LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — A Las Vegas man is claiming his storage unit was broken into and all its contents, including sentimental items, were stolen. On top of that, he says the storage management team didn’t alert him about the break-in.
“All of the content was gone,” said Mark Dolginoff, who was renting from the CubeSmart storage facility near Flamingo Road and Pecos Road.
Dolginoff says he had been renting the space out for 20 years, and in that time period, the facility changed ownership several times.
“I had a lot of sentimental items that I had inherited when my parents passed away,” Dolginoff said.
Among the stolen items were family heirlooms, cherished photographs and personal mementos collected over several decades.
“I was angry, but I was in shock,” Dolginoff said.
Dolginoff tells Channel 13 when he got to his unit, he could see the lock had been tampered with and the latch that held the lock had been cut.
Dolginoff says he was told by the management team at CubeSmart that they weren’t aware of the break-in although there are surveillance cameras surrounding the property and a pin code entry.
“Why wasn’t I notified? Why wasn’t I told that all my things were missing?” Dolginoff said.
Channel 13 visited the store and spoke with the on-duty manager directly. She declined to go on camera, but admitted storage unit break-ins have been a huge issue for that CubeSmart location.
In one of their most recent incidents, she said approximately 40 units were targeted. She directed us to corporate headquarters for answers.
“If you’re going to be storing for a period of time, then it’s always a good idea to have sort of an inventory. Also, you’re required by most self storage facilities nowadays to have insurance for these reasons,” said Shari Sutton, a self storage adviser in Las Vegas.
Dolginoff says he did not inquire about and was not offered storage insurance, so he had no coverage and faced an even tougher chance of recovering what was taken. Dolginoff filed a police report with the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department but couldn’t detail the loss.
“I'd love to get these things back. I don't know if these things have a lot of monetary value, mostly sentimental value,” Dolginoff said.
Here are some storage unit safety tips:
- Purchase an insurance plan that will offer protection in case of a natural disaster or theft
- Update your contact information consistently
- Provide a secondary contact
