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Don't forget about Ryan Lochte and 3 other swim team members getting robbed at gunpoint. Another claim that was initially dismissed by the Olympic Committee.
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Originally posted by LS1Goat View PostDon't forget about Ryan Lochte and 3 other swim team members getting robbed at gunpoint. Another claim that was initially dismissed by the Olympic Committee.
http://www.nbcolympics.com/news/ryan...d-gunpoint-rio
One of the strangest stories of the Olympics got stranger on Wednesday morning when Brazilian newspaper Globo reported that a judge had issued an order to seize the passport of U.S. swimmers Ryan Lochte and Jimmy Feigen.
Globo and USA Today, however, reported that Lochte had already left the country while the whereabouts of Feigen were unknown. Both men were among the victims in an alleged armed robbery over the weekend, but Rio authorities have said they’re having trouble finding witnesses to corroborate the report.
The IOC did not have any comment on the situation during a Wednesday news conference and referred reporters to the United States Olympic Committee. USOC spokesman Patrick Sandusky said police went to the athletes village on Wednesday morning looking for the swimmers, but that the swim team had moved out. Sandusky said that it does not make athletes’ travel plans public as a regular matter of security.
“We will continue to cooperate with the Brazilian authorities,” Sandusky said.
According to Globo, the judge issued the order on the grounds that Lochte and Feigen had given conflicting reports of the incident, which they said happened early Sunday morning as they were returning to the Olympic Village after a night out. Lochte, Feigen, Gunnar Bentz and Jack Conger claimed their taxi was stopped by men posing as security guards and forced to the ground with guns before being robbed of their wallets.
Globo also reported that authorities were interested in receiving a search warrant for the athletes village so they could use the geotracking dates from Feigen’s phone.
On Aug. 14, 2016, reports surfaced that U.S. swimmer Ryan Lochte was robbed at gunpoint in Rio after being invited to a party by a Brazilian swimmer. His mother described the incident as “terrifying,” while the IOC claimed the report was false, only to then claim that it was indeed true. Lochte was unharmed in the incident. (Photo by Matt Hazlett/Getty Images)
(Getty Images)
One of the strangest stories of the Olympics got stranger on Wednesday morning when Brazilian newspaper Globo reported that a judge had issued an order to seize the passport of U.S. swimmers Ryan Lochte and Jimmy Feigen.
Globo and USA Today, however, reported that Lochte had already left the country while the whereabouts of Feigen were unknown. Both men were among the victims in an alleged armed robbery over the weekend, but Rio authorities have said they’re having trouble finding witnesses to corroborate the report.
The IOC did not have any comment on the situation during a Wednesday news conference and referred reporters to the United States Olympic Committee. USOC spokesman Patrick Sandusky said police went to the athletes village on Wednesday morning looking for the swimmers, but that the swim team had moved out. Sandusky said that it does not make athletes’ travel plans public as a regular matter of security.
“We will continue to cooperate with the Brazilian authorities,” Sandusky said.
According to Globo, the judge issued the order on the grounds that Lochte and Feigen had given conflicting reports of the incident, which they said happened early Sunday morning as they were returning to the Olympic Village after a night out. Lochte, Feigen, Gunnar Bentz and Jack Conger claimed their taxi was stopped by men posing as security guards and forced to the ground with guns before being robbed of their wallets.
Globo also reported that authorities were interested in receiving a search warrant for the athletes village so they could use the geotracking dates from Feigen’s phone.
Rio authorities claimed they’ve been unable to find the taxi driver or anyone else who witnessed the event. The Daily Mail published security footage of all four athletes returning to the Olympic Village early Sunday morning.
Lochte told USA Today that the discrepancy in his teammates’ story was the result of being afraid they’d be punished by the United States Olympic Committee if the story got out.
Lochte’s attorney Jeff Ostrow told the Associated Press on Tuesday that his client had been fully cooperating with officials and that there was no reason to question Lochte’s account.
“It doesn’t behoove Ryan and anyone else to make up a story,” Ostrow said.
