The contretemps over whether Olympic gold medalist Ryan Lochte and his swimming buddies actually got mugged in Rio or for some reason made the whole thing up escalated precipitously on Wednesday night when Brazilian authorities pulled two of the American swimmers off their flight home and arrested them.
Things had started getting dodgy Wednesday afternoon when a Brazilian judge — citing inconsistencies in Lochte’s account of the mugging — demanded that his passport be seized and that he answer more questions. Problem is, Lochte had already skipped the country. People reported that Lochte was spotted Wednesday morning sauntering through Charlotte-Douglass International Airport in North Carolina with his Playboy playmate “friend” Kayla Rae Reid.
Not so lucky for Lochte’s fellow partiers and swim teammates, Jack Conger and Gunnar Bentz, who got pulled off their plane and taken into Brazilian custody Wednesday night. Brazilian television showed the two being led into a local police station, according to the New York Times.
Claiming that Lochte and his teammates didn’t act appropriately for men who had just been victims of a crime, Judge Keyla Blanc du Cnop had issued arrest warrants for the swimmers, and demanded they remain in country.
She also claimed that their stories didn’t match with recently surfaced video, apparently showing the swimmers leaving Club France, a hospitality suite set up by the French Olympic team, an hour later than Lochte initially claimed. The Daily Mail also says that its obtained video showing Lochte and his cohorts returning to the Olympic Village with items they claimed were taken in the assault (CNN and other news stories weren’t able to authenticate the video).
Investigators also haven’t been able to find the taxi driver who was allegedly with the swimmers when the robbery occurred.
Only Lochte gave an official statement to police, so some media speculate that Brazilian authorities will be satisfied once they speak to Conger and Bentz. Their teammate, however, has already taken his two-day head start on the sprint home.
Lochte’s attorney, Jeff Ostrow, told CNN that, had his client known he was still under investigation, he would have stayed in Brazil.
“He sat for a victim interview with the Brazilian Tourist Police, USOC Security, State Department, FBI, and anyone else that the Brazilian authorities requested to be present,” Ostrow said. He claimed Lochte hadn’t been asked to provide any further information. Ostrow did not say whether Lochte will return if needed, but says he stands by the account he gave to Brazilian police.
But even NBC News, court chronicler of the Olympics, isn’t so sure. Matt Lauer says that Lochte told him a slightly different story in a phone call Wednesday.
BREAKING NEWS: @MLauer reports after speaking with Ryan Lochte directly: https://t.co/YQHTMLeQfi https://t.co/Y6mWRIuwte
— NBC Olympics (@NBCOlympics) August 18, 2016
Matt Lauer on NBC says Ryan Lochte changed his story in call today. No longer says gun was put to his head, nor that they were pulled over
— Jon Swaine (@jonswaine) August 18, 2016
Lauer: Lochte now says they were ambushed after using gas stn restroom when cab driver refused to drive, gun was "pointed in his direction"
— Jon Swaine (@jonswaine) August 18, 2016
The USOC has not issued an official statement on the arrests.
