DALLAS — Surveillance cameras caught burglars in the act, busting into more than 150 storage units at a complex on Fort Worth Avenue in Dallas.
Now, police are investigating whether those burglars may be tied to other storage unit break-ins across across the city.
Surveillance video recovered by police shows a group of men in hooded sweatshirts carrying bolt-cutters at an Extra Space Storage facility in Southwest Dallas. Investigators said the burglars were caught on tape breaking into storage units sometime between November 16-20.
"Unlike some that you can access from the outside, these are smaller units that you access from inside a closed area," said police spokesman Lt. Herbert Ashford.
Investigators said the surveillance video shows three burglars roaming the halls, popping locks on 155 storage units, rummaging through and stealing property.
The men were seen driving a white extended cab pickup truck. Police said there are similar cases under investigation across the city.
A couple of unidentified thieves were spotted on surveillance cameras breaking into a different Extra Space Storage location in the 1400 block of North Central Expressway on December 7.
In that case, officers said the pictures showed an unidentified man and woman breaking into about 100 storage units and stealing property. Police said the suspects at this location left in a U-Haul truck.
"If you have a storage facility, give the manager a call... just check to make sure that everything is OK," Ashford suggested.
As police wait for tips to help identify the crooks from both burglaries, they are urging residents who use storage facilities to be on alert, and to consider getting their property in storage insured.
Investigators said they do not yet know whether the two Dallas cases are connected. They urge anyone with information about the storage facility burglaries to call the Dallas police Property Crimes Unit at 214-670-7471.
