MEMPHIS, Tenn.–
Three men are behind bars after police say they stole shoes from a train in North Memphis Monday night.
According to Memphis Police, nine suspects entered a boxcar on North Holmes Road after 9 p.m. They were stealing Nike shoes from the boxcar when officers, the K9 unit and CSX Railroad made the scene.
All nine of the suspects fled on foot, but three of them were not so lucky.
Terry McGirt, 37, was taken into custody on railroad property, Anthony Anderson, 35, was taken into custody in the 1400 block of Locust, and Antonio Jackson, 34, was taken into custody by a K9 officer and his partner in the 1200 block of Warford.
Police said some of the stolen property was recovered at the scene.
The three suspects have been charged with burglary, theft of property $60,000 – $250,000 and evading arrest.
Source: MPD: Boxcar burglars steal Nikes from train in North Memphis
The heart of Nike’s distribution center sits in an area of the city named Frayser. Nike has attempted to elevate the area by building their biggest distribution center. Amazon saw Nike’s work and also built a distribution center directly across the street from the Swoosh. The area has yet to catch up with the business updates and is one of the more gang-centered suburbs in the city. For years Memphians have known that the containers carrying Nike shoes goes through several neighborhoods near Nike’s multiple distribution centers in the city. When the trains have to stop to offload the containers, criminals have an opportunity to locate the containers. Often inside information is supplied.
In the article above three people were caught but note that only some of the sneakers were recovered. In the last year Memphis has been hit with a rash of break-ins and thefts involving sneakers. Stores and sneaker boutiques have been victims of smash and grab robberies. The crimes are happening for a variety of reasons. The perception that the value of sneakers continue to skyrocket on third party sites like eBay Sneakers and StockX is a culprit, but there may be a more nuanced reason for the crimes.
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Nike has begun to crack down on resellers with adjustments to store policies at their Factory, Clearance and Employee stores. This has created a situation where many resellers are not generating the type of revenue they did in the past. Resellers have always had access to grey market shoes, but it’s becoming more important than ever for sellers, looking to maintain a level of resale that happened via Nike’s own doors, to get goods wherever they can. Thieves are getting bolder. Nike employees are also getting bolder: Woman Arrested for Stealing 60,000 dollars in sneakers from her job at Nike. As Nike continues to make adjustments, and the months get warmer Nike will find itself in a battle against an antiquated method of distribution and a supply chain restricted to traditional train and truck delivery systems.
