Garden Grove and Huntington Beach police are teaming up to battle a new kind of crime, one that uses a kind of sleight-of-hand in the long, asphalt pathways of the booming self-storage business.
According to Lt. Travis Whitman of the GGPD, a new crime series has emerged in which suspects rent a storage unit, then fill it with property they steal from other units.
The suspects replace the padlock on the victim’s storage unit, so the storage rental company is unaware a crime has been committed.
“If you haven’t visited your storage unit in the last month,” said Lt. Whitman, “we recommend you do it.” The GGPD has recovered truckloads of property they believe is stolen, much of which has been returned to the victims.
The remaining property includes a large comic book collection, sports memorabilia, china, cooking supplies, antique items including a radio, telescopes and medical equipment.
If your property has been stolen from a storage unit in the Los Angeles/Orange County area within the last year, call Det. Danielson of the GGPD at (714) 741-5815.
