RIO DE JANEIRO _ A Brazilian judge ordered local police to seize the passports of U.S. swimmers Ryan Lochte and Jimmy Feigen on Wednesday to bar them from leaving the country after the athletes said they were part of a group robbed at gunpoint earlier this week.
In a statement, Judge Keyla Blanc de Cnop said Lochte and Feigen gave contradictory accounts of what occurred during the incident early Sunday morning and also issued search warrants in the matter.
Local police attempted to question the swimmers and collect their passports at the Olympic Village on Wednesday.
"The swim team moved out of the village after their competition ended, so we were not able to make the athletes available," the U.S. Olympic Committee said in a statement.
Lochte, the 12-time Olympic medalist, is reported to have returned to the U.S. Feigen's whereabouts are not known. The USOC wouldn't confirm the athletes' location. Lochte's dad told the Associated Press that his son is in the U.S.
Jeff Ostrow, Lochte's U.S.-based attorney, didn't immediately return a request for comment.
Lochte and Feigen, along with teammates Gunnar Bentz and Jack Conger, said they were robbed of cash and personal items by individuals posing as police officers during a taxi ride from France's hospitality venue to the Olympic Village early Sunday morning. Local police said they haven't found any evidence of a crime.
The judge's statement said noted that footage from security cameras at the Olympic Village showed the four swimmers appearing unconcerned as they returned that morning.
