RIO DE JANEIRO- After days of speculation it turns out Ryan Lochte and three of his U.S. Olympic swimming teammates fabricated the story of an armed robbery.
New video shows the U.S. swimmer “breaking down” a bathroom door and “fighting” with a security guard at a gas station around the time of the supposed robbery, says ABC News correspondent Matt Gutman.
According to Reuters coverage of this news, the gas station guards had asked the swimmers to pay for the damage done to the bathroom door, which led to the fight. It was also reported that the swimmers handed over cash to pay for those damages, though it does not specify who handed over cash and how much.
Originally American swimmers Gunner Bentz, Jack Conger, James Feigen and Lochte told authorities that their taxi had been pulled over by fake police on their way back to the athletes village from a party at the French hospitality house. But in a phone interview with NBC’s Today show host Matt Lauer, Lochte said they had stopped at a gas station to use the bathroom and when they came out the taxi driver wouldn’t drive and that is when the robbery occurred.
That wasn’t the only point Lochte had reiterated either. In several interviews with members of the Today show, Lochte said the gun had been “cocked and pointed at his head.” However, in that same interview with Lauer Lochte said the gun had been pointed in his “general direction.”
Lets not forget to point out the surveillance video that the Daily Mail obtained. The video shows the athletes arriving back at the Olympic Village with their cellphones and wallets.
The inconsistencies in Lochte and the three other swimmer’s stories is one of the reasons a Brazilian judge ordered their passports be seized and for the swimmers to stay put in the country. But Lochte got out of there before the order had been issued and returned safely to the U.S. on Monday.
By Tuesday Lochte seemed to be the least bit concerned of the events that had taken place since the alleged robbery. Tweeting this out while his fellow teammates were still being questioned:
Bentz, Conger and Feigen are cooperating with Brazilian police, per the U.S. Olympic Committee. International Olympic Committee spokesman Mario Andrada also released the following statement:
“I do not regret having apologized. No apologies from him or other athletes are needed. We have to understand that these kids came here to have fun. Let’s give these kids a break. Sometimes you make decisions that you later regret. They had fun, they made a mistake, life goes on.”
