A self-storage owner in Rural Hall, N.C., admitted to a local television station the security cameras perched atop his facility are fake.
David Spainhour, the owner of Five Star Self-Storage, said the camera at the front gate is legitimate, but the other eight devices that look like cameras are nothing more than empty-box decoys. The source reported this practice is not illegal but is also not common among area facilities, contrary to Spainhour's perception that other places do the same thing. He told the source he read about using fake cameras in an industry magazine.
Spainhour also revealed he tells customers about the fake cameras only if they ask. A tenant recently had $50,000 worth of jewelry and perfume stolen, which prompted her to ask if the cameras caught footage of the thieves. After she learned the cameras were fake, Spainhour offered the tenant a month of free storage, valued at $90, to compensate. The tenant bristled at the offer.
Rural Hall is 12 miles north of Winston-Salem.
