Thieves steal boat, thousands of dollars' worth of items from Davie storage facility

'Having the boat in here, you think it's safe. It's gated,' victim says

DAVIE, Fla. ā€“ Thieves struck a Davie storage facility last week, stealing thousands of dollars' worth of goods and vandalizing one man's boat, police said.

Jose Toro stored his boat and work tools at Public Storage in the 5400 block of South University Drive. Toro said the entrance gate, which requires a unique code, was malfunctioning Thursday. Sometime overnight, thieves gained access to the property and broke into multiple units, including Toro's.

Police found Toro's boat days later, but the thieves had damaged the 21-foot Cobia vessel.

ā€œThe motor is completely gone. They cut all the cables," Toro said.Ā ā€œIt sucks. You feel gutted. It's a $50,000 boat. It's a big hit for anybody. I had no insurance, which is my mistake."

There are surveillance cameras on the property but it appears only one captured any trace of a possible suspect.

ā€œHaving the boat in here, you think it's safe. It's gated. There's cameras. There's sensors after 9 p.m.," Toro said. "You don't think your boat, your property is going get stolen from a place like this where you're paying to have it stored."

Roughly $24,000 in tools was also stolen from landscaper Justin Pleiman unit, he said.

"I was in shock when i got a call from police saying all my equipment is gone and my truck stolen," Pleiman said. "IĀ believe they should have some kind of insurance policy to cover things like this from happening,Ā considering its such a large company. It doesn;t make much sense for them not to."


About the Authors:

Terrell Forney joined Local 10 News in October 2005 as a general assignment reporter. He was born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio, but a desire to escape the harsh winters of the north brought him to South Florida.