Erik Hightower (born 6 April 1986) is an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

Paralympic athlete who competes in wheelchair racing events at international elite competitions and has participated at three

Paralympic Games The Paralympic Games or Paralympics, also known as the ''Games of the Paralympiad'', is a periodic series of international multisport events involving athletes with a range of physical disabilities, including impaired muscle power and impaire ...

. He is a double

Parapan American Games The Parapan American Games is an international multi-sport event for athletes with physical disabilities held every four years after every Pan American Games. The first Games were held in 1999 in Mexico City, Mexico. The 2003 Parapan American Ga ...

champion and a World champion in the

4 x 100 metre relay 4 (four) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 3 and preceding 5. It is the smallest semiprime and composite number, and is considered unlucky in many East Asian cultures. In mathematics Four is the smallest c ...

Theft of wheelchair

In June 2014, Hightower's custom made $5,000 racing wheelchair was stolen from his cousin's truck in Anderson Township, Ohio. He had visited the Mercy Anderson Hospital to visit someone and then an hour later, he noticed that his chair had gone missing which he only had bought two months ago. He and his family were confused on why the perpetrator would steal his wheelchair that was "useless for anybody else", he had a theory that the culprit could be stealing his wheelchair to collect scrap metal and he contacted local scrap metal businesses to warn about his stolen wheelchair and reported the theft to the police. Hightower also asked for the

CCTV Closed-circuit television (CCTV), also known as video surveillance, is the use of video cameras to transmit a signal to a specific place, on a limited set of monitors. It differs from broadcast television in that the signal is not openly t ...

footage of the hospital's car park but there was no camera coverage of the car park where his cousin's truck was parked. His wheelchair was later recovered a week later when it was found in a baseball field in New Richmond.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hightower, Erik 1986 births Living people Track and field athletes from Phoenix, Arizona Sportspeople from Chico, California Paralympic track and field athletes for the United States Athletes (track and field) at the 2008 Summer Paralympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2016 Summer Paralympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2020 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 2007 Parapan American Games Medalists at the 2011 Parapan American Games Medalists at the 2015 Parapan American Games Medalists at the 2019 Parapan American Games People with spina bifida American male wheelchair racers