Matt Hazlett/Getty Images(RIO DE JANEIRO) — U.S. Olympic swimmer Ryan Lochte has been summoned to give testimony related to the investigation into the Rio de Janeiro gas station incident, a spokesman for the Brazilian Ministry of Justice confirmed to ABC News.
Police want Lochte, who flew home to North Carolina after the incident, to travel to Brazil to deliver his testimony in person, a Brazilian Federal Police source said.
The decision comes days after Lochte said his original story about being held up at gunpoint in Rio with three other U.S. swimmers was “overexaggerated” in an interview with Brazil’s main broadcaster, Globo.
Lochte claimed during the Olympics that he and three other U.S. swimmers were held up — with a gun cocked and pointed at his forehead — after leaving a party in Rio.
He then backpedaled, telling NBC News’ Matt Lauer that although a gun was drawn during the incident, it was not pointed at his head.
Brazilian police said Lochte’s story was a fabrication and that the Olympians — Lochte, Gunnar Bentz, Jack Conger and James Feigen — were not robbed and were not victims. The police alleged that the swimmers vandalized a bathroom at a gas station and were confronted by armed security guards who requested money for the damage.
In an interview with Lauer, Lochte appeared to concede that he knew that the guards were demanding payment for the damage done, not robbing them.
“Yeah, so then we had to give the money,” he told Lauer. But he also said he “couldn’t answer” whether the men were being robbed.
Lochte, who said he “had too much to drink” that night, maintained that he and the other athletes were frightened because a gun was involved.
Police in Rio de Janeiro recommended that Lochte and Feigen be charged with false reporting. Feigen donated roughly $11,000 to a Brazilian charity to avoid prosecution.
The two other swimmers, Conger and Bentz, returned to the United States after giving statements to police and alleged that Lochte pulled a sign off a wall at the gas station, sparking a confrontation with armed guards.
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