String of Train Heists Involves a Fortune in Nikes

Thieves have targeted freight trains running through the deserts of California and Arizona in a string of audacious heists resulting in the theft of more than $2 million worth of new Nike sneakers, including many that haven't hit the retail market yet, according to officials and court documents, per the AP.

• In a Jan. 13 robbery, suspects cut an air brake hose on a BNSF freight train traveling through a remote section of Arizona and made off with more than 1,900 pairs of unreleased Nikes worth more than $440,000, according to a criminal complaint filed in federal court in Phoenix. Many of the shoes were Nigel Sylvester x Air Jordan 4s, which won't be available to the public until March 14 and are expected to retail at $225 per pair.

• The Jan. 13 robbery was one of at least 10 heists targeting BNSF trains in remote areas of the Mojave Desert since last March that authorities are investigating, the Los Angeles Times reports. All but one resulted in the theft of Nike sneakers, according to investigators.
• In another case, a BNSF train came to an emergency stop near Hackberry, Arizona, on Nov. 20 after it started losing air, according to a complaint filed in Phoenix federal court. Sheriff's deputies in Mohave County stopped a white panel van seen leaving the area and found about 180 pairs of then-unreleased Air Jordan 11 Retro Legend Blue sneakers valued at $41,400, the complaint states.
• Two other cases in which BNSF freight trains were burglarized near Kingman and Seligman, Arizona, last year resulted in the theft of $612,000 worth of Nikes and eight arrests, according to federal criminal complaints.
• Thefts from cargo trains cost the nation's six largest freight railroads more than $100 million last year because of a combination of the value of the stolen goods and the cost of repairs to damaged railcars.
• The problem has getting worse in recent years as thefts have become more organized and sophisticated. The Association of American Railroads trade group estimates that the number of thefts jumped roughly 40% last year to 65,000 nationwide.

(More Nike stories.)