Oakland wildlife photographer heartened by community support after camera stolen at gunpoint
OAKLAND -- An Oakland wildlife photographer whose stunning pictures have been a bright spot for people in his neighborhood had his camera stolen at gunpoint early Friday morning. But he's been encouraged by the overwhelming show of support.
Jim Roach, 72 years young, hikes up to 10 miles a day taking nature photos. His work is admired by a large following on NextDoor.
Early one morning recently he was robbed of his gear.
He was at Joaquin Miller Park ready to catch some nature photos at dawn.
"The gun went into my ribcage and a guy said, 'Give me your wallet,'" said Roach. 'Another two guys came out and said, 'Give me your phone ... I couldn't find my phone and then they saw my camera sitting in the car."
His camera and zoom lens were stolen. The very camera he has used to capture hundreds of photos that have become a rare treasure on the NextDoor community platform.
Roach said regardless of something so negative, "The community response has been so overwhelming. I had no idea my pictures were this popular."
Roach says he is touched by the amount of support he has received online.
"All the love that showed up I was just shocked," he said. "I knew there were a lot of nice people around but wow it was so overwhelming."
He says when he gets a new camera he is going to go take some more pictures and put them back up.
"I am not going to let bums stop me from living my life," he said.
Roach said the three armed robbers were teenagers. No arrests have been made so far.