Chicago TV news crew robbed at gunpoint while reporting on robberies
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.
Godinez said the news crew was filming a story about robberies in the West Town community that was slated to run on the morning news. He said the footage they shot was in the stolen camera, and the story never made it on the air.
String of robberies and armed carjackings reported across the city https://t.co/6xd63B5krF pic.twitter.com/rX5H2iJm6N
— CBS Chicago (@cbschicago) August 28, 2023
Chicago police identified the victims as a 28-year-old man and 42-year-old man. Police said the pair was outside when the three men drove up in a gray sedan and black SUV. After the armed robbers took items from the news crew they fled in their vehicles.
No injuries were reported and no one is in custody, police said.
Godinez said Univision Chicago, the local TV affiliate of international media company TelevisaUnivision, is not disclosing the names of the reporter and photographer to protect their privacy.
"They're OK, and we're working on it together as a team," he said.
The latest incident was the second robbery this month involving a Chicago news crew, after a WLS-TV photographer was assaulted and robbed on Aug. 8 while preparing to cover a weekday afternoon news conference on Chicago's West Side, the station reported.
The robberies prompted the National Association of Broadcast Employees and Technicians Local 41, which represents TV photographers in Chicago, to warn about the growing safety threats to those who cover the news.
"Our news photographers and reporters provide a very important public service in keeping our community informed. We are committed to making sure that their safety comes first," Raza Siddiqui, president of the union local, said in a statement.
Siddiqui told the Chicago Sun-Times that some of the news stations affiliated with the union planned to take additional safety steps, including assigning security to some TV crews.
He said the union is arranging a safety meeting for members to "voice some of their concerns that they may have from the streets" and to determine what the union can do to provide support for its members.
CBS Chicago tracked at least seven robberies Sunday night into Monday morning across several neighborhoods in the city, including the robbery of the Univision reporter and photographer. There were also at least two carjackings reported overnight in Wicker Park and West Town, the station reported.
Police noted that some of the victims were injured because they fought back, CBS Chicago reported. Police say you should never resist. The station reported that police also issued this advice:
- Always be aware of your surroundings.
- Report suspicious activity immediately.
- If you are confronted by an assailant, remain calm.
- Never resist during a robbery, or pursue a fleeing assailant.
- Remember any unique physical characteristics (scars, limp, acne, teeth, etc.)
- Never pursue a fleeing assailant; provide the information to the police.
- If video surveillance is present, save a copy of the incident for detectives.
- If approached by a witness to the incident, request contact information.
- Dial 9-1-1 immediately and remain on scene when possible.