SDSO Looking for Property Owners Whose North County Units Were Burglarized

If your North County storage unit was targeted between Dec. 2014 and Aug. 2015, the San Diego Sheriff’s Department may have some of your stolen items.

Between 40 and 50 storage units in Cardiff-by-the-Sea, San Marcos, Escondido and Vista were targeted by Jeffrey Kitfield, 38, and his girlfriend, Johannah Rowland, 33, both of whom pleaded guilty to five counts of burglary.

Deputies say the couple carried out the crimes by cutting locks to units and putting their own locks on the units once they had gained access to them.

Kym Davis, a property manager at San Marcos Self-Storage, said Kitfield and Rowland kept most of the goods in one storage unit on the property. She described the thieves as very standoffish. 

"They would turn around and walk the other way or walk inside their unit. Just stayed away," Davis said.

She said they only cut one lock at this storage unit. The tenant could not find anything stolen.

It took the last two months for six detectives, working five days a week, to sift through and organize all the evidence. Sheriff Sgt. Dan Deese said in the couple's unit, he's never seen this many stolen items before.

"We package them on pallets and right now, I believe we have about 15 or 16 pallets of stolen property, stacked about six feet high each," he said, estimating the goods are worth hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Now, deputies are working to trace the items back to their owners.

Dozens of photos of the stolen property, including artwork, china, clothing, collectible, electronics, jewelry and much more, have been posted online. You can find those photos by clicking here. 

A dozen people already reclaimed their stolen items that included expensive crystal china.

Typically, officials give people 90 days to come forward before items are sold at auction or destroyed. Deese said they'll hold this property longer than that 90 day standard since many don't know they are even a victim.

If you believe one of the items belongs to you, complete a contact form on the right side of the screen and a deputy will contact you. Deputies will ask for a stolen property report, or, if you do not have one, proof of insurance, a photo, receipt or other information such as a serial number to prove the items belong to you.

The couple will be sentenced Nov. 20.