Man Says His Storage Unit Was Robbed and Relocked — Then Police Said It “Doesn’t Happen”

A Wisconsin renter says he went to open his storage unit and realized something was wrong immediately: his key no longer worked.

He explained in a Reddit post that he had recently relocated and rented a storage unit in Green Bay while temporarily staying with a friend. The unit was supposed to keep his belongings safe while he got settled.

Instead, someone had cut off the lock, gone through the unit, stolen items, trashed the place, and then put a new lock back on the door.

He did not know any of that at first. All he knew was that the key would not open the lock. The owner of the storage units had to come out and cut the new lock off. Once they opened the door, the renter saw the damage and realized he had been robbed.

He called police immediately.

That is where the situation became even more frustrating.

According to the renter, both the officer and the owner of the storage facility flat-out said that kind of theft “doesn’t happen.” The officer did not seem interested in taking the cut lock, taking photos, or even asking for a list of what was missing. The renter said he took photos himself because the officer would not.

To him, the break-in felt obvious. His lock was gone. A new lock was on the unit. His things were missing. The inside had been trashed. But instead of treating it like a burglary, he felt like the people in charge were questioning whether it had happened the way he said it did.

In the comments, he explained that the officer told him, “That’s not what happened here. That just doesn’t happen.” The officer apparently suggested the renter must have made someone angry enough for them to do this personally.

The renter admitted it felt personal. But he also said only the friend he was staying with had ever been there with him, so it was not like a long list of people knew where the unit was.

He asked whether he should email the photos he had taken and make a list of missing items. The officer reportedly told him he would not be able to get his things back and that if he wanted to go to pawn shops and drop off a list, that was up to him.

That made the renter feel like filing the report was basically all the help he was going to get.

Then came the insurance problem.

His renter’s insurance would not cover the loss, according to him, because the storage unit was considered an unsecured location. He had thought the facility had cameras pointed at the storage units, but later learned the cameras actually faced the business next door.

That left him stuck. His belongings were gone, police did not appear interested in investigating, insurance was denying coverage, and the storage owner did not seem to want to acknowledge a break-in could happen there at all.

The renter was not expecting miracles. He said he knew the odds of getting his belongings back were almost zero. Some of the most important things were family heirlooms and sentimental items that could not be replaced anyway.

But he wanted the owner to admit something had happened.

More than that, he wanted the owner to notify other renters. Since people do not check their storage units every day, he worried other units could have been robbed and relocked too without the renters knowing yet.

That was the part that made the replaced lock feel especially disturbing. If someone breaks a lock and leaves the door hanging open, people notice quickly. But if someone breaks in, steals things, and puts another lock on, the crime can stay hidden until the renter happens to come back.

He also pushed back on the facility’s lack of camera coverage. He said there was no gate or electronic entry. People could simply drive right up to the units. To anyone passing by, it would look like someone was moving items in or out.

In other words, there was almost no barrier between thieves and a row of units full of other people’s possessions.

Some commenters told him to go up the police chain of command and ask for a supervisor. Others said he should keep pressuring the insurance company and look closely at the rental agreement. A self-storage owner in the thread explained that police may have been skeptical because it is unusual for only one unit to be hit, but still said that did not mean the officer should refuse to take a report.

The renter eventually clarified that he did fill out a statement and believed a report was filed. But he was still frustrated by the officer’s refusal to take the situation seriously, gather evidence, or treat it like something other renters might need to know about.

By the end, the post was not only about stolen furniture, electronics, or valuables. It was about being robbed and then feeling like every system around him — police, insurance, and the storage facility — was telling him the loss either did not happen, did not matter, or was not their problem.

That may have been the part that made the whole thing feel almost as violating as the break-in itself.

Commenters mostly told him to keep pushing for documentation, even if he never got the stolen items back. Many said a police report could still matter for insurance, pawn shops, and any future pattern of thefts at the facility.

Several people said he should ask for the officer’s supervisor if police refused to take the evidence seriously. Others said police often do not investigate nonviolent theft deeply, but that did not mean he should accept being brushed off.

A lot of commenters focused on the insurance denial. Some thought the insurer’s “unsecured location” reasoning sounded questionable and told him to review the policy language carefully.

Others suggested checking the storage rental agreement to see what the facility did or did not promise about security, cameras, locks, and liability.

The strongest practical advice was to make a full missing-items list, keep every photo, get a copy of the police report, pressure the insurance company, and warn other renters if possible. A relocked storage unit could hide a theft for weeks or months.