UPDATE: Lochte has issued a statement.
So, Ryan Lochte was out with some other U.S. Swimmers and later reported a robbery. The New York Times has a full breakdown of the timeline of events, and the current status of everything.
Basically, the men had their cab stop at a gas station to use the restroom. Lochte initially said they were pulled over by someone pretending to be a police officer, but later publicly said they had stopped at the gas station. He says they were stopped by a man or men with badges, and ordered to the ground and to hand over their money. The gas station says they they damaged some of the facilities, and that a security guard confronted them. Video from the gas station shows them on the ground- that actually supports part of Lochte’s statement. Some people are now saying that the security guards may have tried to get them to pay, or extorted them, while others say the men offered money to the gas station. The whole thing is weird.
The common law definition of Robbery is taking the property of another by force or the threat of force. If the guard, who had a gun, ordered Lochte and the swimmers around and demanded money, it could constitute common law robbery. I do not know the definition of robbery in Brazil, but it potentially could fit, or could fit some other extortion charge. That’s not to say Lochte and/or the other swimmers are blameless, they could be facing charges for destruction of property, even if it bore out that they weren’t charged for false report.
Swimmers Jack Conger and Gunnar Bentz, who were pulled off a plane, gave a statement to police that did not indicate a robbery, and were permitted to travel back to the United States. Jimmy Feigen made an arrangement to make a payment to a Brazillian organization in a deal to avoid prosecution- which sounds like a deferred prosecution deal that one might see here. Lochte may end up doing something like that, as the charge is not ultimately that serious of an offense, and is more of a case of him acting drunk and stupid than criminally. It probably would not have been an issue if he had heeded the advice of USOC, and not said anything, instead of giving a graphic interview to the media the next morning.
The lie is usually worse than the crime.
via Deadspin
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