Man's storage unit in Arcadia ransacked, says $88,000 worth of items was stolen
He says he's now stuck fighting insurance companies and says he's having a hard time getting reimbursed.
ARCADIA, Calif. (KABC) -- An Arcadia man said he put virtually everything he owns in storage, and a few months later, most of it was gone.
Rick Morales said after he lost his job in June, he placed his items in a storage unit at Arcadia 210 Storage and traveled for a few months.
He even recorded the moment he did it on his phone.
Morales went back and discovered most of his items were gone.
"All my laptops, hard drives, literally what my whole entire career in the last 25 years has been taken away from me," he told Eyewitness News on Thursday.
Morales said he went to the storage office to find out what happened. He said he asked for any surveillance video, but claims he couldn't get much help.
Morales then filed a police report and is currently trying to file an insurance claim.
He said he was offered $2,500.
"Luckily, I bought a lot of stuff online, so I have the emails and confirmations and everything. It racked up about almost $88,000 worth of stuff," said Morales.
Morales said he also lost the ashes of his beloved dog Gabby, which were stored in a box.
"That really hurt me the most, because out of everything there, it could all be replaceable, but the one thing that can't be replaced is my late dog Gabby that was with me through the whole entire COVID," he said.
Arcadia 210 Self storage said it is looking into the matter and sent ABC7 a short statement, saying, "So far, [Morales] hasn't fully cooperated with the insurance company to file and settle his claim if there is proof of burglary."
The Arcadia Police Department said if you have a storage unit, you need to take steps to make sure your items are safe.
"If you're storing things of value, look at putting security cameras, putting them outside the roll-up doors or the pedestrian access door, put them inside the unit, so if someone gets into the unit, you can see what they're doing," said Lt. Kollin Cieadlo.
Morales said he's still fighting with the insurance companies but likely, nothing is going to happen until next year.
