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New Colorado couple loses all belongings when thieves strike local U-Haul lot

Englewood Police investigating theft
Posted at 7:33 PM, Jul 12, 2018
and last updated 2018-07-12 21:55:51-04

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ENGLEWOOD -- A U-Haul pod filled with heirlooms from the other side of the world has apparently been stolen from the company's parking lot on South Santa Fe Drive in Englewood.

The customer, Lia Berman, reached out to Contact7 after being given two different stories about what happened.

Berman says she and her husband, Kenan Aykul, who grew up in Turkey, moved back to Colorado from Florida to be closer to her parents.

"It breaks my heart that I brought my husband all the way here, only to have everything of his stolen from right underneath our noses," she said. 

Berman told Contact7 they placed all their belongings in a U-Haul pod and dropped it off at U-Haul's 2727 S. Santa Fe location, while they were house hunting.

When the couple went back ten days later, staff told them they couldn't find their pod.

"Honestly, I just thought they'd misplaced it," Berman said, "but a week later, they called and said they saw two men pull up in a pickup truck locking my box and someone else's to their hauling truck."

She said in addition to clothes and furniture, the pod contained very important mementos.

"Turkish woven wool, ornaments that his grandmother made, the letters we wrote to each other when he was in the army; they're all gone," she said.

What makes things worse, she added, is that she had scheduled a housewarming party for Friday.

"I thought about canceling," she said, "since I don't have a dining set or any chairs, but I think at this time, more than anything, we need to be surrounded by our friends and family."

Contact77 reached out to U-Haul to ask how a pod could be stolen from their lot.

Jeff Lockridge, the company's manager of media and public relations, sent an email stating: "As this is an active police investigation, we are unable to provide interviews, or offer comment, other than to share that U-Haul maintains a robust investigations unit that works closely with local law enforcement in such instances to help resolve these matters."

Englewood police are investigating.

When asked if there is any security video of the actual theft, the manager said he was not authorized to release it.

Berman said this isn't the first time a pod has been stolen from that U-Haul location.

She said the manager told her that another stolen pod was found abandoned in an industrial lot near S. Federal and W. Illiff Avenue.

She said she doesn't care as much about the furniture in her pod as she does about the heirlooms and mementos.

She hopes police can find them.