One pair of rare Brooks-Disney athletic shoes led detectives to $1M in stolen gear, police say

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Set us as preferred A million dollars’ worth of running shoes, and yet these suspects couldn’t outrun the law.Investigators struck athletic-gear gold last week when they discovered a cache of stolen running shoes and other goods worth $1 million inside a Chatsworth warehouse that had been lifted from cargo trains in the Los Angeles region, authorities said.Brooks, Hokas, New Balance, Adidas and On shoes were stacked to the ceiling inside DesignerDeals4Less, L.A.

police said.Detectives, who worked with multiple agencies on the probe, said the contents filed 35 pallets.

“The items were stolen from trains throughout California,” said Los Angeles Police Capt.Mike Bland.

California Colton police arrested a man Thursday suspected of stealing $54,000 worth of Hot Wheels cars, according to authorities.LAPD cargo-theft detectives confronted the business owner with the evidence, and investigators said he “admitted to purchasing the stolen train property from illegitimate distributors of the brands.” Heros Tasci, 51, of Simi Valley, was arrested on suspicion of receiving stolen property.He subsequently posted bail.

Investigators are working with the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office on the case.Investigators became aware of the massive haul of allegedly stolen goods when rare pairs of Brooks-Disney running shoes popped up for sale on the internet.The shoes are usually only available at Disney-run events.

So investigators made a “controlled purchase of stolen Brooks/Disney collaborative shoes” after they discovered them being sold on eBay.That led detectives on Wednesday to the DesignerDeals4Less warehouse in the 21000 block of Nordhoff Street.An LAPD task force seeking to crack down on thefts from the trains and trucks that distribute goods across the nation from the massive ports in Los Angeles and Lo...