Wow, what an interesting past few days. The fun began on Sunday when I went to my storage unit at Pack It In in Radford, Va., to discover that my unit had been broken into. In putting together the story from the facility's owner, apparently the facility had seven or eight units broken into, including mine, which I share with Taryn Chase. The theives took quite a bit of our stuff: CDs, DVDs, video tapes, stereo, camping equipment and other sporting goods, tools, even a box of toiletries (I guess the thief really needed that Powerpuff Girl bubble bath!). So my first Idiot of the Week: People Who Steal My Stuff!!!!
And now on to my second Idiot of the Week: Pack It In! After I had been robbed and received little to no remorse or empathy from the good folks at Pack It In, the guy who works there had the nerve to tell me over the phone, "Well, you know thieves will get in anywhere they want." Guess what? You don't have to make it so easy for them!!! Pack It In has no video cameras, they have no locked gate that requires a keypad or other means to enter. They have no one on the premises for several hours a day and the guy who works there never leaves his office to patrol the grounds. The gates are wide open to the public during daylight hours. And Pack It In bares no responsibility for anyone's loss--to thieves or otherwise. Yeah, thieves will get into anywhere that you send them an engraved invitation to steal from you! Now that I have been telling about my situation with Pack It In, I've heard more and more shady stories about the place. My advice to anyone in the New River Valley of southwest Virginia: Don't use Pack It In, or their sister storage unit, Radford Storage, which was hit by thieves just a week prior. I plan to get my stuff out as soon as I can find a place for it!
My next Idiot of the Week: Me! That's right, I am an idiot. I should never have put my stuff in such an unsecure location and I should have had a better lock. Of course, at the time I didn't realize security was so lax and Pack It In didn't inform me that they had been broken into several times, which I learned from a police officer recently. I am an idiot and I publicly apologize to Taryn for allowing her to keep her stuff in my storage unit, which was obviously in danger because of the lack of security at Pack It In.
The next Idiot of the Week: Radford Pawn. So, Taryn and I go down on Monday on our lunch break just to see if anything may have shown up at this pawn shop--located just down the street from the storage facility. Sure enough, a tent, the stereo, lots of CDs, and other stuff were there. As quick as the thief could scurry from my storage unit to the pawn shop, he unloaded the stuff. And the people at Radford Pawn think that someone who comes in with hundreds of CDs, including many personal mixes, some with handmade covers, and a bunch of other stuff is totally legit? My guess is that Radford Pawn knew these characters and knew that the stuff was stolen but accepted it anyway. My advice to anyone in the New River Valley of southwest Virginia: Don't go to Radford Pawn--unless you've had some stuff stolen because it may be there. I've also begun to hear a lot of shady things about that place from other sources including local businesses and law enforcement officials, so beware of Radford Pawn.
The good news is that the alleged perpetrator of the break-in of my storage unit was caught, and Taryn and I were in on the action. An
article about it appeared in today's Roanoke Times. Yes, a crazy few days indeed, and the fun isn't over. Taryn and I are supposed to go down to the police station and the pawn shop soon to hopefully claim some of our recovered items. But before I go, let me give at least one bit of praise to Detective Diaz of the Radford City Police Department. This guy is a character and has made this ordeal bearable. Looking forward to talking to him in a short while.
Stay tuned for the rest of the story as it develops.
