US swimmers made up Rio robbery, vandalised gas station: Police

AFP (Rio de Janeiro): US swimmer Ryan Lochte and three Olympic teammates were not robbed in Rio as they claimed but were detained after drunkenly vandalising a gas station bathroom, police said on Thursday (18).

Rio de Janeiro’s Police Chief Fernando Veloso called on the gold medal-winning athlete and the others to apologise for the robbery claims that embarrassed the Olympic host city.

He said a video showed a security official pulling his weapon to restrain a drunk and angry Lochte and his teammates because they tried to leave after vandalising the bathroom.

Lochte, 32, had claimed a man posing as a police officer robbed him and his teammates while they were coming back from a party in a taxi.

“There was no robbery of the kind reported by the athletes,” Veloso told a press conference however. “The images do not show any kind of violence against them.”

He said police believed the swimmers handed over the equivalent of about $50 in cash to pay for the damage before finally leaving.

Veloso said it was still not decided what charges, if any, would be brought against the swimmers.

“In theory, they could end up facing charges of falsely reporting a crime and damage to property,” but neither offense is punishable by prison, he said.

“It would be noble and dignified of them to apologise. The only thing they told the truth about is that they were drunk.”

The chief spokesman for the Rio 2016 Games, Mario Andrada, had earlier apologised to the athletes for Lochte and his companions’ supposed ordeal.