Police: 2 men break into 100 units at North Bergen storage facility

Police say the thefts took place last Thursday around 11 p.m. They say the thieves used a truck and broke through the front gate.

Matt Trapani and Chris Keating

Jul 17, 2023, 8:54 PM

Updated 375 days ago

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Law enforcement agencies in Hudson County are searching for two thieves who targeted a storage facility along Tonnelle Avenue in North Bergen.
North Bergen police say that two men broke into 100 units in the Extra Space storage facility last week. They say the thefts took place last Thursday around 11 p.m. and that the thieves used a truck and broke through the front gate. They were wearing ski masks and used black spray paint to cover the security cameras.
Matt LaFountain, of Jersey City, says his unit was one of the units the thieves broke into.
"My girlfriend and I are both musicians, so it was a lot of our equipment [that was stolen,] he says. “Our tools of the trade just vanished.”
LaFountain says that he lost eight amplifiers and speakers, along with a large mixing table. He also lost drums and electronic equipment. He says the items were worth about $8,000 to $12,000.
Officials say that the thieves did not bother with the locks. They used a tool to get between the door and the wall and sawed through the locking bar.
"The locks were still intact, and the latches were ground off,” LaFountain says.
Police are now talking to victims to get a record of what was stolen. The units broken into have since been taped shut.
LaFountain says he is disappointed that Extra Space didn't have security to alert someone this was happening.
Extra Space would not comment on the thefts.
"There should be at least minimal security that you would have on a house,” LaFountain says. He says that he will be taking his other items out of Extra Space.
North Bergen police say this is not the facility's first security issue. There have been thefts from units in the past. Police have recovered stolen vehicles from the facility.


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