Ryan Lochte and three other teammates on the U.S. swim team caused damage at a gas station Sunday morning and ended up paying for some of it. Apparently Lochte and company paid more than they felt was necessary to cover the damage, which led to the swimmer claiming he was robbed.
TMZ reports that Lochte and crew cracked a sign at the gas station and offered $50 to take care of the damage. Those working at the station apparently asked for or demanded more. TMZ says the group ended up paying around $400 for the damage.
Lochte had said all along that a gun was pulled on them. Brazilian police later reported the same, but they said it was done so to keep the swimmers in check since they were being rowdy.
The amount of money they paid for the mirror could constitute theft/extortion.
Lochte and teammate Jimmy Feigen were indicted in Brazil on charges of filing a false police report. Teammates Gunnar Bentz and Jack Conger were pulled off their airplane Wednesday night and taken in for questioning from authorities.
Brazilian authorities have been dissatisfied with the stories told to them by Lochte and Feigen, especially since Lochte made it originally sound like the group was randomly robbed after a night of partying. He omitted that he and his teammates had caused damage at a gas station, which led to his image and credibility being damaged. One key piece of evidence has been security footage from the gas station (video here), which shows some of what occurred.
