NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — Thousands of dollars in shoes and clothing didn't make it to their final destination because they were stolen from a train in Nashville.
Metro Police say Nakaria Anthony, Nicquelette Buford and Lametria Scales took $23,000 in mostly sneakers from a parked train on 17th Avenue North.
Hallmark At The Park is the apartment complex closest to those train tracks.
A group of neighbors said the thieves had two getaway cars.
They were there when the police swooped in to arrest the suspected thieves.
"They had their cars parked back there, ready for them right by that gate... ready for them to put it in their trunk or wherever they were going to put it, but the police came just in time," explained a neighbor.
According to police, the women used a rail road spike to break a seal and get inside a container.
"They had about 12 boxes stacked up back there," the neighbor said.
Andy Borchers is a supply chain expert and professor at Lipscomb University. Borchers explained more and more trains are carrying trailers packed with high-value items. Small crews make them vulnerable.
"Many of those large trains have a couple, maybe 3 people [on them]," said Borchers. "There's a lot of potential for theft in that. Those unit trains can be very long too. They can be a half mile... mile long. So there's lots of cars, lots of potential."
The women face burglary, infrastructure vandalism and theft charges for lifting the goods. Additionally, the police investigation threw the train schedule off for roughly four hours.
CSX Police were also called out to the robbery. The company says rail yards are privately owned property. Unauthorized activity is considered criminal trespassing, so violators will be prosecuted.
