Gunnar Bentz and Jack Conger are pulled off their flight to the U.S., and a judge orders police to seize the passports of Ryan Lochte and James Feigen after they claimed they were robbed at gunpoint.
- Aug 18, 2016
AceShowbiz - Two U.S. swimmers Jack Conger and Gunnar Bentz have been kept in Brazil following robbery claim. Conger and Bentz were pulled from their flight out of Rio and detained on Wednesday night, August 17 for police questioning in connection with a claim that they and teammates Ryan Lochte and James "Jimmy" Feigen were robbed at gunpoint during the Olympics earlier this week.
According to Yahoo Sports, they had cleared customs before being detained. The United States Olympic Committee confirmed the two swimmers were detained, but had no other details. A source in the USOC tells PEOPLE, "We've been trying to reach them all day and they haven't answered."
A member of Team U.S.A. adds, "They've been completely non-responsive today. I don't know that they knew how serious this was, and that they were about to start an international incident. The feeling was that this was Ryan's issue, because he was the one who had talked to police the most, but this is a big deal for all of them. Right now, we don't know what's going on, but this is serious. They're in Brazilian custody right now, and that's something that we have no control over."
On Wednesday, a judge also ordered police to seize Lochte and Feigen's passports to keep them in the country for further questioning about the robbery which they claim occurred on early Sunday. However, Lochte had already flown out of the country and is home in the U.S., while Feigen's whereabouts are currently unknown. The swim team moved out of the Olympic Village after their competition ended.
Doubts began to grow about the robbery claim after surveillance video obtained by Daily Mail showed the four swimmers returning to the Olympic Village with all the belongings which they had claimed in sworn statements to police had been stolen. In a statement, Judge Keyla Blanc de Cnop said Lochte and Feigen gave contradictory accounts of what occurred during the incident.
Police have found little evidence so far to support their accounts, and say the swimmers were unable to provide key details in police interviews. Joao Silva Oliveira of the Municipal Guard told PEOPLE, "What they said to us, it did not make sense. We cannot investigate a crime if we don't know what happened and what they told us is not correct. We want to know why they were in the area where they were robbed and what happened. They did not tell us until later."
"We believe that more information will come out that might make everyone look at what happened in a different light," he added. "We need to talk to them again to make sure that what they tell us is right. We have a lot more questions."
Lochte's father, Steve Lochte, told The Associated Press by phone that his son called him on Tuesday after arriving in the U.S. "I'm just happy he's safe," the elder Lochte said. "It was an unfortunate experience for him and the other three. I don't know what all the controversy is. They were basically taken out of the taxi and robbed. The main thing is he's very lucky that he's safe and that all they got was his cash and wallet."
