Widowed mom, small business owner say thieves targeted their units at Public Storage in Santa Ana

SANTA ANA, Calif. (KABC) -- Santa Ana police are investigating a string of reported burglaries at a Public Storage facility in Santa Ana.

Multiple victims have reported thousands of dollars worth of items, including a small business owner and a widowed mother of two.

For example, Jennifer Taylor launched her Dreambox Beauty line of skincare products and tools in 2019.

Since then her brand has taken off and is sold online and at retailers across the country.

"Also really focusing on our social media and working with influencers to help get the brand and the name out there," Taylor said.

However, on Friday Taylor realized the storage unit where keeps her merchandise had been ransacked. She said 75 percent of her inventory was taken.

"That's a lot to take in for a small business owner," Taylor said. "That's dollars that I was hoping to turn into retail sales to turn into more products."

Alarming new surveillance video shows thieves breaking into a convenience store in Orange and using a pickup truck to haul out an ATM machine filled with $6,000.

Taylor reported the incident to Public Storage staff who told her multiple units had been hit over several days.

Cythina Gores unit had been hit on Wednesday. She has been storing her family's belongings at the facility since the father of her children passed away on Feb 15. 2021.

Gores said she's been living in a shelter and was hoping to move into a new place soon.

"Throughout these months I've been buying furnishing items and just putting them in there with my receipts and everything; boxed items," Gores said. She said the thieves got away with irreplaceable items that she hopes she'll be able to recover.

"Many of us work day in and day out for our belongings and it's just very frustrating somebody could take that away from you in an instant," Gores said.

Gores has launched a GoFundMe to help her and her daughters replace some of the items that were stolen.

Both victims said Public Storage employees told them the suspect may have been a former renter who had access to the facility.

Public Storage did not immediately respond to ABC7's request for comment.