GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — The Grand Rapids Police Department is investigating after more than 50 storage units were broken into overnight.
Police say the break-ins happened between Wednesday night and Thursday morning at Kent County Self Storage on 28th Street SE.
Investigators responded to the scene Thursday morning.
The extensive damage was still in the process of being assessed. Investigators were also assessing what may have been taken from the damaged units, an effort that had only just begun at the time of publication Friday, yet the value, they said, was already staggering.
Several dozen of the complex’s ubiquitous blue roll gates all told the same story, looking as if they’d been peeled back like sardine cans, likely using a special tool.
More than 50 units, investigators said, had been damaged during the overnight burglary.
“We had three victims on scene at the time, they were going through their storage units… unfortunately, we've netted over $50-thousand in losses and that's just from three units,” Captain Terry Dixon, a public information officer with the Grand Rapids Police Department noted. “This is a pretty significant burglary that we’re investigating.”
Work crews appeared to be in the process of repairing the damaged panels Friday afternoon.
The complex is in a high-traffic area. It’s also surrounded by a tall metal fence, accessed only via the sliding wrought iron gate at the facility’s 28th Street entrance.
We also spotted what appeared to be surveillance cameras had been installed on every building.
How the burglars managed to gain access and remain inside long enough to accomplish their aims, that, police said, was still being worked out at the time of publication.
“That main gate was not damaged,” Dixon related. “However, we did notice damage to the garage doors that were kind of pulled up from the bottom right. We're not exactly sure how it took place. We're not exactly sure how many suspects were involved in this thus far.”
Kent County Self Storage did not return our request for comment.
Management, investigators said, had contacted the customers affected. Some of the damaged units were likely insured, though others likely were not.
“I don't know what the final number will be, the total losses,” Dixon noted. “That remains to be seen… we want victims of this particular crime to reach out to our detective unit.”
No arrests have been made at this time. Investigators had yet to identify the suspected burglars as of Friday evening.
Anyone with information on this incident is asked to contact Grand Rapids police at 616-456-3380 or Silent Observer at 616-774-2345 or www.silentobserver.org.
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