Chicago TV news reporter on assignment to cover thefts robbed of video camera at gunpoint: ‘Total irony’
August 29, 2023
Two
television newsmen who were on location to report on incidences of
armed robbery in Chicago were themselves robbed at gunpoint by three men
on Monday.
A pair of Chicago journalists were held up at gunpoint by three men wearing ski masks — while covering the spate of robberies and carjackings that plagued the Windy City over the weekend, according to local police and news outlets.
A Univision Chicago reporter and a cameraman were set to do a live shot in the upscale Wicker Park section at around 4:30 a.m. on Monday when a black SUV and a gray sedan pulled up alongside them, according to the news site CWBChicago.
The two male journalists — one 28 and the other 42 — were standing near the 1200 block of North Milwaukee Ave. when “three unknown male offenders exited the vehicles, wearing ski masks and displaying firearms,” Chicago police officials told The Post on Tuesday.
The thugs made off with their video camera before fleeing, cops said.
No injuries were reported and none of the suspects were in custody as of Tuesday afternoon, police said.
The brazen attack was part of a spree that involved at least 30 others who were either robbed or carjacked in the crime-ravaged city on Sunday afternoon and Monday morning, according to local authorities.
Luis Godinez, the vice president of Univision Chicago, circulated an email to employees confirming that their colleagues were the ones who were robbed, according to the news site Block Club Chicago.
The fact that the news personnel were now part of the story is “total irony,” the Univision reporter, who wished to remain anonymous, told the site.
“As a journalist, you never want to be the story, right?” the reporter told Block Club Chicago.
A Univision Chicago executive told employees that two of their colleagues were victims of an armed robbery.
“You’re reporting on the story but you never think that you can become the story. That’s not why we do this,” he said.
“So I guess it’s another reminder of how important it is to keep doing these stories and to keep pressure on our local authorities to try to prevent more events like that.”
The Post has sought comment from Univision.
Earlier this month, a Chicago TV news videographer had two of his phones robbed while preparing to cover a news conference on the city’s West Side.
Law enforcement officials have yet to make arrests in those cases, according to reports.
1 comment:
In the greater S. F. Bay Area news crews now customarily have armed, low-profile retired police officer security with them just for this reason. I know a couple of guys that do it. They like the gig.
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