DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. — Channel 2 Action News led police to a massive cache of confidential customer documents left unsecured inside a defunct DeKalb County Chrysler dealership.
Premier Chrysler on Church Street has been abandoned since going bankrupt in 2008.
After getting a tip, Investigative Reporter Aaron Diamant found the dealership's doors wide open and was absolutely shocked with what he found inside.
As soon as Diamant walked in, he noticed the whole building was ransacked from top to bottom.
Amid the mess were piles and piles of paperwork, including customer statements with names, addresses, phone numbers and Social Security numbers, sitting out in the open.
Just a few feet away, Diamant found signs people were living inside building: floors strewn with trash, food, pillows, even liquor bottles
Diamant quickly learned that he wasn't the only one inside after seeing a man, who appeared to be homeless, walk through the upstairs showroom.
That's when Diamant left and called DeKalb County Police.
A half-dozen officers showed up, did a security sweep, then showed Diamant what was found on the dealership's top floor.
"I mean, it almost looks like they just, you know, like thieves in the night, just took the cars and ran," said Major Lionel Higdon as he shined his flashlight over several paperwork files.
Higdon also showed Diamant the back offices filled from floor to ceiling with hundreds, maybe thousands, of confidential customer files.
"We're going to have to find someone to secure the building, because there's too much for us to haul away," Higdon said.
Meantime, contractor Keith Thornton, who discovered the documents and called Channel 2, is worried the building had been a hidden goldmine for identity thieves
"I wouldn't want my stuff stolen," Thornton said. "I mean, if I bought a car from here, I'd hate to have my name and all my information floating around out there somewhere."
DeKalb County Police tell Channel 2 Action News the dealership didn't break any laws by leaving its files behind, despite the risk
Tax records show the building is now owned by a Jacksonville, Fla.-based holding company. Channel 2 is still trying to track down contact information for that company.
In the meantime, police have secured the records inside the building.