Police offer tips after rash of thefts at storage facilities across South Florida
HOLLYWOOD - Break-ins and thefts continue at storage units across South Florida.
Unsuspecting tenants are finding their precious items gone with no real clue if they'll see their things again.
John Landers tells CBS News Miami he fell victim. He watched our June report about thefts at a Wynwood facility and told us the theft of his things couldn't be random.
"This was not like a random crime of opportunity, somebody had to come with a moving truck," he said.
Thieves were able to get through the gates at a storage facility in Hollywood took of all his late father's furniture.
"There's a monetary value which is not that much but it's a big emotional connection. We wanted to keep the furniture so that members of the family could have a part of him," Landers shared.
He called police and crime scene investigators came and swept for fingerprints. Unfortunately, Landers says police don't have any leads.
In June, CBS Miami told the story of a woman who says she was robbed of more than $100,000 worth of her stuff housed in a Wynwood storage facility. Earlier this month, video went viral of a man attempting to break into a storage facility in Homestead.
Signs of surveillance are posted at the Hollywood storage facility, but Landers states he hasn't seen any footage and hasn't received any correspondence from the company. CBS Miami has also reached out to the company and has not heard back.
Through a public records request, Landers learned there were four theft reports from Hollywood Police in the month of June. In Miami-Dade, we learned that there were 14 thefts in the first six months of the year at the Wynwood facility.
Police want tenants to consider picking a reputable company, trying facilities with a gated entry for individual storage units, picking facilities where you can monitor surveillance cameras on your phone, and most importantly don't advertise what is housed inside of your unit.
Landers says there are lessons he's learned, "I wish I had photographed everything before and after we put it in the unit. I wish that we had checked our insurance policy before and read every line to find out what our coverage was. And I wish that we kept receipts for everything," he said.
In both the Wynwood and Hollywood theft cases there have not been significant updates in the police investigations. At this time, there's no word on reimbursement or recovery of their items.