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Storage facility targeted by thieves, belongings discarded in mess
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BATON ROUGE - A Square Space Storage facility in Baton Rouge has been ransacked by thieves. Mark Gooden says the theft at the storage buildings went on for several weeks until nearly all 117 units were rummaged through or damaged in some way.
"I don't understand, they just throw your stuff out and you don't even know what's missing," said Gooden.
The gates to the storage units are secured by locks and barbed wire, but some of the units face the street and are only secured by padlocks. Some of the gates have been opened to allow larger vehicles inside. Piles and piles of belongings are displayed in aisles and thrown around. Many of the storage doors are open revealing items that were left behind, passed over.
Gooden had been storing items for the past year and a half, spending $89 a month for storage. Most of it was old documents, with a few sentimental items.
"Most of this stuff is going to be thrown away, I admit that was stupid I shouldn't have gotten a storage unit," he said.
Other people, like Chereal Brown, say they have temporarily placed their lives in storage units. Brown is currently living in New Orleans and had a storage unit in Baton Rouge that housed her furniture and other belongings.
"I had everything, my refrigerator, my freezer, computers," she said.
Brown says her unit was rummaged through a couple of weeks ago then last week it was gone through again and she says nothing has been done to help.
"When I came back the other day to check my lock, everything I saw had been vandalized again it was worse," said Brown.
There is insurance available up to $2,000 for Brown, but so far she has not had success reaching someone on the phone to file a claim. As Brown has learned, the company only allows up to a $2,000, which was the cost of her refrigerator.
Gooden has washed his hands of the place and says from now on he'll be living a minimalist lifestyle. He does not plan to rent a storage unit again.
The Square Space Storage is an unmanned facility. A QR code on the building's wall takes you to a non-working website and the phone number is also not working. Someone answered the phone for Square Space Storage at another number and told 2 On Your Side they have been approved to go by the facility once or twice a week and put items back into the units. They have not been approved to clean up the site. They could not provide a timeline or a deadline to clean the property and secure it once again.
The Baton Rouge Police Department is investigating.
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