A Calgary man who has been living overseas is furious with the actions of a local condominium building management company after his storage locker was targeted by thieves on two separate occasions.
James Cowling says he placed a number of his belongings in the locker in the condo building in the southwest community of Sprucecliff where his late mother had resided.
In November, while Cowling was out of the country, thieves gained access to locker and stole a number of his possessions and items belonging to his mother. Simco Management did not inform Cowling of the break-in and failed to replace the lock on the locker. The very next month, the locker was pillaged for a second time.
Following the second break-in, Simco installed a FOB system for accessing the locker area and installed security cameras.
Cowling says the actions of Simco Management were too late to secure his cherished items.
“I would like them to say, ‘You know James, we actually didn't handle this very well’,” said Cowling. “We apologize for not calling you for 10 days to tell you that your door was ripped off its hinges, and its contents strewn around the whole storage area.”
Officials with Simco Management say they informed Cowling about the initial break-in as soon as they could, but the company is not responsible for re-securing lockers.
Shantelle Farrell of Simco Management said Cowling should have taken additional precautions to ensure the valuables were protected.
“You're angry and I understand that,” said Shantelle Farrell of Simco Management to Cowling. “Somebody compromised your dead mother's stuff. I get it.”
“It shouldn’t have been there, in my opinion. It shouldn’t have been there. If it's that valuable, and he's out of the country with no one watching over it, it shouldn’t have been there.”
Police have apprehended and charged a suspect in connection to the December break-in. Some of Cowlings possessions have been recovered but he says the remaining missing items are worth several thousand dollars.
