The situation involving the alleged armed robbery of Ryan Lochte and three other U.S. Olympic swimmers in Rio has taken a bizarre turn, as a judge on Wednesday ordered the seizure of two of the swimmers’ passports and told them to remain in Brazil.
With investigators trying to determine exactly what happened when the four athletes were heading home from a party in a taxi early Sunday morning, Judge Keyla Blanc wants an opportunity to question Lochte and Jimmy Feigen further. In a statement released Wednesday, the judge cited discrepancies in what Lochte and Feigen told police.
Statement from judge ordering U.S. swimmers Ryan Lochte and Jimmy Feigen to remain in Brazil. pic.twitter.com/8WDiKi7qj4
— Nathan Fenno (@nathanfenno) August 17, 2016
That’s a problem, as Lochte already left Brazil and returned to the U.S. The San Antonio Express-News reported that Feigen was still in Brazil as of Wednesday morning. It is unclear if the other two swimmers are still in Rio, as the U.S. Olympic Committee said it is against policy to make athlete travel plans public.
Lochte supposedly told authorities that “a robber” approached the swimmers and demanded they hand over their money after the cab they were riding in was pulled over. According to investigators, Feigen said “some robbers” approached the athletes but that only one of them was armed with a gun.
In addition, a law enforcement official feels that the four swimmers were not acting like men who had just been robbed when they returned to the Olympic village Sunday morning. That conclusion was drawn from the following security footage:
A Rio police official said Tuesday that investigators have not been able to track down the driver of the taxi or find anyone who witnessed the alleged crime. That same official also said Lochte and his teammates were too intoxicated to remember details of the robbery.
Lochte already admitted that the swimmers were hesitant to report the incident at first out of fear that they may get in trouble for venturing away from the Olympic village to attend a party. You can read his chilling account of the robbery here.
