SOUTHWEST MIAMI-DADE, FLA. (WSVN) - A South Florida business’ storage unit was burglarized, and what was stolen is worth big bucks.
Antique carpets hundreds of years old are gone, and the owner has his suspicions after this crafty crime.
Farid Khavari said he’s out hundreds of thousands of dollars after thieves targeted his storage unit in Southwest Miami-Dade.
“We lost about $200,000-$250,000,” said Farid Khavari.
It happened at A+ Storage on Southwest 137th Avenue, near 128th Street.
Khavari said someone was able to get through the gates, past the elevator keypad, go up to the third floor and cut his lock.
“When I came there, I saw there was a big lock, which I had, was gone,” said Khavari.
It was replaced by a smaller lock, he said, and the way it’s put on there it doesn’t even actually keep the unit locked.
“All of this was loaded with carpets,” said Khavari, showing the empty part of the storage unit.
He said many expensive rugs were taken, including two antique ones he said were worth $50,000-$75,000 each.
“There were like 15-16 other rugs, some of them about $5,000-$10,000; others $500-$2,000 and some,” said Khavari.
He also said multiple large body toning machines and other equipment were swiped too.
“It required like two heavy guys like Hulk Hogan to come and move that, and at least it was a 5-6 hour job,” said Khavari.
He said staff at the storage office told him they had some sort of issue with his credit card payments, so on Jan. 7, they went to check and see if they moved out.
That’s when they noticed something had happened.
“There is only one camera, which is towards the entrance, of that other part where the unit is, where our unit was, and it said since two years we do not use it,” said Khavari.
Khavari said he now plans to file a lawsuit, because without cameras the facility isn’t as safe as it’s advertised, and he has a message to anyone who plans to use storage units in the future.
“If they put valuable things in storage, they should have an insurance and make sure that every corner of it has cameras, guards, something,” Khavari.
7News reached out to a staff member of the storage unit. Although she did not want to speak on camera, she did share the manager’s contact information, and we still haven’t received a response.
Khavari has since filed a police report with Miami-Dade Police.
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