Storage locker broken it Items stolen looking for advice.

Collector Freaks Forum

Help Support Collector Freaks Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

moose

Super Freak
CF Supporter
Joined
Aug 26, 2010
Messages
3,051
Reaction score
25
Hello fellow collectors,

I guess the title kind of gives you an idea of what has happened to me. This morning I went on my storage locker after two and a half month hiatus only to discover that I had been broken in to and items stolen.

The thief had brooken the lock on my replaced it with another locked and taken off with half my stuff. He got my iron man diecast , hulk buster , Hulk, Star wars, marvel lots of stuff. Keep in mind this place had 3 layers of security. Key pad to get passed the gate , key pad to get passed the elevator, and thr lock on the storage unit.

I called the police and they came took pics and thr manager said he will look the video to see what he can find.

I was losing hope I called the local comic and toy stores to see if anybody tried to pawn off any items recently. But had reported it.

In the afternoon i returned to my locked and was search through my stuff to try and take account as to what was taken. I noticed that they left several brown shipping boxing behind. On hope and a prayer and hunch I typed in one of he items in ebay.

2nd listing was my item !!! In my city !!!

Looked at his items found the rest dude had sold 11 items and was currently listing 7 more.

He even took pics of the stuff in another storage facility and some I his bedroom were I can see in the back ground rest if my stuff.

I contact thr police and updated them with this info . The detective assigned to my case will reach out to me tomorrow. Fortunately since they are using ebay there is an electronic trail and he did not sell it in some back alley.

They told me not to do anything and they will get the warrants to get the ip address and catch this #@^#^$.

my question is two parts recovery of my stolen items that were sold on ebay can I get them back.

And I want to purse legal action against this crappy storage unit . Their insurance payout is 5000 . Which is ridiculous my stuff is worth more then that. We suspect it was noeghour in the unit next to me that stole this stuff but they are review the tapes.

This piece of crap place is relying on the store manager to review the tapes rather the have a dedicated loss prevention team handle it.

I want to purse legal action against them. I was scattered when I saw thst my key would not open the locked I was always scared my stuff will get stolen . If somebody knew what I had in there and it eventually happened.

Let me know what you guys think I should take as the next steps?

Thanks ,
Sherif
 
Don’t do anything hasty. Listen to the detective and wait until the police conclude their investigation. Even contacting eBay at this stage may tip off the thief if his listings get flagged for suspected stolen merchandise. Let the police do their job and be patient (easier said than done). As you said, eBay has a trail so that makes it much more likely they’ll be able to catch the thief and press charges. No idea if getting your items back is possible but I would hope eBay’s buyer protection policy would refund the buyers if they returned the items to you.

Threatening the storage facility with legal action will likely only make them less helpful to the investigation. You’ll probably want a lawyer to review the storage locker rental agreement you signed as it may prevent you from taking certain actions against them. If it was another renter, they likely had the right to be there with cutting your lock being the only wrongdoing there, which is obviously a crime but not one the locker company is likely liable for a lack of security on their part. The police would likely have a better idea about that as well.

Be cooperative with the police. Going rogue and doing your own thing will only muddy the situation. It will certainly take time. If you want them to nail the crook, let them do their thing. Any documentation you can scrounge up for your items you purchased would likely be the best thing you can do to help right now. Receipts, pictures, info on any edition numbers or certificates of authenticity (if applicable) could help identify the items as yours. I’m sure the police have already told you something similar.

Really sorry to hear this happened. Certainly a risk no matter if these items are in our homes or in storage. Really curious to hear how they knew to hit your locker or if they were just hitting lockers and random and got really lucky with your locker. Hopefully you’ll be able to get back our replace your items.
 
Thanks for advice I only watching the guy on ebay . I don't intend to confront him as I have no idea what he would do.

We are suspecting it's my neighbor in the next unit as he moved out end of August. Do he might have peaked over i had a this tempted him.

Still for him to match this planning obvious he didn't know how to sell this stuff . It's not something he can just pawn of easily in some back alley.

I am thankfully he did not go thr Facebook market place route as thst would be harder to trace .

But as u said using ebay creates an electronic trail. I am hoping the police can get him before he sells the rest if my stuff.

I am hopeful I can recover them and the items that were stolen. It's mine sale of stolen merchandise is illegal I want it back.

As for the storage facility I want to pursue legal action . 3 layers of protection and this is the they can do. And to top it off thr store manager is review the tape is between his work. We're is the dedicated loss and.prevention team. They should be review the tape and getting back to me.

