MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Many have seen the viral video of a robbery at a Memphis warehouse floating around on social media.
The video, which has been reuploaded dozens of times, shows men robbing the warehouse as employees watch and then try to intervene.
Many online claimed the theft happened at a Nike warehouse, but FOX13 has confirmed the video’s origin.
The robbery happened Friday just after 9 a.m. at a third-party warehouse near the corner of Lamar and Raines owned by a company called River Horse Logistics.
Though it may not have happened at a Nike-owned warehouse, MPD reports the thieves stole 10-20 boxes of Nike merchandise.
FOX13′s Jack Bilyeu, visited the warehouse to find out how much the stolen products were worth, but management declined to comment.
The video shows thieves throwing the boxes into the back of a truck that MPD said was backed up to a loading bay they had broken open.
Employees surround the robbers and one even tries to hit them with a broom, but one of the thieves pulled out a gun.
“In those boxes, it’s probably about six pairs of shoes. Sometimes 12, depending. They’re called cases,” Dominique Worthen, owner of SnkrrBar, said. “And I only know that because I have friends who work at Nike. I didn’t have anything to do with that robbery.”
Worthen has built his business, SnkrrBar, around buying, selling, and repairing high-end shoes.
He believes the thieves already sold the merchandise, and likely for a high profit, as brand-new, limited-run sneakers can be worth thousands.
“How much do they want? How much are they asking? It’s going to get sold,” he said. “I’ve seen people trade a pair of sneakers for a car. It’s crazy valuable. People miss work to go get new sneakers.”
Friday’s robbery is far from Memphis’s only recent sneaker-related crime. $800,000 worth of Nike products were stolen from trailers back in Sep.
Worthne’s own business has been robbed three times since it opened just two years ago.
“It’s crazy man,” Worthen said. “People are fighting each other, killing each other over sneakers every day.”
Worthen said insurance payouts helped him stay afloat after each robbery, but some of the lost merchandise were the shoes of customers he had been hired to repair, which meant damaged relationships for his store.
“The lights are on in here,” he said. “The lights are on, still.”
Worthen believes the employees at River Horse should be applauded for trying to stop the thieves, and said he was glad his store was only ever hit when nobody was inside.
“I hope Nike compensated them, or whatever that company is because they showed a lot of pride and gumption in defending their livelihoods,” he said.
No one has been arrested for the crime.
Those with information are asked to reach out to Crimestoppers at (901)528-2274 (CASH).
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