By Alex Hassel, Storage.com
A self-storage owner in Spring Township, Pa. has learned the true value of having an on-site manager, especially in the middle of the night.
WFMZ-TV reports that two men are behind bars after allegedly burglarizing dozens of units at Stor4You Self Storage. The manager, who is on facility premises 24 hours a day and seven days a week, first called the police at 4:17 a.m. on May 28, 2016, after seeing the suspects breaking into units.
“We have security cameras for the whole property,” owner Rich Savoy told WFMZ-TV. He also watched the suspects on a surveillance feed after the police were called.
The suspects entered by cutting through the gate. They then used bolt cutters to break into 27 different units. They may have been ready for those pieces of security, but they weren’t accounting for an on-site manager, who called the police and remained on the phone with them to provide updates.
“We were able to open the gate quietly and actually allow [the police] to get onto the property, so the robbers were actually totally surprised,” said Savoy. “Our manager was saying things like, ‘Tell your officer to run up two aisles. There’s someone coming up that aisle.'”
Police caught the suspects in the act and blocked the path to their getaway vehicle. They apprehended two suspects, Kenneth Alicea-Rodriguez and Eric Ortiz, who have been charged with criminal trespassing, conspiracy, and attempted burglary. However, the other two male suspects, who have yet to be identified, are still at large.
Police believe all of the suspects could have been involved in about a half-dozen other self storage burglaries around Berks County and the surrounding area.
“We are contacting the other departments that have similar incidents and are going to investigate whether or not they are related,” said Chief Bryan Ross of the Spring Township Police Department.
If you have any information about the self storage break-ins around Berks County, please contact Crime Alert Berks County. Call 877-373-9913 or text “alertberks” with your message to 847411.
Alex Hassel is News Reporter for Storage.com. If you’d like to pitch Alex a self storage industry news story, email alex.hassel@storage.com or call 402-779-7328.
