Globo.com Reports Lochte Robbery Story Was Fabricated, Alleges Gas Station Altercation

Brazilian news site Globo.com is reporting that Ryan Lochte and three other American swimmers weren’t robbed at gunpoint as they originally alleged, but rather were involved in an altercation at a gas station after the swimmers damaged a bathroom door and other items.

Globo.com says that Lochte, Jimmy Feigen, Gunnar Bentz and Jack Conger were in a cab Sunday night on the way home from a party and stopped at a gas station to use the bathroom. The Globo report says damage was done to the bathroom door, soap dispenser, paper towel dispenser and a bathroom sign, and that the swimmers wanted to leave without paying for the damages.

The police were called, the report says, but while waiting for them to arrive, the swimmers were “aggressive” and forced security guards to point a gun at them to keep them from leaving the scene.

Globo.com says an agreement was struck at some point for the athletes to pay for the damages.

There’s some confusion as to Bentz and Conger’s involvement. Originally, a judge ordered that Lochte’s and Feigen’s passports be confiscated until the full story became clear, but Bentz and Conger were not included in that order. But the two were pulled off of the airplane prior to their flight home from Rio last night.

Globo.com’s report says that police say Bentz and Conger are only witnesses to the altercation, though a judge’s order says differently. The four now have a Brazilian lawyer, Sergio Riera, who says they were “frightened” and didn’t originally understand why they were pulled from the flight.

Lochte has already left Rio and is back in the United States. But it appears the other three will remain in Brazil until the situation is resolved.

Meanwhile ABCNews reports that CCTV footage showed one of the swimmers “breaking down the door to the bathroom at the gas station and fighting with a security guard,” citing a Brazilian police source.

UPDATE: Now ESPN is reporting that the swimmers wanted to use the bathroom but found the door locked. The alleged breaking of the door happened when “a few of the swimmers… pushed on the door and broke it.” ESPN also reports that a security guard confronted the swimmers but did not take out his gun or point it at the swimmers. ESPN’s info comes from an anonymous official with the Brazilian police department.