‘It’s personal to me’: Thieves target man’s comic book collection inside storage unit
By Sarah Fili
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OMAHA, Nebraska (KETV) — An Omaha man said burglars took off with thousands of dollars in comic books from his storage unit.
Police are investigating, but they said there’s only one security camera, which didn’t provide any evidence.
“I was collecting for last about 25 years,” said Chris Renstrom.
“I just kept reading different stories and kept going and going and just kind of boomed into a massive collection,” he said.
The collection was kept inside a storage unit near 129th and West Maple Road.
“Over 60, maybe, to 100,000 comics,” Renstrom said.
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Renstrom’s hobby outgrew his home.
A trip to check the comics on Saturday left him without a smile.
“When I came down here, my lock was replaced, and it had a different lock on it,” he said.
After many phone calls to Public Storage, Renstrom finally got the go-ahead to cut the lock on his own storage locker. The company insisted it wasn’t one of theirs, despite the company sticker on it.
“I could tell right off the bat because comics removed, there were empty boxes,” Renstrom said.
Renstrom said 10 to 15 boxes, containing close to 10,000 comics, were gone, taken from the code entry facility, and locked unit.
“What seemed strange to me was everything was stacked, organized, but there were comics missing. I mean, it was obvious to me,” Renstrom said.
He called police, who dusted the locker for fingerprints.
The police looked into the one surveillance camera in the building, but so far, Renstrom said there’s no leads.
“There’s not a whole lot you can do. I mean, most collectors don’t keep an itemized list,” Renstrom said. “And there are so many sellers.”
To make matters worse, Renstrom said it’s the second time his locker has been hit and the third time the building has been targeted.
For him, it goes beyond the money he’s lost and the hassle of finding a new storage facility.
“(It’s) frustrating, anger, you know, disappointment. I guess for me, I’m more upset because I’ve been collecting for years. And, I mean, it’s personal to me,” Renstrom said.
Renstrom estimates he’s lost close to $75,000 in comics.
He does have insurance, but said his collection is priceless to him and he just wants it back. If you know anything that can help Crime Stoppers. Call 402-444-STOP.
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