Brazil court tells US swimmers Lochte, Feigen to stay put

[MowCowWhoHow III]

Source: AP

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) -- A Brazilian judge has ordered that the passports of American swimmers Ryan Lochte and James Feigen be seized as authorities investigate their claim they were robbed at gunpoint during the Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games.

The office of Judge Keyla Blank confirmed the request Wednesday in a statement, but Rio police did not say whether the order was carried out.

Lochte and three of his teammates say they were robbed at gunpoint in a taxi Sunday morning as they returned to the athletes village from a party, several hours after the last Olympic swimming events were held.

Police have found little evidence so far to support their accounts, and say the swimmers were unable to provide key details in police interviews.

Read more: http://sports.yahoo.com/news/brazil-court-tells-us-swimmers-lochte-feigen-stay-145845750--spt.html

[MADem]

18. Clearly, they were asking for it. What were they wearing?

Were they behaving in such a way that a robber might think they WANTED to be robbed at gunpoint?

smDh, and for the one or two who don't take my point....

[jberryhill]

26. I think there is a story being missed in this story

They said they were robbed by who?

[DURHAM D]

2. Oh wow.

This could get really really interesting.

[geek tragedy]

3. they really don't do that whole "rule of law" thing there do they? nt

[OBenario]

40. Sometimes yes, sometimes no. Just like the US.

This time, they did.

[GusBob]

4. Lol he already left the country

[geek tragedy]

5. smart move nt

[groundloop]

7. Link?

I hadn't seen anything to that effect, I'm certainly hoping they've managed to leave already. Geeze, I can't imagine being robbed, and then being treated as though it was all made up. What possible motivation would Olympic medalists have to fabricate a story like that?


edit to add:

I found the following:

The U.S. Olympic Committee says police went to the athletes village Wednesday morning to try to collect their passports, but the swim team had already moved out. Spokesman Patrick Sandusky declined to say whether Lochte and Feigen were still in the country.

.....

A police official with knowledge of the investigation told The Associated Press that police cannot find their taxi driver or witnesses. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation is ongoing.



Police aren't going to find the taxi driver either because he was involved.

[GusBob]

9. He's from my old home town, friends "say"

as in hearsay.....they were drunk and thought they might get in trouble

[groundloop]

10. Yeah, I just read that as well. Also, they never filed a police report on the incident

Police only became involved after they'd read newspaper stories. Seems as though the police might be more worried about protecting their image than anything else.

I imagine those 4 swimmers never plan on visiting Brazil again anytime soon.

[milestogo]

17. Get in trouble with who?

These were grown men who went to a party. Its hard to imagine athletes who are done competing would be in trouble for drinking.

[FrodosPet]

45. LOLOLOLOL!!!!!!!!!!

I don't want to laugh at anything about this story, but that was a DUzy!

[milestogo]

46. So answer me

Who would the athletes get in trouble with? There are all night parties going on in Rio, which I am pretty sure isn't a dry town. Do Olympic athletes sign a pledge not to drink?

[forkol]

16. Yeah, they are not going to find the Taxi driver....

I've been to Rio many, many times, but I went around 2 years ago, and I had my debit/credit card hit badly on that trip. Normally, I'm pretty good about the security on that and typically use well-know banks there, but it did get hit. Just to cover my butt with my credit union, I filed a police report with Rio Tourist Police.

It was very frustrating, and a waste of time. I brought documentation (which I translated into Portuguese), which they copied, and they kept asking me to provide the same documentation over an over for about 6 months after I got back to the US. Also, they have very few English-speaking investigators (and my investigator's English was not very good), even though this was Rio Tourist Police! My Portuguese was good enough to talk to him about it. I feel if they could investigated this, they could have possibly caught the person because I was able to work with the credit card processor and get details about what was purchased and even an ID number. My Credit union gave me a hassle too, but I reminded them about the Credit Protection Act, so the funds were restored after some amount of work.

I think their story at least makes sense, and it could be a cover up by Rio Police. It's a well-known scam that 'police' will pull over taxis in tourist areas and basically try to pin something on the passengers, who will then be 'encouraged' to pay the 'fine' right there. I've taken taxis from Copa to Central City and have seen it done to other passengers. When they have setup roadblocks on the highway, most of my taxi drivers drive right through it. When I've asked them why they didn't stop, they tell me it's a tourist shakedown. Even if we had to slow down, my taxi has been waived through after the 'police' notice I'm not white, so they think you don't have any money.

There's also no way to track a taxi, especially at night, because they usually will not call their pickups in, especially from the tourist areas. They are supposed to use their meters, but getting them to do it, more so doing it at night, can be a challenge. They will give you an inflated price, or show you a supposedly 'official company' document listing prices if they say their meter is 'broken'. And those that do use their meters, the meters have been 'hacked' to give inflated prices per kilometer.

So, yeah, I think the taxi guy is involved, and won't come forward ever. He's part of it.

[jberryhill]

27. They said the robbers were "dressed like police"

Hmm.....

[Dawson Leery]

8. He already left.

Considering the condition the country, I would not go back. The justice system is pure garbage.
Remember Amanda Knox and the Italian Court system???

[Hortensis]

24. Different nation, different justice systems, surely?

[OBenario]

39. Best decision he could make.

Nobody wants him back here in Brazil.

[Akicita]

11. Apparently when he returned to the Olympic villiage that night and went through security, which

included going through a metal detector, the CCTV cams showed he had his watch and wallet that he claimed were stolen earlier.

[Nye Bevan]

12. Insurance scam?

It wouldn't be the first time someone claimed to be robbed in order to get a hefty insurance payout.

[Ace Rothstein]

13. Or he went somewhere that he wasn't supposed to be.

Supposedly his girlfriend was in Rio with him.

