Street Wear sold counterfeit Nike sneakers as well as illegally reproduced CDs, police say. The store’s owner, Justin Coale, says he bought the sneakers on the street in New York and did not know they were fakes. (Catherine Meredith, Allentown Morning Call / November 21, 2007)
The store’s owner — Justin C. Coale, 28, — was charged Tuesday with selling counterfeit Nike sneakers after Souderton police seized more than $10,000 worth of allegedly fake merchandise from his shop at 145 Main St.
The arrest was part of Nike’s ongoing nationwide crackdown on counterfeiters, according to Bob Sander, an assistant district attorney for Montgomery County, who is prosecuting the case.
Police say Coale was buying Nike Air Force 1 and Air Jordan sneakers for $25 to $30 a pair in New York City and selling them for twice that amount or more. Authorities said they bought a pair of Air Force 1s, which retail at $75, for $60 at the store.
Coale, who faces 41 years in prison and $85,000 in fines, said he’s running a ”legit” business.
”What can I say?” Coale said when reached at his shop Tuesday afternoon. ”Honestly, I can be selling drugs to kids. I bought the shoes on the street. It’s not like I had a warehouse I went to.
”It’s not like I stole them. I put them in the window for people to come in to attract attention. In my eyes, I didn’t do anything wrong.”
Coale’s store remains open. Sander said the business itself is not illegal.
In addition to seizing 114 pairs of Nike sneakers, police also confiscated 81 compact discs from the shop.
Coale told police after his arrest that the people who sold him the shoes did not tell them if they were fake or stolen and that ”he did not ask them because he didn’t want to know,” according to a complaint filed at District Court in Souderton. He said he reproduces the compact discs himself and sells them for $5 each, the complaint said.
Police began investigating after Nike hired Stumar Investigations of Norristown, a private investigation firm, to look into whether Coale’s sneakers were authentic, Sander said.
In February, police charged the owner of Brooklyn Urban Gear at 708 Linden St., Bethlehem, with selling counterfeit Nike shoes.
In October 2007, two people were arrested after authorities allegedly found counterfeit Nike products at R.J. Fashions and At Your Request, stores on the 400 block of Northampton Street in Easton.
In September 2007, the owner of South Side Grocery in Easton was arrested after police allegedly found 294 counterfeit Nike sneakers in the store, as well as hundreds of pirated recordings.
CultureShoq wants to send out a big shout out to Montgomery Police Department and a big FUCK YOU to Justin Coale.
