Lemoore police, with help from business, identify suspect in storage locker thefts

On February 18, the victim told police that sometime between February 11-18, an unknown suspect managed to gain access to his storage locker, stole approximately $20,000 worth of construction equipment, and replaced his lock with another lock.

With the assistance of officials with Master Storage, the Lemoore officer viewed video surveillance of the area where the locker was burglarized. The video led to the identification of the suspect in this case, 34-year-old Jeffrey Smith of Lemoore. Smith was seen on video breaking into the victim’s locker and removing items.

After serving several search warrants, officers took Smith into custody at his residence. During a subsequent interview at the police department, police say that Smith admitted to committing the burglary and implicated himself in multiple other burglaries within the past month.

Smith was booked into the Kings County Jail on burglary charges as well as several attempted burglaries. His bail was set at $105,000.

The Lemoore Police Department is continuing to investigate this burglary as well as several others at Master Storage and Lemoore Mini Storage. Lemoore police urge anyone with storage units at these facilities or any other storage facility to inspect their units for theft or damage and check the locks.

These cases are still under investigation by the Lemoore Police Department’s Problem Oriented Policing Team. Anyone with any information regarding these cases is asked to contact Corporal Mark Pescatore (mark.pescatore@lemoorepd.com) or Officer Anthony Braly (Anthony.braly@lemoorepd.com) at the police department at (559) 924-9574.