Detectives in Mecklenburg County, N.C., in suburban Charlotte are investigating multiple thefts they believe are connected, one at a self-storage facility and another at a fitness center, both occurring this week.

The break-in at the self-storage facility, which isn't named by the source but is located near the interchange of Interstates 85 and 485, happened at about 4:30 a.m. earlier this week. According to detectives, two men wearing masks and covered from head to toe walked up and cut the lock to the facilitys gate while a third man backed a late-model large sedan into a loading position. Within minutes, they had broken into multiple units. Surveillance video shows them hoisting large flat-screen TVs into their vehicle. The suspects broke into  a total of 74 units by cutting through aluminum doors.

Detective Marty Cuthbertson told the source he thinks the thieves spent at least a couple of hours on the premises. "[They] had free reign to scrounge around and look through the whole complex," he said.        

The break-in at the fitness club, which is 20 miles from the self-storage facility in Steele Creek, occurred several days later, but the club's cameras show the same vehicle and number of suspects. The source did not publish a license plate number or detailed description.

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