Burglaries are increasing at storage units, police say
Burglaries from storage units in Huntington Beach are on the rise, with more than 25 reported incidents in the past three months, police said.
In a Facebook post Thursday morning, the police department warned people to keep their valuables in safer locations than storage units and to check any such facility before renting in it.
“Suspects are getting into the storage units by cutting the lock, pulling the roll-up door off the tracks or cutting a hole in the drywall from an inside unit,” the department said.
Calling the crime an upward trend, police said they’ve received 26 storage unit burglary reports since June. They were unable to provide comparative data from other months or years.
Public Storage, which has facilities on Gothard Street, McFadden Avenue and Bolsa Avenue, has reported burglaries on its properties to police.
The Seacliff Self Storage on Kovacs Lane reported two burglaries since June. Extra Space Storage on McFadden reported eight.
Police spokeswoman Jennifer Marlatt said the department has no suspects.
“The storage units don’t have video on the premises except at the entry or exit gates,” she said.
Marlatt said a majority of the burglaries were reported on Wednesdays, with a few others reported on Thursdays or Mondays. Most of them were reported at night.
Tommy Ruiz, an assistant manager at the Security Public Storage on Slater Avenue, said his facility has never had an issue with break-ins or burglaries.
“Our company tends to take a more active approach than other places do,” he said. “Usually what happens at other locations is no one is there watching the facility. We have on-site management.”
Safety measures differ among storage facilities, but most share similarities such as security gates and individual access codes for customers.
A spokesperson for Public Storage was not immediately available for comment Thursday. Property managers for Extra Space Storage and Seacliff Storage also were not available for comment.
Twitter: @alexiafedz
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
