Police chased one of the suspects for 80 miles, but two people have now been arrested in connection to a series of train robberies near the Mojave Desert in Arizona
A series of train heists resulting in the theft of Nike shoes worth millions has led to the arrest of two people.
Hualapai Notion Police Department officials in Arizona, US, stopped a maroon Chevy Tahoe around 2.40am as it was believed to be involved in multiple hijacks. The car was pulled over and eight people fled the vehicle, but the male driver was detained. Police found stolen shoes near the car, they said in a press release.
But another traffic stop on Thursday was much more dramatic. Police attempted to stop a white Toyota 4Runner as part of the robbery investigation. A female driver was stopped after she failed to yield to an emergency vehicle – and police noticed evidence of criminal activity.
The patrol sergeant asked the woman to leave the car, which she did, before hopping back into the driver’s seat and speeding away.
She then struck a patrol officer, but he luckily didn’t have any injuries.
Police then entered into a car chase spanning 80 miles before the driver lost control of the vehicle and collided with a guard rail, throwing her out of the car near the Arizona-California border.
She 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.
Police said both suspects were both from Mexico and in the US illegally. The robberies have taken place in the Mojave Desert, and thieves have allegedly stolen at least $2million (£1.5m) worth of sneakers, the Los Angeles Times reported.
A further 10 similar robberies are currently being investigated. 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 (£340k) in January.
A total of 11 people charged pleaded not guilty and were all ordered detained until trial as Arizona magistrate judges said they posed a risk of fleeing from authorities.
All of the 11 defendants are charged with possessing or receiving goods stolen from interstate shipment. Mexican nationals in the US illegally make up 10 of the defendants, with the other a Mexican citizen in the middle of asylum proceedings in the US, authorities said in court records.
Thieves are apparently boarding slow-moving trains when they are changing tracks and opening containers, said Keith Lewis, vice president of operations at Verisk’s CargoNet and an Arizona deputy sheriff.
Lewis told the Times that the thieves are sometimes tipped off to valuable shipments by associates working at warehouses or trucking companies.
Thefts from cargo trains cost the nation’s six largest freight railroads more than $100 million last year. The railroads estimate that only around one out of every 10 theft attempts result in an arrest, and many of those who are arrested are repeat offenders.
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