Police: Suspected sneaker thief slips up

Posted: Wednesday, January 23, 2013

This is no case for the fashion police.

Khalil Bailey wanted to buy a pair of limited-edition, pricey Nike sneakers. But when he couldn’t, he allegedly stole several pairs.

He might have gotten away with it too, if not for a series of surveillance tapes showing his actions, including one showing him wearing the shoes before they were available for sale.

The evidence landed Bailey, 27, who lists addresses in Newtown Township and Cheltenham, before Middletown District Judge John Kelly Jr. Tuesday. He was arraigned on burglary, theft and related charges and released on $20,000 unsecured bail.

Police say Bailey broke into Foot Locker in the Oxford Valley Mall on Dec. 16 and stole the sneakers after he missed out on a chance to buy one of only 14 pairs of Air Jordan 11 Retro sneakers in stock. Earlier that day, the store had given away tickets that allowed the holders to buy a pair of the nearly $200 sneakers available starting Dec. 21, Middletown Detective Pat Nicastro said.

The Nike retro sneaker line is so popular that people waited overnight at the mall for the chance to get a ticket to buy a pair, the detective said. By early afternoon, more than 25 people were in line, so Foot Locker management decided to hand out the tickets earlier than the advertised 5 p.m. time, Nicastro said.

After the tickets were dispersed, Bailey — a seasonal loss prevention employee at a Sears store in the Middletown mall — allegedly got into an argument with a Foot Locker employee over the tickets being given out early. Bailey was not among the people waiting in line, Nicastro said.

The next morning, a store manager discovered four of the 14 pairs of the Air Jordan 11s were missing from the stockroom, but she couldn’t find any sign of forced entry. That is until about 10 days later, when she discovered pry marks on the back door, Nicastro said.

When the manager reviewed the store’s surveillance video, she found footage of a male breaking into the stockroom after hours on Dec. 16. Once inside, the suspect allegedly took several boxes of the Air Jordan 11 and a T-shirt — together valued at $1,186 — and hid the items in two black trash bags he had in his back pocket before leaving the store.

Another Foot Locker employee who reviewed the surveillance video recognized the suspect as the same man who had an argument about the tickets on Dec. 16, Nicastro said.

Another employee who saw the video recognized Bailey as a guy who worked at the nearby Sears, police said.

But instead of keeping the shoes out of sight, the suspect, Nicastro said, was captured on video inside the Foot Locker wearing the shoes — days before they were available for sale.

“The entire thing was caught on video,” Nicastro said. “A dopey criminal.”

Alleged sneaker thief Khalil Bailey 

Jo Ciavaglia: 215-949-4181; email: jciavaglia@phillyBurbs.com; Twitter: @jociavaglia