Ryan Lochte and his U.S. swimming teammates lied about a gunpoint robbery after trashing a gas station bathroom and facing off with a security guard — and the Olympians used cash to pay for the damages, according to Brazilian police officials.
Lochte, along with fellow swimmers Jack Conger, Gunnar Bentz, and Jimmy Feigen, stopped at a gas station in the Rio suburb of Barra da Tijuca at about 6 a.m. Sunday. Brazil's Globo TV station obtained surveillance footage from the gas station.
One of the swimmers tried to open the door of an outside bathroom — and after finding it locked, the swimmers allegedly pushed on the door and broke it.
A security guard was called to the scene, and allegedly noticed the bathroom's soap dish, toilet paper, a sign and the door damaged, according to local media reports.
The swimmers tried to flee in their cab — but security instructed the cabbie to stay at the gas station.
After the Olympians became aggressive, a security guard allegedly stepped in to keep them from leaving, at which point the athletes began offering money to cover the damages, officials said.
A visitor to the gas station helped to translate between the officials and swimmers, and the athletes left before police arrived to investigate.
Lochte initially said that armed men approached the swimmers' taxi — and that one of the men pointed a gun to his head. He later backtracked on some of those harrowing details, but remained adamant that the swimmers had been robbed.
Lochte said that the swimmers didn't contact Olympics officials because they were "afraid [they'd] get in trouble."
Authorities say they've been unable to find the taxi driver or any witnesses — and that the swimmers were too drunk to remember key details, such as the color of the taxi, from the night of the attack.
The incident brought scrutiny for Rio, which has dealt with perceptions of inadequate security surrounding the games.
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