ATLANTA — Channel 2 Action News has learned of more than two dozen break-ins at a place where many of you may put your cherished belongings for safekeeping.
Channel 2's Matt Johnson has learned that whoever is doing it is very consistent. They've shown up to the storage facility along Monroe Drive at least once a month for six straight months.
Johnson pulled about a dozen police reports for this story, and there's only one mention of security cameras capturing anybody in the act.
“It definitely looks like it's orchestrated,” one of the victims said, asking not to be identified.
That victim provided Johnson with pictures of damaged locks and cut wiring, which show how some of the break-ins at the Public Storage location keep happening.
More than two dozen people have told Atlanta police they've showed up to their units only to find almost everything wiped out.
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“I feel absolutely violated. I mean, I definitely don’t feel safe having my stuff stored there,” the victim said.
He told Johnson that he lost about $5,000 worth of equipment over the weekend from his unit.
He's one of 26 victims Johnson found since last December who have been targeted by the thieves.
“They knew what they were doing. They probably have an inventory of everyone’s stuff that’s there right now, they’re just waiting for the next strike,” the victim said.
Another woman who Johnson spoke to over the phone on Friday said she was concerned about security two months after police say thieves stole electronics and sentimental items from her.
Police said thieves are getting in by either cutting locks or by cutting the wiring on top of units to crawl inside.
“They should get cameras, you know, throughout the facility, in the hallways, and things of that such,” the woman said.
Johnson contacted Public Storage’s corporate office in California for a comment on this story, but his emails and phone calls were not returned.
In the meantime, many victims are wondering why they didn't find out about the other thefts until it happened to them.
“It would have been great to have been notified a month or two ago, ‘Hey, there’s been a bunch of break-ins in your storage space,’” the first victim said.
For the people who have changed storage facilities, they told Johnson they looked for places with 24-hour security and cameras throughout the facility.