Crew who said they were robbed in Rio lied, says delegate: ‘They spent the whole night drinking and using drugs’ | Rio de Janeiro

Police redo night of crew

The Special Tourism Support Delegation (Deat) believes that the commissioners Grant Lawrence Wheatley40 years old, Samantha Jo Naylor39, and Daniel Pickeiring31, invented versions so as not to be punished by the company.

The g1 team contacted the company British Airways, but until the last update of this report there was no response.

Investigators believe that the three ended up losing the airline’s working phones during the night, which began in Pedra do Sal, in the Port Zone, and ended with everyone separated.

“What is surprising is how a crew that has such an important function spends the whole night drinking and using drugsknowing that the next day they would have the responsibility of taking care of dozens of people who would travel for hours”, said Patrícia Alemany, head of Deat.

Daniel, Samantha and Grant went to Pedra do Sal, where they arrived around midnight on the 5th.

Daniel and Samantha testified as follows:

• At the end of the night, without Grant, Samantha and Daniel ordered a taxi towards Barra, where they were staying;
• However, they ended up taken to a deactivated gas station in Vaz Lobo;
• There, they were robbed by 3 men who followed them from Pedra do Sal;
• The thieves took 2 cell phones and belongings;
• A hidden phone was used by Samantha to call a car from an app;
• On the way back to the hotel, the duo was robbed again, this time by a man on a motorbike, and the last cell phone was stolen;
• They then saw a Military Police vehicle, and asked for help.

Grant told the police:

• He was drinking at Pedra do Sal and met a woman;
• After minutes of conversation, Grant went to the bathroom and, in line, took a sip of a drink.
• From then on, he claimed not to remember anything, just waking up lying on the street.

“The investigation shows that they didn’t tell the truth. They didn’t say what actually happened that morning. They created these stories to try to justify probably inappropriate behavior outside of company rules. But we found out that there was a theft of a cell phone from the pair who were in Vaz Lobo”, says assistant police chief Danielle Bullus.

• They appear on camera around Pedra do Sal without Grant;
• They stay at a plastic table for around 40 minutes with a man, who invites them to go to a gas station in Vaz Lobo;
• The foreigners and the man go to Vaz Lobo;
• The crew starts drinking again. According to a witness, “for several hours”;
• One of the duo’s cell phones was actually taken by thieves.

• At Pedra do Sal, the flight attendant separated from Daniel and Samantha and went to one of the entrances to Complexo do Alemão. There, Grant allegedly consumed drugs and more drinks to the point of becoming unconscious, on Rua Itaoca, in Bonsucesso.
• Construction workers revived him and called for help. While waiting for the ambulance, the foreigner allegedly showed a pin of white powder — the police believe it to be cocaine. Grant was taken to the Del Castilho Emergency Care Unit (UPA).
• At the health unit, Grant said that he did not know the neighborhood and that he spent the night drinking and taking drugs with 2 women.