[Akicita]

14. For a wallet and a watch? How much cash could he be carrying on the streets in Rio?

[groundloop]

15. Doubt that's it, from what I read they never even filed an official police report

The article I saw said that he'd simply texted his mother that they'd been robbed, somehow the press picked up on the story, and the police only got involved after reading about it in the newspaper.



In any case this is getting strange.

[dembotoz]

19. robbed can mean many things....perhaps his brand new rolex he bought from a street vendor

was really a timex

[TeeYiYi]

20. Where did he ever say...

...that his watch was stolen?

TYY

[jberryhill]

28. The unusual aspect is that the watch was not stolen

What kind of mugger doesn't take your watch and cellphone?

[TeeYiYi]

30. Likewise,...

...if he was going to lie about being robbed, why NOT throw in a watch...and maybe some jewelry?

TYY

[Leontius]

21. If it was a real claim they need to stay to help the investigation

if it was a false claim they need to spend a couple of days in jail.

[GusBob]

22. They should be put in jail? I'm curious....on what charge?

[Leontius]

23. Making a false claim about a crime is a crime.

Jail and a fine are the possible outcomes in the US and Brazil probably has similar laws.

[geek tragedy]

31. Not if they didn't file a report

If they just lied to the media that's not a crime.

Apparently they do things differently in Brazil.

[MowCowWhoHow III]

25. Brazil's federal police stop US swimmers Gunnar Bentz and Jack Conger from boarding flight home

ALERT - Brazil's federal police stop US swimmers Gunnar Bentz and Jack Conger from boarding flight home from Rio
https://twitter.com/airlivenet/status/766080983259029504

[anneboleyn]

29. Trying to detain international athletes for something like this seems ridiculous to me

Because they might have made up a story or told inconsistent stories?! This makes it appropriate to detain athletes from flying to their home country? This seems bizarrely overblown to me.

[groundloop]

33. My gut feeling is local police are trying to save face or cover something up

Their biggest 'evidence' against the swimmers is that there are small inconsistencies in their stories. If you've never been robbed at gunpoint (I HAVE !!!) you have no idea how traumatic it is and how difficult it is to recall small details.

Matt Lauer just aired a report where he went over the supposed inconsistencies and let me tell you, they were MINOR. At one time Lochte said the gun was pointed at his forehead, later he said the gun was pointed in his direction. That might seem like a big difference to Barnie Fife, but it's easy to understand the difference in terminology if you've ever been on the receiving end of a robbery.

As to the report that the athletes showed up at the Olympic Village with items they claimed were stolen, that's false. All they ever claimed was take was cash. As to why robbers wouldn't take other valuables, who knows.

My money says that the athletes were robbed, their taxi driver was involved, and that the cops are in some way complicit. Hell, if the robbers flashed badges who knows if they weren't real badges belonging to a couple of crooked cops.

[GusBob]

34. See post 16 above

If you were shakedown by what you thought were crooked cops in a foreign country, would you go tell the cops?

The whole thing is starting to get blown out of control.

Olympic officials and the US Embassy need to step in pronto

[anneboleyn]

36. I totally agree with you. This seems like an attempt to save face by police in Rio

[OBenario]

42. Makes no sense at all.

Save face from what?

[obamanut2012]

47. If it was the cops or similar shaking them down

[GusBob]

35. I read

The cops say their demeanor after the incident was not like normal victims, I guess they were too jocular or something,

and people in RIO say bandits always steal watches and phones, people are real concerned about that of the story

Which makes them guilty as hell, it seems

[Leontius]

41. Yeah because they're special and rules don't apply to them.

[milestogo]

32. Brings back memories of a trip I took to Brazil.

A member of our group could not find a document issued to him upon entering the country when we were about to board the return flight. He had his passport and we were only in the country for 10 days. Our guide, who was fluent in Portuguese and made the trip frequently, could vouch for him. For a while we didn't think he was going to be allowed to get on the flight.

The authorities held up our international flight for 90 minutes in the middle of the night, and made him sign a 20 page document (in Portuguese) saying, among other things, that he would have to pay a fine if he ever returned to the country.


I don't think any of us wanted to return to Brazil after that.

[anneboleyn]

37. I have had incidents happen like this to my friends and to me in other countries

The Rio officials absolutely need to let the swimmers return home. Holding them, detaining them, all of that looks very bad, even worse, than what Lochte was claiming. Let them go. Handle it calmly and professionally. Say they will search for the suspects and offer to replace whatever cash was stolen. Then leave it at that. This is in front of the WHOLE WORLD. They need to keep their shit together and not make this into a huge incident.

[OBenario]

43. ...

"They need to keep their shit together and not make this into a huge incident."

You mean, "Please, they are Americans, they are exceptional, they are above your laws, protect their images, let it go".

You give yourselves too much value. The whole world is watching? GOOD. Maybe these jerks will now learn how to behave in other people's country.

[Nihil]

38. It will be interesting to see how this story develops (in the international press at least).

So far, all that is apparent is that the same people on DU who would be cheering the police
if they did this to a Russian or Egyptian in the same situation are indignantly protesting the
"total innocence" of the Americans on the same amount of "evidence" ...

[Nihil]

44. ...

"Swimmers were vandals, not robbery victims" (CNN)
(http://www.democraticunderground.com/10141553618)

"Report Says Lochte Fabricated Robbery Story, Fought With Security at Gas Station" (Mediaite)
(http://www.democraticunderground.com/10141553318)

"U.S. says sorry as swimmers leave Brazil to jeers" (Reuters)
(http://www.democraticunderground.com/10141554086)

And yet we still see the same DUers pretending that these tossers are poor put-upon angels ... simply
because they have an United States of America passport ...

Yay exceptionalism!