Over 100 left shoes stolen from Albuquerque shoe store
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) – Crime is an ever-growing problem in the city, and one local business just became the latest victim of a break-in. But with thieves hoping to score big at the Southwest Soles shoe store, they missed a major thing – a matching set.
“I’m definitely heartbroken,” says Isaiah Saiz. When Saiz opened up his store eight months ago as a 21-year-old business owner, he was hoping to share his passion with the community.
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“I’ve always been in love with shoes, obviously. I have so much now; collected so much myself. I’ve always done it since I was a kid. But since COVID, [I] played a lot of basketball. They shut down a lot of the gyms indoors. I had a lot of basketball shoes [and] had no need for them. So I just sold them and figured I can do a business doing that,” Saiz explains.
But on Monday morning, his hard work was disrupted by a pair of criminals. “They were in here about five minutes and then took off,” says Saiz.
Around 4:30 Monday morning, Saiz was alerted to the break-in. The thieves first scout the store, eventually breaking in through the back window. The thieves then started loading up trash bags full of shoes and made off with $600 in jackets in the back.
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Other electronics and over 100 shoes, totaling thousands of dollars, from the display shelves but not one of the shoes they took was a full pair.
“Probably anywhere from $20 to $30,000. Since I can’t do anything with the right shoes,” says Saiz.
He says that even though the break-ins have set him back, he plans to welcome the community back soon and continue to share his joy. “We’re gonna move on from this. We’re going to take it to the chin and yeah, business will continue,” Saiz says.
Anyone with information on the break-in or those responsible are asked to call the police.
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