Los Angeles Police Department officers raided the warehouse of the famous sneaker retailer CoolKicks and detained its employees, accusing the company of buying stolen shoes.
The company is well-known among sneakerheads across the country for its viral short videos, in which its internet-famous sneaker-authenticator Rami Almordaah evaluates, buys, and sells rare sneakers that often cost thousands of dollars.
Police arrested and later released the chief executive of the company, Adeel Shams, for allegedly receiving known stolen property valued at more than $950, which is a felony charge, according to LAPD Officer Drake Madison.
LAPD officers took three other people into custody and seized dozens of Nike sneakers during the raid, which occurred on the 1700 block of Stewart Street in Santa Monica.
Shams is scheduled to appear in court Oct. 23.
CoolKicks is a sneaker destination for new and used shoes frequented by celebrities, influencers and professional athletes. It offers thousands of collectible sneakers and has two locations in Los Angeles, including one on Melrose Avenue in the Fairfax District.
The company issued a statement on Instagram saying that its leadership had no reason to believe the seized sneakers had been stolen.
“The LAPD impounded a small allotment of Nike sneakers that CoolKicks purchased and received within the last 48 hours, alleging that the merchandise was stolen,” the statement said. “This news came as a complete shock to our entire team.”
There have been no allegations that the sneakers are counterfeit, the company said.
“We entered into this purchase in good faith, as we always have, committed to running an honest business,” the company said.
CoolKicks began when Shams and classmate Bereket Abraham opened a buy-sell-trade sneaker shop on Virginia Commonwealth University’s Richmond campus in 2014. Three days after graduating, Shams moved to Los Angeles to open a flagship store on Melrose.
The Melrose shop is where Almordaah records videos of deals being done. He has amassed more than 2 million followers on TikTok by showcasing his bargaining and verification skills. Almordaah can tell the difference between knockoffs and the real thing by checking details such as font size and even smell.
The sneaker resale business has matured well beyond its humble roots into a collectibles industry in which shoes are assets that trade like stocks on well-known sites including StockX, GOAT and Flight Club. For immediate, in-person transactions, sneaker collectors will buy and sell at a place such as CoolKicks.
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