A Chicago television news crew reporting on a string of robberies ended up robbed themselves after they were accosted at gunpoint by three armed men wearing ski masks.
Spanish-language station Univision Chicago said a reporter and photographer were filming just before 5 a.m. Monday in Chicago’s West Town neighborhood when three masked men brandishing firearms robbed them, taking their television camera and other items.
“They were approached with guns and robbed. Mainly it was personal items, and they took a camera,” Luis Godinez, vice president of news at Univision Chicago, told the Chicago Tribune.
I really don’t know about that. It’s a $20,000 camera probably, but there is a good chance the rig itself is likely 10 years old, so the lens is likely the only thing they could make a few hundred off of, but that isn’t enough for a 3 man job.
I suspect robbing a journalist and taking their camera is to make their name known. They probably ditched the camera pretty close to immediately.
…or they are going to pawn it for $750 and everyone but the journalist wins.
They’ll have the serial number up on watch lists. Chances are they’ll sell it to a fence who moves it someplace less likely to attract attention.
I’ve worked in TV news. The cameras are more like $5,000-$10,000 and you could easily sell one on eBay for a few thousand: https://www.ebay.com/itm/294894087336
My guess is they don’t actually know what the items were worth, but they looked as if they were worth the almost-zero risk of robbing them.
Generally journalists are considered off limits by most. Most people have more to lose by fucking with them than they have to gain.
Which is why I think it likely these were people wanting a street reputation as fearless.