by Chief of Police DeWayne Philpott
Teague Police have been investigating a rash of storage unit burglaries, resulting in several thousand dollars in stolen property, over the past few months. Storage Units are easy targets for burglars. This is primarily because storage unit renters do not routinely check their units to ensure their personal belongings are still there and safe. Typically, renters put their property in the unit, lock it up, and don’t think about it until they need something or want to add more items. This can be weeks, months, or even a year later and by this time their property is long gone. Aside from checking your rented unit regularly, it is extremely important to choose a lock that cannot be easily cut or broken, nor one that can be easily accessed by lock picks or lock cutters as certain locks can also be easily defeated.
Officers began surveillance of storage units throughout town in hopes of identifying the person(s) responsible for breaking in and stealing people’s personal belongings being kept in storage units. Our efforts paid off yesterday afternoon at about 2:30 pm. An on-duty officer saw a suspicious late model vehicle at Arborstone Storage Units on North 8th Avenue. Our on-duty officer watched a male from the suspect vehicle enter a storage unit, which in and of itself is nothing to cause alarm. However, the male exited, closed the unit without relocking it, and moved to and entered another unit in the same line. The officer approach the male, who was accompanied by another male, to confront him about his actions. The two males quickly got into their vehicle and tried to leave the area. The officer was able to stop and detain them. Burglary instruments and an array of property, suspected of being stolen, were found in the vehicle. One of the suspect’s claimed they were looking for their daughter’s unit, justifying why they were accessing multiple units in the facility.
The storage unit company was contacted and assisted in contacting owners of units suspected to have been burglarized. Some property in the vehicle was positively identified as being stolen by victims of the burglaries. The suspects were both arrested and have been charged with Burglary of a Building (Felony) and Criminal Mischief Equal to or Greater than $100 but Less Than $750 (Misdemeanor). They were both transported and booked into the Freestone County Jail. Additionally, we will be filing paperwork with the Freestone County Attorney to seize the vehicle used in this criminal enterprize.
Please contact us if you believe your storage unit has been burglarized.
