The Ryan Lochte robbery saga continues to take bizarre twists.
As we wait to hear more from Lochte, Brazilian police are not being close-lipped about the issue.
VIDEO: NBC News on robbery saga
You’ll remember that Lochte said he and three other Team USA swimmers were robbed by armed assailants in Brazil. He reaffirmed it in a phone call with media.
Reports say that Lochte and the swimmers — Jack Conger, Gunnar Bentz and Jimmy Feigen — urinated in public, and caused destruction in a gas station bathroom. They then surrendered money to pay for the damage before someone invented the robbery excuse.
Civil Police Chief Fernando Veloso wants the swimmers to apologize for the lies, with the thought that they put an unneeded black eye on the country’s reputation
A police official speaking on condition of anonymity because the investigation was ongoing said two guards pointed guns at the swimmers. The official also said the station manager asked a customer for help with translation, and asked for money to pay for the broken door, and the swimmers gave him an undetermined amount of cash, and then left.
Veloso declined to say whether the guards pulled their weapons, but said they did not use excessive force and would have been justified in drawing their guns because the athletes were large, strong men who “were conducting themselves in a violent way.”
And what could happen to the swimmers? They could face charges of falsifying a police report and vandalism. From ABC News:
In Brazil, both crimes are punishable by one to six months in jail, a fine or probation. But “rarely do people actually serve time for this,” said Brazilian law expert Paulo Barrozo, who is not involved in the case.
