The Education Minister of Portugal was robbed on August 6 during the Olympic event in Brazil. He was by the lake when a man threatened him with a knife and asked for his belongings.
The victim, Tiago Brandao Rodrigues along with another John Doe, were just walking in the area when the culprit started harassing them using a knife. Rodrigues then gave the robber his belongings. According to Reuters, this is not the first time someone was robbed at the Olympics. In fact, cops in Rio are on high alert due to reports involving robbery.
Luckily for Rodrigues, the police were quick to respond and they found the culprit before he even got away. They were also able to retrieve the victim's belongings. Police arrested the robber while he was trying to escape the premises.
Unfortunately, Rodrigues was not the only victim of this incident during the Olympics. Three U.S. swimmers also found themselves in the same situation, only the culprits assaulted them with a gun. U.S. Olympic swimmer Ryan Lochte was one of the three participants who were in a cab when the incident happened. According to his testimony published by USA Today on August 14, the culprits pretended to be cops when they assaulted their victims. They even had police badges when they asked the cab that the swimmers were riding on to pull over.
A photo posted by The Olympic Games (@olympics) on Aug 15, 2016 at 10:11am PDT
Reports said that Rio and the whole city is known to be a safe place and the reason why these robberies took place is a mystery for most of the locals. The victims and other witnesses are convinced that the Olympics' security is not that tight, which is why incidents like robberies in broad daylight happens.
Do you think that the venue could have been safer if the Rio police upgraded their security system and procedures? Tell us what you think by using the comments section below.
