SAN ANTONIO — A Paralympian was reunited with his gold medals after the man accused of stealing them was arrested.
On Wednesday, San Antonio’s Police Chief and Paralympic athlete Jen Lee spoke after the case of the stolen gold medals came to a close.
After they were stolen Saturday night, Lee shared the video of the crime which went viral on Twitter and Facebook. Less than 24 hours later, the medals were dropped off to a police substation on the north west side.
Wednesday morning—the U.S. Marshals Lone Star Fugitive Task Force arrested the man caught on camera stealing them.
Jen Lee, a goaltender for the USA Men’s Sled Hockey Paralympic team said he was grateful for the work done by the San Antonio Police Department in quickly resolving the case.
The police say it wasn’t just the video—but help from the public that solved this case.
To Lee, it was never about the gold medals in the first place.
“It’s the memories, the people I connect with, the rehabilitation, the physical therapist to the doctors to my teammates, to the guys I rehabbed alongside with, and each [Paralympic] games,” Lee said.
But when the medals were stolen, Lee, a combat veteran, who lost his leg in motorcycle accident in 2009, thought the worst.
“It’s a great accomplishment but in the end it’s material items, I was ready to accept that I was ready to lose them forever,” Lee said.
The camera on Lee’s Tesla Model 3 caught 36-year-old Rogelio Solis breaking into Lee’s car and stealing the backpack containing the gold medals Saturday night.
Solis was arrested Wednesday morning around 9:30 am in the 5100 block of Roosevelt Avenue on the city's south side.
“I couldn’t imagine this thing going very long without this guy getting caught,” Chief McManus said he is thankful to all the people who shared and posted the video. Chief McManus thinks it played a factor in the medals being recovered so quickly.
“I think that if this individual who broke into Mr. Lee’s car was following this or saw how it was exploding on Twitter, I think that’s why the backpack was left where it was,” Chief McManus said.
Through all the adversity lee has faced—he says the support he received over the past week reminds him these are the people’s medals.
Lee reflected on how his military service got him to San Antonio. After the motorcycle accident, he moved to San Antonio to perform his rehabilitation and got connected to Operation Comfort, which helps wounded service veterans. That got him involved in sled hockey and, the rest is history.
“From when I enlist to the Army, when you serve and put your right hand up, you know you’re doing this for the right thing. You never expect anything back for this it’s a surreal experience and a memory to be cherished as well,” Lee said.
Solis is booked into the Bexar County Jail facing a single charge of burglary theft to a vehicle.
Lee says the next big trip for the medals will be to Washington, D.C. in two weeks when the USA Paralympic team gets to meet the president and tour the White House.