A TV news reporter was robbed of his camera at gunpoint while conducting interviews about car break-ins in San Francisco, authorities said.
KPIX reporter Don Ford said he was preparing to interview residents Wednesday for reaction to a string of thefts around Twin Peaks when four men pulled up in a white luxury sedan.
“The car came up here while we were about to do an interview, three guys jumped out,” Ford told the news station. “One had a gun and put in my face and said, ‘We’re taking the camera.’”
Ford said he focused on remaining calm despite the weapon directed at him.
“My whole thought at the moment was ‘Be calm. Let’s not get this guy excited. He’s got the gun. I don’t. So you take you the camera. It’s yours, buddy,’” he said.
The assailants fled with the camera, but the device — which had a tracking chip — was recovered later Wednesday, cops said.
No arrests have been announced in connection to the theft.
City Supervisor Rafael Mandelman called the incident “ridiculous and unacceptable.”
“We need to adequately resource public safety agencies, adopt better strategies to stop repeat offenders and make clear that San Francisco is not a place that you can commit crimes and put people’s lives at risk with impunity,” he wrote on Twitter.