I thank God I was able to find this @@fg on ebay other wise it would be a lost cause or at least take longer.
 
Buy one of his items and select "local pickup"... Sorry, I'm binge watching Dexter, so that's where my mind went. Seriously though, as tempting as that would be, let the police do their job and see where that leads you. Once that part is settled, I'd follow the advice above about getting a lawyer to look at the rental agreement and consider pursuing action against the storage facility. Good luck!
 
Hey guys I need some advice the police have yet to view the video and issue a warrant mean while the thieves have posted more things ebay.

I am not sure what I should do at this point should I bid on my own items or report then account to ebay I am not sure whst I can do. And advice would be greatly appreciated
 
Hey guys I need some advice the police have yet to view the video and issue a warrant mean while the thieves have posted more things ebay.

I am not sure what I should do at this point should I bid on my own items or report then account to ebay I am not sure whst I can do. And advice would be greatly appreciated

You have the option to buy and meet locally? Perhaps do that and plan the meet near a local police station and call 911 while your in route to meet the seller and tell them you need an officer there immediately.
 
You have the option to buy and meet locally? Perhaps do that and plan the meet near a local police station and call 911 while your in route to meet the seller and tell them you need an officer there immediately.
Respectfully, I don't think 911 can be used to perform a sting operation on stolen property. If going that route, I'd try to coordinate that with the police you're working with already. No idea if they'd do something like that but trying to get them there via a 911 call will probably get you in more trouble than it will solve. Again, my opinion and perspective.
 
Respectfully, I don't think 911 can be used to perform a sting operation on stolen property. If going that route, I'd try to coordinate that with the police you're working with already. No idea if they'd do something like that but trying to get them there via a 911 call will probably get you in more trouble than it will solve. Again, my opinion and perspective.
The reason I suggest this is because my girl had this happen with someone who stole her Apple earbuds. She tracked them to a house and called 911 and told them she was going to go retrieve her stolen property and wanted a police officer there in case anything were to happen to her. They did end up responding to the residence, this may be different from city to city tho and probably depends on how busy they are at the time.
 
The reason I suggest this is because my girl had this happen with someone who stole her Apple earbuds. She tracked them to a house and called 911 and told them she was going to go retrieve her stolen property and wanted a police officer there in case anything were to happen to her. They did end up responding to the residence, this may be different from city to city tho and probably depends on how busy they are at the time.
Fair enough. I'm surprised they responded and wonder if it might've helped that she was female? Whatever the approach, I hope these scumbags are found and prosecuted.
 
You have the option to buy and meet locally? Perhaps do that and plan the meet near a local police station and call 911 while your in route to meet the seller and tell them you need an officer there immediately.
I asked the detective about that he said we are not CSI we don't do that. I could have never imagined the police behaving like this. All I hear from him is protocol and I am trying to go around the protocol. The case should be straight forward with the video and thieves ID and yet this is the response it a joke.
 
I asked the detective about that he said we are not CSI we don't do that. I could have never imagined the police behaving like this. All I hear from him is protocol and I am trying to go around the protocol. The case should be straight forward with the video and thieves ID and yet this is the response it a joke.
This is our system and unfortunately, it moves slowwly (unless the crime is really serious). I know if you interfere in their investigation, they will not look kindly upon you and move even slower. You'll just have to be patient. It would be nice if you could get with the financial institution, pay for your own stuff back and then after you receive it, have the F.I. snatch the money back from the person's account back to yours but that isn't going to happen.
 
This is our system and unfortunately, it moves slowwly (unless the crime is really serious). I know if you interfere in their investigation, they will not look kindly upon you and move even slower. You'll just have to be patient. It would be nice if you could get with the financial institution, pay for your own stuff back and then after you receive it, have the F.I. snatch the money back from the person's account back to yours but that isn't going to happen.
Like use a credit card for the purchase and inform them that these are stolen goods?
 
Police solve like 12% of thefts. Don't wait for them or rely on them, they literally won't help. If you want your stuff back, buy it back with local pick up and then do a PayPal/credit card fraud claim. Or buy it from a repuyable seller and keep your receipts. I personally would avoid buying directly from the thief.

Do go after the storage place or file on your own insurance if possible. Keep any receipts of replaced items. If (big if) the law ever catches up with the thief, you can get restitution from the thief. If you get an insurance payout, restitution will be actual loss minus the payout.
 
Back
Top