SAN ANTONIO — San Antonio police are working to find those responsible who burglarized a self-storage facility on the southeast side over the weekend.
The thief, or thieves, stole at least $15,000 worth of items, leaving renters like Amanda Mendoza and Lydia Rico frustrated and demanding accountability.
“I was literally left with nothing,” Mendoza said.
“We work hard and for someone to feel that they have the right to come and steal and take things, it’s upsetting,” Rico said.
On Saturday afternoon, SAPD responded to burglary reports at the iStorage located at 870 Hot Wells Boulevard. That’s where officers discovered multiple units had been broken into and for the most part wiped clean of personal belongings.
Renters are required to enter a pin to open the gates and enter the storage facility.
Four victims were listed in a police report. Rico said she saw at least 10 storage units that had been broken into.
“Washer, dryer, bedroom set mattresses, huge items. The only thing that they left was a bag of clothing hangars,” Rico said, referring to at least $8,000 worth of stolen items that belonged to her nephew who’s in the midst of house hunting.
Unlike Rico, Mendoza didn’t get a call from iStorage management about the break-ins. Mendoza stumbled upon the unfortunate discovery when she stopped by with the intention of dropping off some clothes. Instead, she found red locks placed on numerous storage units by management as a temporary precaution in light of the burglary.
“I had pretty much a little over $6,000 worth of things. Some furniture, I had a vanity set. A mountain bike,” Mendoza said.
Rico spoke to SAPD and the the-site manager of iStorage Tuesday with the hopes of ensuring surveillance video of the thieves is secured for a future investigation. Rico expressed frustration over what she feels is a lack of urgency to by iStorage officials and police to solve the case.
Mendoza and Rico have insurance as part of the iStorage rental agreement, which won’t cover the value of everything lost.
The rental agreement provided by Rico indicates the “operator is not liable for any losses.”
“I want I-Storage to be held responsible. What is the point of secure access, what is the point of having cameras if they’re useless,” Lydia said.
Adam Aguirre, the on-site manager of the Hot Wells Boulevard iStorage had no comment when questioned in person about the string of recent break-ins.
KENS 5 was referred by the on-site manager to speak with Jason Ward, the area manager of NSA Brands, which is the company that owns i-Storage.
However when reached by phone, Ward declined to comment, suggesting KENS 5 reach out to corporate.
Attempts to reach corporate by phone and email were not successful.
Meanwhile, Mendoza stressed she’s lost faith in iStorage and is doubtful about the security of other self-storage companies.
“Most of us lost a lot of sentimental stuff that we won’t be able to get back and now we’re just hanging onto memories.”
It's unknown who the suspect or suspects are at this time. No arrests have been made.
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