2 men arrested after rushing Ryan Lochte on 'DWTS'
Fox411: 2 men arrested after rushing Ryan Lochte on 'Dancing With the Stars'
Two men were arrested Monday night for rushing the stage during Olympic swimmer Ryan Lochte’s debut performance on “Dancing with the Stars” with partner Cheryl Burke.
Los Angeles police spokesman Officer Mike Lopez said 48-year-old Sam Sododeh and 40-year-old Barzeen Soroudi were detained by security on the set until officers arrived to take them into custody.
Lopez added that no one was injured in the incident.
Lochte said afterward that he was “a little hurt” after the security scare. A witness told Fox News that Lochte and Burke were on stage receiving their scores from Judge Carrie Ann Inaba during a live installment of the show, when two men with anti-Lochte T-shirts rushed the stage.
Host Tom Bergeron said the show was interrupted by what was characterized as a “little incident” and thanked the ABC series’ security team. However, the witness said it was a bit more intense than that.
“I've never been so scared in my life,” the witness said. “Two men were yelling, ‘Lochte, you suck!’ And ran toward Ryan and his dance partner, Cheryl Burke.”
The two men were handcuffed and removed from the audience as well two women who were sitting behind the men in the audience. The women were also wearing shirts that had Lochte’s name with a line through it, the witness added.
Lochte told Bergeron that "so many feelings are going through my head right now — a little hurt, but I came out here. I wanted to do something I'm completely not comfortable with, and I did."
Derek Hough told Fox News that the incident marred the usual carefree atmosphere of the show and admitted he even got a little emotional.
“I dropped a couple of F bombs. ’DWTS’ is my home," he said.
Hough added that Lochte and Burke left early, only doing a few TV interviews.
“They’re shaken."
Longtime dancing professional Sharna Burgess wasn’t happy with the way things went down.
"There's no place for this in the ballroom,” she said.
During the episode, the Olympic medalist performed a foxtrot routine with professional partner Cheryl Burke to "Call Me Irresponsible." They received a combined score from the judges of 24 out of 40.
Lochte and teammates were involved in an early-morning drunken encounter during the Olympics last month at a gas station in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. They later claimed they were threatened and robbed. United States team officials banned Lochte for 10 months, requiring him to forfeit $100,000 in bonuses and miss the 2017 world championships.
Fox News’ Carole Glines and the Associated Press contributed to this report.