A few more updates to the ongoing story involving U.S. swimmers Ryan Lochte, Jimmy Feigen, Jack Conger and Gunnar Bentz and security guards in Rio de Janeiro:
The head of the local civil police, Fernando Veloso, spoke to the press today, confirming that there was no robbery, but was an incident at a gas station involving the four.
Veloso says police are determining how each of the four was involved in the incident before deciding whether to press charges. In a rough translation of the original Portuguese:
“In theory, they can come to account for false reporting of crime and damage to property,” said the head of the Civil Police. “Rio saw the name of the city stained by this fantasy version. It would be noble and worthy for them to apologize. For now, no.”
Meanwhile NBCOlympics.com reports that security guards did indeed draw their weapons in dealing with the swimmers. That sticking point of Lochte’s original story – that the group was robbed at gunpoint – has mostly been unclear so far today, with some news outlets reporting that the security guards were armed but did not draw weapons, and others reporting that the guards did draw their sidearms. This NBCOlympics report claims the latter.
They have armed security guards at gas stations
When Conger and Bentz start lighting it up in the pool in the coming years, and we’re all craving for interviews with them on SwimSwam, I hope no one blames them for saying “no thanks.”
No one will interview Conger.
Journalists only interview those who actually swim in the finals.
FACT.
Fresh from the press. The 3 swimmers at the airport, passports and all, and will fly back home today.
Thank God. Cuban missile crisis averted.
Yeah, it’s hard to keep the LIE going once people find out what a bunch of thuggish a-holes live in your country (Brazil). They were ready to RUIN these boys – if ONLY they could get away with it. Darn, that video evidence!
Jimmy Feigen stays.
Because he gave false testimony to the police. It’s a crime.
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-37127499
I still have not seen where the vandalism took place. I just saw them run out like they were not suppose to be there.
I’m glad the stories are starting to meet in the middle because for a minute there it seemed like some of the Lochte supporters and the Brazilian police advocates were starting to draw stark battle lines reminiscent of the Trump mental health truthers and the Hillary Clinton health truthers.
The contrast between Phelps and Lochte was stark last week- Phelps the new family man taking care of business at home and in the pool, Lochte supposedly billed as the reformed suburbanite, but who regressed back to old ways, dating playboy models and seemingly spending more time fussing with his hairdo than he did getting ready for his relatively few races. No wonder he got sucked into Phelps’ game plan… Read more »
While I appreciate your drawing the “stark” contrast between Lochte and Phelps, let me add another. Phelps has been convicted of 2 DUIs, with the latter get out of a one year prison sentence in a plea deal. Even with this little boneheaded move, Lochte still can’t claim anything close to even Phelps’ first DUI.
Go back and read it again, I said it was a stark contrast last week, not 10 years ago or two years ago. And it’s more than a little boneheaded move for Lochte, it’s criminal. You add up that with the prevarications, lying to police, boasting that he refused to sit down when his teammates did, embarrassing his whole team and country, embarrassing and then later infuriating the host country, literally causing an international incident– it’s all pretty serious. Brazilians, like Americans, are great people but there are some bad apples; he’s lucky he didn’t encounter one of them and endanger himself and teammates. A colleague of mine there for conference pissed off the wrong guy in Copacabana over a… Read more »
How awesome. The next time someone misses my toilet and pees on the seat and floor, I will now know that it is not a crime to brandish a gun and demand compensation for such vandalism.
Wutever
So anyone can just barged through your house door, peeing everywhere in your house, break a mirror break bathroom door and then just leave, and you’d thank them?
Can I do that in your house?
Not what happened and there’s no video footage of it. No “brawling”, no “aggressive” behavior demonstrated to the security officers, no “being chased” out of the bathroom. Oh my goodness.
Who here has never been in a gas station bathroom that didn’t have
– a broken door
– a broken mirror
– pee everywhere
Unless the footage shows them doing this, I don’t think it’s appropriate to presume they did it.
Lochte has no reason to lie. I hate to say it but he is not smart and was drunk. It is very possible they didn’t realize the reason the pulled the guns on them is to get the money for the repairs. they swimmers probably didn’t know the reason they wanted the money was for the repairs, hence the “robbery” Ryan brought up. Just trying to think like Ryan lol.
Or, he was TELLING THE TRUTH and this was a shakedown robbery. You don’t have to be a genius to know when you’re getting fleeced.
Imagine 4 drunk swimmers, needing to use the restroom, finding the door locked, and using poor judgement in forcing the door open. Then to be stopped from leaving the gas station, and forced out of their car. The four of them had aguns drawn on them which is evident of their demeanor in the conveniently angled camera, which was able to show them with their hands up, but never caught the gunmen in the action. How would these four know the difference between a robber and dark clothed security guards brandishing weapons. I would imagine they were scared and completely out of their element. I think Brazil is trying to create a spin on their account of what happened to… Read more »
Keep making excuses for the spoilt lying kids.