Ryan Lochte charged for false statement, summoned to testify in Rio
U.S. swimmer Ryan Lochte has been summoned to testify in Rio over his incident at a gas station during the Olympics, a Brazilian official confirmed to ABC News.
Multipleoutletsreported Thursday that Lochte has been charged with falsely reporting a crime.
Lochte is currently home in the United States. A source told ABC News that Brazilian police want Lochte to testify in person in Brazil.
Earlier this week, Lochte admitted to overexaggerating a story in which he had claimed to have been robbed while leaving a party in Rio. Lochte’s original story about having a gun cocked and pointed at his head unraveled quickly when police investigated and discovered no evidence to support the claim.
Brazilian police instead found out the story was a fabrication. Lochte and three other swimmers hadn’t been robbed, but held by security after vandalizing a gas station.
Security guards at the gas station, however, did hold up guns to the swimmers and demanded money for the damage caused.
Lochte, who has lost all of his sponsors since his story was proven false, has apologized for the incident. Though his previous sponsors dropped him, he did pick up an endorsement deal Thursday with a cough drop company.