Lochte won a gold medal in the 4 x 200 freestyle relay and is a 12-time Olympic medalist.
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What a cluster.
There are even more sordid tales circulating around that the Olympic Committee is hoping goes unnoticed. One of their camera crews had several thousand dollars worth of equipment stolen at one point.
That place is cesspool, despite the best efforts of NBC to paint it as a top tourist destination.
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Well they got at least two of the swimmers:
Two swimmers who were with Ryan Lochte during an incident in which they say they were robbed were stopped from flying back to the U.S. on Wednesday and will not be allowed to leave Brazil.
Jack Conger, Gunnar Bentz stopped at airport, ordered to stay in Brazil
Two American swimmers who were with teammate Ryan Lochte the night of an alleged robbery will not be allowed to leave Brazil until they provide testimony about the events of that night.
Jack Conger and Gunnar Bentz were heading home to the United States when authorities stopped them from leaving on a flight Wednesday night. Authorities are still seeking answers about how they allegedly were robbed Sunday morning.
Sergio Viegas, a Brazilian attorney for Conger and Bentz, said they left the Rio de Janeiro airport for an unspecified location in Brazil and have yet to testify. The swimmers did not speak to reporters upon leaving the airport and getting shuttled away in a black car waiting outside.
The athletes said Sunday that they were robbed at gunpoint in a taxi as they returned to the athletes village from a party, several hours after the final Olympic swimming events were held. Police have found little evidence to support their accounts.
Earlier Wednesday, a Brazilian judge ordered the passports of Lochte and fellow U.S. swimmer Jimmy Feigen be seized, confining them to the country as authorities investigate their robbery allegations. However, Lochte said he has returned to the U.S.
"Jack Conger and Gunnar Bentz were detained Wednesday night shortly before their flight was scheduled to depart from Rio," U.S. Olympic Committee spokesman Patrick Sandusky said in a statement. "They were released by local authorities with the understanding that they would continue their discussions about the incident on Thursday. James Feigen is also communicating with local authorities and intends to make further statements regarding the incident on Thursday, as well. We will continue to provide updated information as it is appropriate."
A police source told ESPN Brasil that Conger and Bentz were interviewed for just more than three hours at the airport, with a Brazilian lawyer and representatives from the USOC and the American consulate present. According to the source, the swimmers said that, upon recommendation from their lawyers, they were choosing not to speak at that time. The source added that neither swimmer appeared nervous; they seemed calm and did not ask for any food or drinks.
They were told that, per the judge's order, they would not get their passports back until they gave an official interview to Brazilian authorities, the source said. After being told that, they were instructed to go to DEAT, a precinct that is part of the civil police in Rio de Janeiro, where they could give that interview.
Brazilian officials who addressed the media early Thursday morning at the airport said they were holding the passports of Conger and Bentz.
Representatives from the U.S. consulate arrived at the airport shortly after the swimmers were held. Consulate spokesman David Fogelson told reporters he could not add any details.
Feigen, who also was present during the alleged robbery, remained in Brazil on Wednesday and told USA Today Sports he was "just trying to give Brazil what they need or what they want and get out of here."
"It's a hassle," Feigen said. "But I'm safe. Everything's fine. Until this goes in a direction where I can see it, I can't comment."
NBC spoke with Lochte on Wednesday night and reported that Lochte said he had left Rio and already returned home, as originally scheduled.
Lochte backtracked on his initial comments to the network made Sunday, saying the barrel of the gun he had said was placed to his forehead was instead pointed in his direction. He also said the taxi wasn't pulled over but that the swimmers were robbed after making a stop at a gas station.
He said when he was interviewed by police about the incident that no one had suggested he needed to stay in Brazil nor had any officials expressed doubts over his account of the robbery, NBC reported.
The police interview was friendly and casual, much less intense than one he went through with police in the U.S. when he reported a home burglary, he said.
According to The Daily Mail, a prosecutor said the swimmers did not seem shaken and were even playing around in surveillance video when they returned to the Olympic village. The four also were said to have made contradictory statements to police, The Daily Mail reported.
