A whopping 1,110 stolen pairs of Adidas Yeezy sneakers worth approximately $250,000 were recovered by Portland police last weekend. The hypebeast haul was found in the back of a truck, also stolen, and a 26-year-old suspect was arrested in connection with the theft.
Certified sneaker swiper —
Police located the stolen U-Haul truck Sunday and arrested Rubert Crosse on charges of aggravated theft and possession of a stolen vehicle. According to The Oregonian, Crosse had already been involved in pending cases related to prostitution and strangulation and had also been charged in November on several other charges including unlawful possession of oxycodone.
The source of the stolen sneakers has yet to be revealed by police, nor have the exact models that were recovered. Images released by police show the cab at least half-full of boxes that appear to have been fully prepped for shipping.
All for some shoes —
The average Yeezy retail release floats around $200 to $300, with outliers in $60 slides and $400 Knit Runner boots. But with the way Yeezys burn up the resell market, sometimes selling for more than $1,000 a pair, the secondary value was likely considered by police in their approximation of the stolen goods’ worth.
Perhaps Crosse was planning on reselling the sneakers himself or wanted to hook up 1,000 of his closest friends. It’s not even clear if he knew exactly what was in the U-Haul, and he very well could have been drawn in by the sight of a vulnerable truck alone.
High-value sneaker thefts are not uncommon in today’s landscape. A Florida-based sneaker boutique had its entire stock of unreleased Nike SB “Mummy” Dunks stolen in October before they could even sell them, and numerous accusations of theft have been levied against FedEx drivers. In December, a single DHL employee was charged with and confessed to stealing more than $60,000 worth of Nike merchandise as part of a scheme that used duplicate tracking numbers.
