Los Angeles police have arrested a suspect in connection with a large theft of Nike products.
The Los Angeles Police Department’s Commercial Crimes Division Cargo Theft Unit on Monday announced the arrest of 37-year-Old Roy Lee Harvey Jr in connection with a large theft of Nike products that were delivered to a location in Hawthorne, Calif. on Saturday. According to a police announcement, detectives and Nike’s global security director uncovered “thousands of pairs of stolen Nike shoes, clothing, accessories, and unique prototypes” amounting to about $5 million in value.
Police believe the suspect received and resold a large amount of stolen Nike products. He was booked on charges related to receiving stolen property.
FN has reached out to Nike for a comment.
Several users on X, formerly Twitter, have claimed that images provided by the LAPD suggested that the warehouse that was raided belonged to sneaker reseller Project Blitz, though these facts have not been confirmed. As of Tuesday afternoon, Project Blitz’ v’s website was down. FN reached out to the reseller for a comment.
The news is just one example of another high value sneaker theft to occur in recent months. In October, police reportedly uncovered close to $5 million worth of stolen goods in a Chicago warehouse that included stolen shoes from brands such as Nike, Yeezy, Supreme and Ugg. And in June, Los Angeles police uncovered $7 million worth of Nike sneakers from a warehouse in Torrance, Calif., according to a report from CBS news affiliate KCAL Los Angeles.
The surge in retail crime, while particularly rampant in California, has plagued retail stores across the country. The National Retail Federation’s 2023 National Retail Security Survey found that retail shrink, when taken as a percentage of total sales in 2022, accounted for $112.1 billion in losses in 2022, up from $93.9 billion in 2021.
And throughout 2023, retailers have spoken out about the issue as theft continues to eat away at their bottom lines. In August, Dick’s Sporting Goods CEO Lauren Hobart told analysts on the company’s earnings call that higher inventory shrink impacted its margins in the second quarter.
