Ryan Lochte Charged for False Rio Robbery Story

Authorities in Rio have charged U.S. Olympic swimmer Ryan Lochte for reporting a falsified crime after Lochte and three other swim team member reported being held at gunpoint and robbed by a man impersonating a police officer. Rio officials denied the charges, and held the other three teammates in Brazil while Lochte returned home to the U.S. 

While the swimmers were said to have conflicting stories of what exactly took place, Rio officials came forward with a clearer picture, and soon Lochte and the other swimmers story started to crumble. According to Rio’s Civil Police Chief Fernando Veloso, members of the swim team vandalized a bathroom at a gas station on their way home from a party early Sunday. Which athletes were involved in the vandalizing was not disclosed, but police claimed the swimmers “broke mirrors and damaged other things in the bathroom,” before apparently paying an undisclosed amount for the damage. 

This contradiced the account given by Lochte and the other swimmers, where they said there was a robbery and did not mention any gas station bathroom incident. And although video from the gas station shows the swimmers being escorted out of their taxi and sitting on the curb with their hands up, and Brazilian officials originally said no guns were drawn on the swimmers, but the official story has changed slightly to say that two security guards did in fact point guns at the Americans. 

Lochte would eventually issue an apology via Twitter, before going on Today to discuss what happened. A few days later, he’d be dropped by two of the companies he was a spokesman for before announcing he’ll be participating in the next season of Dancing With the Stars.