American Self Storage Center of Louisville, TN, Alerts Police to Suspicious Tenant Activity

Police are investigating a crime involving a stolen credit card and packages that are being shipped to and from American Self Storage Center in Louisville, Tenn. Employees from the storage property at 3517 Central Park Blvd. alerted law enforcement on Feb. 22 after discovering a unit that’s being used as a package drop-off was paid for with a stolen credit card, according to the source.

The property manager told investigators the facility received a fax in early February from a man claiming to be an employee of a Houston-based business. He wanted to rent a 5-by-10 unit for “logistical support in the form of storage and redistribution to and from our network,” the source reported. He paid for the $110 unit rental with a credit card, and told facility employees that inbound shipments would arrive Monday through Friday between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. He then directed staff to store the packages in the unit until another courier arrived to ship them.

At least two shipments came in and were shipped from the facility before the owner of the credit card called to report it stolen. The man told the storage manager he hadn’t rented the unit or authorized the credit card charge. He also said the card was issued from his employer in Gwinner, N.D.

The manager told police she didn’t know anything about the first package, but four boxes were delivered to the property on Feb. 16. They were secured in the unit, then shipped the next day from the facility to an address in Pretoria, South Africa, the source reported. A third package arrived after staff learned the credit card was stolen, and it has the same outgoing address as the previous shipment.

The renter has called the facility three times since Monday asking why the package hasn’t shipped, according to the source. The manager told him there’s been a problem with the credit card that needs to be resolved before any additional packages can be shipped.

A canine from the Blount County Sheriff’s Office sniffed the package for drugs but didn’t alert to the presence of narcotics, the source reported. Officers also examined the faxed copy of the tenant’s Connecticut driver’s license and discovered it belonged to another person. The investigation is still underway.

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