By admin 
WILLIAMS, AZ (AZFamily) — Four people were arrested after investigators said they were part of a crime group that stole sneakers from a train in northern Arizona.
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Someone called 911 about the heist around 8 a.m. Wednesday. Law enforcement arrived at the railway underpass at Airport Road in Williams and searched the area for the crooks.
The four adults were found nearby and taken into custody without incident. Deputies and officers recovered multiple pairs of the stolen sneakers.
Investigators believe the group is part of an organized crime ring that has pulled off train heists throughout northern Arizona along Interstate 40 and the BNSF Railway corridor.
Last month in Ash Fork, crooks targeted a train transporting expensive technology, and then days later, suspects stole unspecified products from a train between Ash Fork and Seligman.
Arizona’s Family has reported on numerous train cargo heists in northern Arizona. Earlier this year, several suspects stole expensive merchandise from boxcars outside of Joseph City, west of Holbrook.
On numerous prior occasions, bandits made off with hundreds of pairs of Nike shoes worth thousands of dollars.
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In January 2025, four people were indicted after being caught with almost $50,000 worth of Nike shoes stolen from a BNSF train in northern Arizona en route to Dick’s Sporting Goods.
Eleven others were indicted in connection with another train heist about 20 miles northwest of Williams, which also involved Nike shoes. The stolen master cases of then-unreleased shoes had an estimated retail value of $202,000.
Then, in March 2025, about $300,000 worth of Nike shoes were stolen from a train near I-40 just south of Kingman. At least one person was arrested in that case. Later that month, Hualapai Nation police arrested two illegal immigrants believed to be involved in at least one train heist following a pursuit on Route 66.
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