Arizona authorities have arrested two people in connection with a series of train heists that resulted in the theft of Nike shoes worth millions.
On Thursday, officials with the Hualapai Nation Police Department initiated a traffic stop on a maroon Chevy Tahoe around 2:40 a.m. believed to be involved in multiple area hijacks.
After pulling the car over, eight people fled the vehicle. The male driver was detained. Police located some of the stolen shoes near the car, the police department said in a news release.
In another traffic stop Thursday, a white Toyota 4Runner was pulled over on Highway 66 as part of the investigation into the robberies. The female driver was stopped after failing to yield to an emergency vehicle. Police approached the vehicle and noticed evidence of criminal activity.
The patrol sergeant issued a verbal command for the driver to exit the vehicle. The woman initially exited the car, but returned to the driver’s seat, shifted the vehicle into gear and sped away from the scene at a high speed. As she attempted to flee, police say the car struck a patrol officer.
The officer did not sustain any injuries. Officers initiated a pursuit of the fleeing suspect that spanned 80 miles and concluded near the Arizona-California border on Mile Marker 1 on Interstate 40. The driver lost control of the vehicle near a construction zone, collided with a guardrail and was thrown out of the car.
The woman sustained minor injuries and was transported to Valley View Medical Center in Mohave Valley for treatment. Both drivers were booked into the Mohave County Adult Detention Center for their alleged involvement in the case.
Police did not disclose additional details about the alleged crimes or the suspects’ identities except to say they were both from Mexico and in the U.S. illegally.
Police have been investigating a series of freight train robberies near the Mojave Desert. Thieves have allegedly stolen at least $2m worth of Nike sneakers, according to the Los Angeles Times. Officials are currently investigating 10 similar robberies.
In one January robbery near Perrin, Arizona, thieves cut an air brake hose on a BNSF freight train and ran off with more than 1,900 pairs of unreleased Nike shoes worth more than $440,000. The shoes went on sale earlier this month for $225 a pair.
Eleven people charged in the January burglary have pleaded not guilty and were all ordered detained until trial, with Arizona magistrate judges concluding the defendants posed a risk of fleeing from authorities.
All 11 defendants are charged with possessing or receiving goods stolen from interstate shipment. Ten of the 11 are Mexicans who were in the United States illegally. Another defendant is a Mexican citizen who was in asylum proceedings in the United States, authorities said in court records.
Thieves typically scout merchandise on rail lines that parallel Interstate 40 by boarding slow-moving trains, such as when they are changing tracks and opening containers, said Keith Lewis, vice president of operations at Verisk’s CargoNet and a deputy sheriff in Arizona.
Lewis told the Times that the thieves are sometimes tipped off to valuable shipments by associates working at warehouses or trucking companies.
The suspects are aided by accomplices in “follow vehicles,” which track the rail cars. The loot is tossed off the train after it comes to a halt — either for a scheduled stop or because an air hose has been cut, according to Brynna Cooke, a Homeland Security Investigations special agent cited in affidavits filed in federal court.
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 railcars the thieves damaged, and the problem is getting worse in recent years as the 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.
The railroads have invested millions in measures to help prevent such thefts, but it’s not like they can easily restrict access to the more than 140,000 miles of track they operate across the country. It crosses remote, rural areas and cuts through the heart of many cities carrying millions of shipments of everything from bulk commodities like coal and grain to raw materials like rock. Automobiles and metal shipping containers filled with nearly every kind of product imaginable that’s imported or exported also are transported.
The rail trade group said additional federal enforcement and tougher penalties are needed to deter the thefts, which are a chronic problem. The railroads estimate that only about 1 out of every 10 theft attempts result in an arrest, and many of the people who are arrested are repeat offenders. One railroad even reported arresting the same individual five times in a single day.
With reporting from the Associated Press
