Brazilian police: Lochte, US swimmers were not robbed

Associated Press

RIO DE JANEIRO

Brazilian police said Thursday 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 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 swimming a black eye in Brazil after an otherwise remarkable run at the Summer Games.

“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.

Lochte had 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.

The swimmers could potentially face punishment – probation, suspension, a fine or expulsion – under USA Swimming’s code of conduct. It was not clear if the swimmers would face criminal charges, though police said the athletes could be charged with destruction of property, falsely reporting a crime or both.

Two of the swimmers – Bentz and Conger – checked in to a flight out of Brazil late Thursday after a judge lifted the order seizing their passports and keeping them in the country. They had testified about the incident earlier in the day. Lochte had already returned to the U.S.

While some details in the official account of the story changed 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 the four in an alley walking toward a bathroom. At one point, one of them pulls a sign off of a wall and drops it. A gas-station worker arrives, and other workers inspect the damage.

Another camera then shows the swimmers in a cab, when security guards arrive. All four swimmers exit the cab and talk with the guards, who persuade them to walk to another section of the gas station. The cab they arrived in then leaves.

Seconds later, Lochte falls to the ground and is helped up. Then two of the swimmers put their hands up and all four sit down on a curb as they speak to multiple people standing in front of them. After several minutes of talking, they stand up and appear to exchange something – perhaps cash – with one of the men.

Veloso said the swimmers broke a door, a soap dispenser and a mirror.

A police official speaking on condition of anonymity said two guards pointed guns at the swimmers.

The official also said the station manager asked a customer for help with translation, and asked for money to pay for the broken door, and the swimmers gave him an undetermined amount of cash, and then left.

Veloso declined to say whether the guards pulled their weapons, but said they did not use excessive force.