Thursday, August 18, 2016

Brazilian authorities seem determined to find out what happened with American Olympic swimmer Ryan Lochte

AP:  Lochte's swim teammates to meet with authorities on robbery

Three American Olympic swimmers planned to meet with Brazilian law enforcement Thursday to discuss a reported robbery targeting 12-time medalist Ryan Lochte and his teammates, a U.S. Olympic Committee official said.

USOC spokesperson Patrick Sandusky said Jack Conger and Gunnar Bentz were released by local authorities after being pulled from a flight at the Rio de Janeiro airport, with the understanding that discussions would continue amid uncertainty over what truly took place during a late outing the night Olympic swimming wrapped up at the Rio Games...

NBC reported Wednesday night that Lochte backed off some of his earlier claims about the robbery. He now says the taxi wasn't pulled over by men with a badge, but that they were robbed after stopping at a gas station, NBC reported. Lochte also said the assailant pointed a gun at him rather than putting it to his head.

The U.S. Olympic Committee said police went to the athletes village to try to collect the passports, but the swim team had already moved out.

Lochte's father told The Associated Press by phone from his Florida home that his son called him Tuesday after arriving in the United States.

The 32-year-old swimmer was going to pick up his car and buy a new wallet to replace the one that he said was stolen. "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."....

A police official with knowledge of the investigation told the AP that police cannot find their taxi driver or witnesses from the robbery.

The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation is ongoing. Police interviewed Lochte and one other swimmer, who said they had been intoxicated and could not remember what type and color of taxi they rode in or where the robbery happened, the police official said.

The swimmers also could not say what time the events occurred. Lochte's attorney, Jeff Ostrow, has said there is no question the robbery occurred.

"Why would anybody fabricate anything?" Steve Lochte said. "It's just ridiculous." Lochte told USA Today that he and his teammates didn't initially tell the U.S. Olympic officials about the robbery because "we were afraid we'd get in trouble." 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.

15 comments:

AllenS said...

Sounds like they got rolled/swindled by some women of ill repute, and made up this robbery story, because testicles.

edutcher said...

If a paratrooper says it, it's gotta be true.

Especially something like that (well they all went to that house of ill fame, didn't they?).

bagoh20 said...

"Brazil: US swimmers faked robbery to cover up assault — and we have video to prove it"

http://hotair.com/archives/2016/08/18/brazil-us-swimmers-faked-robbery-to-cover-up-assault-and-we-have-video-to-prove-it/

edutcher said...

Question is, can you trust HotAir?

bagoh20 said...

I don't know what to believe until I figure out how it affects Trump.

Amartel said...

Haha.
Out with the OLD: How does this affect Obama? WWOD (What Would Obama Do?)
In with the NEW: How does this affect Trump? WWTD (What Would Trump Do?)

Amartel said...

Question is, can you trust the Brazilian authorities?
Lochte's atty raises a valid question: Why would he lie about this? He didn't really make a big deal about it. It sounds like they were very drunk and gave some conflicting accounts.

bagoh20 said...

The Americans paid for the damage, and the Brazilians say they have video. Sounds like they were drunk at 4am and needed to piss with extreme prejudice. This is credible, as I can attest from experience at being a young swimmer lost in a foreign liquid.

Trooper York said...

Talk about your obsessive compulsives. Jeeesh.

Evi L. Bloggerlady said...

Hey, it is nothing a plane load of cash can't fix.

ndspinelli said...

EVI, LOL! Remember, Chicago came in second in bidding for these Olympics.

ricpic said...

Do Lochte and Phelps babysit for the 15 year old Olympians? Those two guys are antediluvian by Olympic standards.

Dad Bones said...

AllenS might be right at 10:44

But that only happened to me once in a foreign country and it might have been a misunderstanding when I lost sight of my service provider after I paid her.

AllenS said...

If I had one thing going for me, when I was a young service member overseas, is the simple fact that women would always tell me: "I love you long time, GI." So, there's that.

Leland said...

Ok, I heard the original story, and I've followed the headlines, but not reading the stories. Has anyone found and talked to the taxi driver?

One thing that bothers me is Lochte's comment about the robber cocking the gun. I simply don't believe it. If the robber wants your stuff, and he puts the gun by your head; rather than cocking it; he'll hit you over the head with it. And in close quarters using a gun, if that gun isn't a semi-automatic, then it is at least a dual-action revolver. The guy with the single action revolver won his Darwin award earlier, or is using it to hunt wild game.

Now, I can believe that because of testicles; someone might embellish even something like this, even if really robbed. Nobody wants to admit; "I pee'd in my pants, whimpered like a beat puppy, and did what the bad man with the gun and advantage told me to do." So I'm willing to believe in a robbery and believe it being embellished.

But I'm more willing to believe AllenS than Ryan Lochte. Just sayin.

Now off to read the latest, just to see what happened...

The latest:
"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.
"

Idiots.