Ryan Lochte and the USA swimming team were reportedly mugged at gunpoint in Rio earlier this week - but now it seems there's another side to this story.
Rio's chief of civil police Fernando Veloso has said that not only was there no robbery, but that Lochte and his team vandalised a gas station before security guards tried to detain them.
What?!
Veloso alleges that money may have been handed over, either willingly to pay for damage or because the guards demanded it, and the guard was justified in holding the swimmers at gunpoint, saying "one of [the] athletes was really disturbed and he was actually kind of angry, so there is the use of this weapon to control one of them".
Veloso also described Lochte as "very angry because he was intoxicated".
Footage has also emerged of Lochte at the gas station on the night of the alleged vandalism, although the incident itself isn't shown. Watch the clip via People below:
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US swimmers Gunnar Bentz and Jack Conger have been questioned and since released, but remain in Rio. It is important to note that Ryan Lochte is back in the US and therefore hasn't been questioned yet.
At the moment, all we have to go on is speculation and the facts remain unclear.
Blimey.
Joe Anderton is a freelance news writer at Digital Spy, having worked there since 2016. In his time, he's covered a host of live events and interviewed celebrities big and small. A big fan of TV and movies both mainstream and obscure, Joe also enjoys video games and in particular PlayStation. Joe currently does not use Twitter, but he only ever used it to tell people to watch the film Help! I'm a Fish.
