A family in Lakewood, Colo., is happy to have their Tiffin motorhome back in their garage, but they want justice.
Jeff Sondrup, owner of the RV, says his motorhome was found on Monday at Storelocal Storage Co-op in Englewood.
Sondrup told CBS News Colorado the stolen RV was driven across town. First, it was in Park County. Then, it was in a vacant parking lot in Sheridan before arriving to that facility. The storage place is just 10 minutes away from the family’s home.
A person who owns the storage place thought it was strange the RV had no license plates and called police. Now, the family wants those suspects to be held accountable.
Sondrup says they got their RV back, but it was trashed and even found needles and propane tanks inside. This led them to do an at-home meth test, but fortunately, it came back negative.
Now, the family will be without their RV all summer, canceling their travel plans.
“It’s been a tough week,” Sondrup said. “This is our baby, our second home. We travel on this six months out of the year. We won’t be traveling anymore.”
Sondrup added he is extremely claustrophobic, and flying isn’t an option for them.
The Sondrup family told us they do have insurance, but the emotional toll this has taken on them has no price.
The repairs will cost up to $60,000.
Lakewood Police Department says this remains an active investigation.
The theft is a reminder to all storage property owners to make sure they have updated all insurance policies. “Every RV & boat storage facility must develop a Risk Management Assessment and Plan. If not, this high-income asset is at the whelm of every weather-related event and incidences of theft,” explains Terry Anderson, President and CEO of Tenant Property Protection, providers of insurance products and services specific to self-storage, RV and boat storage.
“Owner/operator negligence in preparing for the risk of winds, fires and burglary has led to the rising cost of Property & Casualty insurance rates,” Anderson continues. “A Risk Management Assessment and Plan is a way to save profits and costs when faced with potential losses. Every good general business property and casualty agency in the storage industry should have a resource available to meet this need.”
Jasmine Arenas is a reporter at CBS News Colorado
