'American Gymnastics Goddess Statue' Stolen by Hat-Thieving Gang, Finally Caught by Police... "Dispatched After Gunshot Report → Found in Closet During Home Search"

*This content was translated by AI.

The bronze statue of American Olympic gymnastics hero Sunisa Lee (23) was dramatically recovered more than a year after it was stolen. The mother who had hidden the statue has been indicted on a felony charge for receiving stolen property.

Britain's 'The Sun' reported on the 2nd (local time) that "St. Paul police in Minnesota, USA, found Sunisa Lee's statue in a closet of a house they responded to for a shooting incident and arrested the suspects."

St. Paul police responded around 12:30 p.m. last month on a report of gunshots heard in a residential area on Forest Street. Officers discovered shell casings and three firearms at the scene and found the statue hidden inside a closet within the house while evacuating residents.

The statue was stolen from Palen District Park in St. Paul on July 31, 2025. The stolen statue was found in the closet of Tamika Nicole Vazinet, a 44-year-old resident of the house, and her 22-year-old son Dashon Taire KARA-din.

Police filed felony charges against both mothers for receiving stolen property. During police questioning, the mother, Vazinet, claimed she "picked up the statue from a street bush about a month ago" and stated, "I learned about the theft via the internet but did not know how to return it."

Sunisa Lee is a gymnastics star from St. Paul who won a total of six medals at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and the 2024 Paris Olympics. The media reported that "St. Paul City plans to reinstall the stolen statue immediately back in its original location at Palen District Park."

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*This content was translated by AI.