BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KERO) \u2014 A Bakersfield family says they lost nearly all their belongings after a break-in at a local storage facility, raising questions about security and who is responsible when theft occurs.<\/p>\n
Brian Weirenger said his family had stored everything they owned in a unit at Darrell\u2019s Storage on Columbus Street while relocating from Tennessee back to California. <\/p>\n
When they returned, he said, their property was gone.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was our whole home,\u201d Weirenger said. \u201cWe were transitioning from Tennessee back to California it was everything we had.\u201d<\/p>\n
Weirenger claims thieves broke into the unit and removed items including personal belongings and family heirlooms.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt seems like their cameras don\u2019t work. They\u2019re not checking the property, and we don\u2019t know how long someone had access,\u201d he said. \u201cIt could\u2019ve been days or even weeks we just don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n
His sister-in-law, Emily Yep, said she discovered signs of damage when she opened the unit, including debris and what appeared to be evidence of forced entry.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou can see where everything was torn through,\u201d Yep said. \u201cThere\u2019s even blood on the ceiling in both our unit and the neighboring one from where they cut themselves getting in. Anyone looking at it can tell something happened.\u201d<\/p>\n
Yep also said she was not directly notified of the incident and instead learned about it from a neighboring tenant.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey already had knowledge that her unit had been breached,\u201d she said. \u201cThey knew that was my sister\u2019s artwork.\u201d<\/p>\n
According to Bakersfield police, there have been 48 burglaries and 14 thefts reported at Darrell\u2019s Storage locations citywide between 2023 and 2026. <\/p>\n
While those numbers may appear limited, concerns remain about unreported incidents and the emotional impact on victims.<\/p>\n
\u201cStuff that meant a lot to me and my sister these are my nieces and nephews that got violated too,\u201d Yep said. \u201cI can\u2019t imagine not giving a family the chance to secure their possessions.\u201d<\/p>\n
Darrell\u2019s Storage did not respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n
The company\u2019s rental agreement states that tenants store their property at their own risk under a \u201cRelease of Liability\u201d clause.<\/p>\n
Legal experts say such clauses do not necessarily eliminate responsibility.<\/p>\n
\u201cEven if you sign a contract saying you\u2019re responsible, there\u2019s still a line when it comes to negligence,\u201d said criminal defense attorney Mark Anthony Raimondo. \u201cIf a facility claims it has working cameras or security and they don\u2019t, or they fail to provide what they advertise, there could be a legal claim.\u201d<\/p>\n
For Weirenger, the issue goes beyond the loss of property.<\/p>\n
\u201cJust be more transparent,\u201d he said. \u201cLet people know what\u2019s going on so they can make that decision at the time.\u201d<\/p>\n
The case serves as a reminder for consumers to review storage facility policies, consider purchasing insurance, and research a company\u2019s history before renting a unit.<\/p>\n
Stay in Touch with Us Anytime, Anywhere:<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KERO) \u2014 A Bakersfield family says they lost nearly all their belongings after a break-in at…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":254997,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[151,155,153,152,162],"class_list":["post-254996","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-bakersfield","tag-bakersfield","tag-bakersfield-downtown","tag-bakersfield-headlines","tag-bakersfield-news","tag-kern-county-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/254996","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=254996"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/254996\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/254997"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=254996"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=254996"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=254996"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}