Steve Bentz, father of Gunnar Bentz, when reached by phone late Wednesday night, said, "I really don't want to say anything,'' and hung up.
Lochte's father had told The Associated Press by phone that his gold-medal-winning son called him after arriving in the U.S. and told him he was going to pick up his car and buy a new wallet to replace the one he said was stolen during the robbery.
"I'm just happy he's safe," Steve Lochte said. "It was an unfortunate experience for him and the other three. I don't know what all the controversy is. They were basically taken out of the taxi and robbed. The main thing is he's very lucky that he's safe and that all they got was his cash and wallet."
AP reporters waiting outside Lochte's home in North Carolina did not see the 12-time Olympic medalist. Lochte's attorney, Jeff Ostrow, did not immediately return messages seeking comment.
The office of Judge Keyla Blank confirmed the order to seize the swimmers' passports in a statement Wednesday.
The USOC said police went to the athletes village Wednesday morning to try to collect the passports, but the swim team had already moved out. Sandusky declined to say whether Lochte and Feigen were still in the country.
"As part of our standard security protocol, we do not make athlete travel plans public and therefore cannot confirm the athletes' current location," Sandusky said. "We will continue to cooperate with Brazilian authorities."
The U.S. State Department issued a statement Wednesday encouraging those involved to cooperate with Brazilian law enforcement.
Police previously said the swimmers were unable to provide key details during interviews.
"Why would anybody fabricate anything?" Steve Lochte said. "It's just ridiculous."
A police official with knowledge of the investigation told the AP that police could not find their taxi driver or witnesses to the robbery. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation is ongoing.
Ostrow, Lochte's attorney, has said there is no question the robbery happened.
"My opinion is they are trying to use Ryan's situation to use as a scapegoat to show that things down there are not as bad as it looks," Ostrow told ESPN on Wednesday. "These types of things have happened with other people ... but they don't take half the interest they do with Ryan.
"If they don't like the level of the detail that they've gotten from the statement ... then call me and we can give them more. Ryan is the victim here. You take one of the Brazilian authorities and put a gun to their head on a random street in America in the middle of the night, and I guarantee they wouldn't be absolutely accurate with all the details.
"They can do and say whatever they want down there. The fact remains they were robbed at gunpoint."
Information from ESPN Brasil's Gabriela Moreira was used in this report.
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Originally posted by Baron Von Crowder View PostI figure the taxi driver was in on it, or at least paid off by the robbers. They said the when they got back in the car the driver wouldnt drive on, like he was waiting for the robbers.Whos your Daddy?
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Originally posted by Forever_frost View PostLatest news is that the swimmers got drunk, went to a gas station bathroom, broke the toilet, the attendant waived a gun at them and they paid the attendant a sum of cash and left and then made up the story.Originally posted by MR EDDU defend him who use's racial slurs like hes drinking water.
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American swimmer Ryan Lochte and three of his Olympic teammates were not the victims of an armed robbery, the city’s civil police chief said Thursday, adding that people in Rio deserved an apology for having their reputation “dragged in the mud.” He got that apology later Thursday from the United States Olympic Committee, which called the incident a “distracting ordeal in the midst of what should rightly be a celebration of excellence.” 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. But Civil Police Chief Fernando Veloso said they were not victims of any violence of any sort and instead committed vandalism themselves at a gas station bathroom.
Video released..
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Yeah, seems like in all the sensationalism of reporting drama and professional tattle-tailing no one dissected the facts to see it's a matter of perspective. They definitely bullshitted and hammed up their stories, but it wasn't a completely malicious fabrication. It seems from what I've read Lochte hammed the story up to his mother, and then she went to the press, and that's when it got out of hand."When the people find that they can vote themselves money, that will herald the end of the republic." -Benjamin Franklin
"A democracy will continue to exist up until the time that voters discover that they can vote themselves generous gifts from the public treasury." -Alexander Fraser Tytler
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