Jen Lee thought he might never see his three Paralympic gold medals again. With the help of social media and an outraged police department and public, Lee and his medals are together again.
The medals were stolen last Saturday from the Team USA para ice hockey goaltender while his car was parked in a shopping center garage in San Antonio, Texas.
Luckily, the camera on Lee’s Tesla caught incredibly clear surveillance video of the culprit breaking in and taking a Team USA backpack containing his gold medals from the 2014, 2018 and 2022 Paralympic Games.
Lee posted the video on social media with a plea for help and it went viral. There are currently a whopping 2.9 million views of the clip. By comparison, according to NBC there were 11.9 million total viewers for the entire Paralympic Games in the United States.
”First time for everything,” Lee posted on Instagram, “got my car broken into, and all my Paralympic gold medals stolen. Not 1, not two but 🥇🥇🥇.”
Lee, who did not allow a goal in four starts for Team USA in Beijing, wrote in his post that he was asking to get the word out in any way possible.
Chief Bill McManus of the San Antonio Police Department retweeted the video, writing, “Anyone recognize this individual?” He added, “This can’t stand!”
Lee was appreciative of the help, writing that he hoped to ”find the golden eggs” on Easter. On Monday, the backpack and medals were located in the parking lot of a nearby movie theater and taken to a fire department. Two days later a suspect was apprehended by U.S. Marshals and placed under arrest.
McManus was not surprised the medal heist came to a happy conclusion. “I knew it wouldn’t be long,” he wrote. “Too many people incensed from the video.”
He added later, “There are some things that just piss people off, and this tweet and what this perpetrator did pissed a lot of people off.”
Lee went to the public safety headquarters to collect his medals in a ceremony worthy of a Paralympic podium presentation.
He called it a surreal experience and “definitely a memory to be cherished as well.”
Lee, 35, is an Army veteran who was injured in a motorcycle accident in 2009. His left leg was amputated above the knee.
Lee said his Paralympic experience is not all about the medals. “It’s the memories, the people that I connect with, the rehabilitation, the physical therapists, the doctors, my teammates,” he said.
While he said winning the gold medals is “a great accomplishment. In the end, it is materials and material items. I was ready to accept that ‘Hey, I’m going to lose this forever.’”
Instead, the medals were placed around his neck again.
Lee thanked McManus, the police department, friends and teammates for the “team effort to retrieve (the medals) this fast. I’m beyond grateful and lucky to be surrounded with so (much) love and support.”
McManus told reporters that the case “caught a lot of interest on social media” and he surmised that the robber “saw how it was exploding on Twitter. I think that’s why the backpack was left where it was.”
Rogelio Solis, 36, was picked up by U.S. Marshals and will be charged with burglary theft to a vehicle.
Lee was the backup goaltender for Team USA in 2014 and 2018, but moved into the starting position in the run-up to the Beijing 2022 Games upon the retirement of Steve Cash.
He did not allow a goal in any of his four starts, stopping 33 shots.
Team USA has now won four straight gold medals in para ice hockey, formerly called sledge hockey.
Lee said before the Games that being part of Team USA “gives me the ability not only to represent my country, but I also value the camaraderie of all my teammates. I was a military service veteran prior to being hurt and the chemistry and the bond that we’ve created on and off the ice with my teammates is something I will never forget.”
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