Two illegal
immigrants were arrested for allegedly stealing Nike sneakers from cargo trains
in Arizona
Two people are behind bars after
the latest arrests of suspected thieves from Mexico allegedly nabbing millions
of dollars of Nike sneakers in elaborate railroad heists in the Mojave
Desert. On March 27, the Hualapai Nation Police Department in Arizona
pulled over the driver of a maroon Chevy Tahoe "suspected to be involved
in train robberies in the area," according to a statement from the agency.
As officers conducted the traffic
stop, eight people jumped out of the car and fled. Police said they located
stolen Nike shoes nearby, and the driver of the vehicle, a man from Mexico, was arrested.
During
the investigation, police pulled over a woman driving a white Toyota 4Runner
for failing to yield to an emergency vehicle. Upon approaching that vehicle,
officers "observed evidence of criminal activity" also linked to the
train robberies, according to police. Trump admin reveals list of cartels
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The
woman was ordered out of the vehicle by officers, and, despite initially
complying, she reentered the vehicle and sped away, police said. As she
attempted to evade authorities, she allegedly struck a patrol officer, who was
not injured. The woman dodged police for approximately 80 miles before losing
control of her vehicle in a construction zone and smashing into a guardrail
near the Arizona-California border, police said. She was ejected from the
vehicle and transported to a hospital with minor injuries.Both suspects were in the U.S. illegally and
have been booked into the Mohave County Adult Detention Center... The
heist comes as authorities have seen a rise in railroad heists targeting Nike
shoes between California and Arizona over the past two years. In February, a grand jury returned an
indictment against 11 defendants, including nine illegal immigrants, from a
theft of Nike merchandise being shipped through northern Arizona, according
to the Department of Justice.
Authorities said the Sinaloa Cartel stole hundreds of thousands of dollars in
Nike shoes from a moving BNSF train in Arizona in January.
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