct connection to the strip club that night. Unless the genius commenters here can come up with surprise evidence, we can assume that it was a routine mugging and unauthorized credit card use.
“misreported”? No. The swimmers got caught lying. “handled very badly by the swimmers”? No. The swimmers created the mess by fabricating a lie.
Americans behaving badly
Ouch
Maybe they were trying to make trouble for the security guard who confronted them after they broke the bathroom door. Smooth move, Ex-Lax!
This is a classic example of how the Olympics have gotten so far off track. Enough already. There is no more national pride. These punks should be dealt with along with any others. Mens’ basketball team is another example of extreme punkish behavior. Olympics should be held in Athens, if at all, period. Every 4 years. Enough with the bribery, and theft from the “Olympic Committee.” If the athletes want to take dope, let them. These are all professional athletes, no more amateurs. The world just watched the Olympics held in a snake-pit of a country. Polluted water, both in the ocean and pools. Bribery and scandal everywhere you look. It’s a joke already! Let these folks take all the steroids, and any other drugs they want. It hasn’t been about honest competition for the past 50 years.
Agreed! When the basketball “Dream Team” got assembled years ago I thought “How can professional NBA players participate in the Olympics?” and then someone mentioned that since Russia, China, and other governments sponsor their athletes their training (full-time “job”) and to represent their countries it was basically the same thing. A friend also mentioned the same about just leaving it in Greece as he couldn’t understand the costs to build the facilities and housing and then let it go to ruin years later.
In the video they released of the swimmers on that morning, they looked like they were out drinking all night and came back drunk, so I wouldn’t be surprised if they made up that story to not get them in trouble. Reminds me of what happened to that Australian golfer Allenby when he made up a story after getting wasted at a bar.
Don’t need to make up any stories about robberies in Rio, they have enough real ones. Looks like the swimmers need to do the right thing and clear this up.
They made hillary proud.
“What DIFFERENCE does it make at this point?!” Voila! Swept under the carpet. Run for President. We have sunk so deep into the moral abyss.
“Lochte told USA Today that he and his teammates didn’t initially tell U.S. Olympic officials about the robbery because “we were afraid we’d get in trouble.”
What is he, five years old? If it’s proven that they were lying, they should ALL be banned from the swim team. We don’t need liars representing America.
Poor image of some American athletes will lead to an overall poor image of America at the Olympics. We already have a bad reputation amongst some poorer nations. This is like the golfer Robert Allenby’s accusation recently when he missed the cut in the Sony Open and went out for a night of drinking. Think of how we in Hawaii felt when he made those initial accusations. Brazilians are feeling the same way. First it’s the basketball team not wanting to stay in the Olympic village (they’re too good for that?), then Hope Solo complaining about the Zika virus, and now this. Brazilians must feel we Americans are too good for their country. I would not be surprised if we are booed at the closing ceremonies, though I think the host citizens will be too classy for that.
If Brazil is using the recording of the swimmers returning and going through the village security as evidence, note that none of the swimmers put a wallet in the personal possession basket. Where did their wallets go? Brazil’s assumption that the swimmers did not “look” like victims in the video does not mean the robbery did not happen. Several Olympians were mugged and robbed at Rio. Check out the videos of Rio street robberies in crosswalks. Historical evidence about personal safety in Brazil would seem to support the swimmers and not the host country.
I don’t think “historical evidence” is admissible in a court of law, if there is such a thing. Believe what you want, but none of the so-called facts (that keep changing) of the robbery can be corroborated. The highest profile athlete involved left the country before he could be questioned, leaving his teammates holding the bag. The whole thing smells like the waters of Copacabana – pilau.
Waterboarding victims?.
and people wonder why the rest of the world hates america.
Ugly Americans representing America….
If you were in the war zone and stuck in a fox hole with someone would you want this guy by your side?
Let him make amends ..give back the medals …good lesson for all growing up adults
Hahahahaha! When the story came out initially, most people on this board made comments condemning Brazil. It goes to show AGAIN that people need to think carefully before leveling judgment.
Very true. I have read stories of Olympic athletes getting drunk, cocky, ridiculous, and destructive in foreign countries. Some have injured themselves. Brazil did do a good job investigating this incident and found the gas station vandalism. Drunk, cocky, and destructive fools. Ryan and his friends do not deserve any advertising jobs. Not even opportunities to become TV sports commentators like Nastia Liukin or Tim Dagget. Brazil has taken beatings about their poverty, extreme crime atmosphere, polluted waters, racial inequality, horrible prison conditions, prost, delayed construction projects, laughing off tourist crimes and murders, and impeachment proceedings against 2 presidents. I will give credit to Brazil for this one phony robbery prosecution. But what about MY camera robbery? Tell me, “When are you leaving?” What schmucks! Never going to visit you again.
Absolutely correct sailfish1. People who jump to conclusions only from the news is only as intelligent as the media that reports it or as intelligent as the media wants you to be.
People who use bad grammar is only as intelligent as their last failed english class.
Exactly what I was thinking. It’s funny how the tone of this forum has changed now that the truth is out.
What a bunch of dumb @sses.
Let’s be clear. Lochte is – and always has been – a dbag. Like the little brother overshadowed by his big brother (Phelps) he’s always trying to get attention. Doesn’t anyone remember his comments from the 2012 Olympics? And, of course, this: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/21/jeah-ryan-lochte-trademark_n_1818737.html
Did Lochte hit his head? Wait, there are no rocks in the Olympic swimming pool.
lol…good one bleedgreen.
What a moron. What an embarrassment to this country. This will be his legacy. Not his incredible athletic achievements.
I hope they crucify these punks and make them political liabilities as far as future advertising contracts are concerned. They have embarrassed us mightily with their “Ugly American” behavior, so symptomatic of their generation. I don’t care how many medals they have won for the U.S.. They have singlehandedly brought shame and disdain upon us all. The hell with these jerks.
It’s just Ryan Lochte being Ryan Lochte. Whatever! Technically, someone pulled out a gun and asked to overpay for a broken door.
Statement originally made to police while intoxicated differs each time it is retold/rehashed. The conflicts influence each succeeding probe and as the probes continue it give rise that the hold-up was a ruse to conceal the thrashing of the restroom by the athletes. Simply a brat that was tired of playing 2nd fiddle to Phelps and wanted some action??