Ryan Lochte reportedly indicted by Brazilian authorities
U.S. Olympic swimmers Ryan Lochte and James Feigen have reportedly been indicted by Rio de Janeiro authorities for falsely reporting a robbery.
The Federal Police of Brazil confirmed to ABC News on Thursday that authorities had indicted the pair. Brazilian news outlet GloboNews also reported the indictment.
{mosads}Lochte, Feigen and two other American swimmers claimed to have been robbed early Sunday morning after leaving a party in Brazil.
Police in Rio have been skeptical of the swimmers’ claims, which quickly drew headlines around the world over the weekend.
A Brazilian judge on Wednesday ordered Lochte and Feigen to stay in the country to answer questions, though Lochte’s lawyer said he was already back in the U.S.
Two other swimmers who said they were with Lochte, Jack Conger and Gunnar Bentz, were pulled from a plane bound for the U.S. on Wednesday.
Rio’s civil police chief, Fernando Veloso, said Thursday that the athletes lied about their robbery, saying instead at least one of the athletes vandalized a gas station.
The swimmers paid for the damages at the gas station and left before police arrived, the chief said.
The U.S. Olympic Committee spokesman said the U.S. Olympians in Rio were “represented by counsel and being appropriately supported by the USOC and the U.S. Consulate in Rio,” ABC reported.
The incident has cast a shadow over the second week of the Summer Games; Lochte, a 12-time Olympic medalist, spoke in detail of the reported robbery on camera on Sunday.
Copyright 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
