San Francisco Examiner photo editor Mike Koozmin joined a club that no one wants to be a member of Thursday morning: the fraternity of reporters robbed of their equipment while on the job. But Koozmin's case is a little different, as the pricey goods that were stolen from him is stuff he might have to pay for, himself.
Koozmin's place of employment reports that the photog "was walking along Bryant Street toward the Hall of Justice with staff writer Laura Dudnick around 11:10 a.m. when he was pushed from behind as he crossed Langton Street."
Two men grabbed his camera strap and pulled him 30 or 40 feet down the alley, even as he tried to hold on to equipment valued at around $10,000.
“We struggled for a while, probably for a lot longer than they’ve struggled with other people, and they were pulling as hard as they could on the strap,” Koozmin told the Chron.
“You could see the look of desperation of one guy. In his head, I could see he was thinking of Plan B and I knew I didn’t want to be a part of his Plan B.”
Though he held on tightly enough to sustain a jacked finger and injuries to his right hand, after 20 or so seconds of struggle he let go, and the thieves fled into a waiting black sedan driven by a third man.
The sedan; the men; and Koozmin's Canon 1D X camera (in and of itself worth around $6000), lens, filter, flash and memory card were last seen speeding down Brannan Street.
“This is absolutely ridiculous when these suspects are committing crimes across from the Hall of Justice,” San Francisco Police Department spokesperson Officer Albie Esparza told the Ex.
But suspects seem to be targeting news crews all over the place, from a KTVU crew robbed on July 21 in Oakland, another robbed February in Hayward, and, perhaps most egregiously, a crew robbed while live on the air from the scene of the Pier 14 shooting on July 2.
According to Esparza, no suspects have been identified in the Pier 14 robbery.
“It’s very bold and brazen for these suspects to commit these crimes, as we saw at the Pier 14 robbery,” he told the Chron.
“It was morning, there were other news crews and it was actually a live shot. This time it was across the street from the Hall of Justice, which was also bold and brazen."
Not only was it bold and brazen, but it could be a real problem for Koozmin, who just might have to pay for the stolen equipment.
The camera and accessories were "purchased by the SF Examiner and I got a loan to purchase it from them," Koozmin tells SFist, so this crime "leaves me with a loan to pay off even if new equipment is purchased by the company."
At publication time, Koozmin has "yet to sit down and work out the details" with his bosses at the Ex, he says, so it's still unclear what help, if any, he'll have to pay for the stuff that was wrenched from his grasp.
That's why friend Gabrielle Lurie set up an IndieGogo page for Koozmin, saying "Let's help him replace his camera, lenses, filters, and flash so he can get back out there and do his job!"
"By the way," Lurie writes, "Mike doesn't know we're doing this and we just wanted to find a way for everyone who wanted to help out to be able to donate."
Koozmin confirms that the fundraiser was a surprise to him, saying "I wasn't aware she was setting it up and am very grateful to have such caring friends. It is not like me to ask for help so I think that is, at least partly, why she did it."
He also wanted to make sure that we were aware that "Any funds they raise will go directly to the loan or be returned."
And, of course, there's always the possibility that the thieves will be caught, and Koozmin will get his stuff back. Not only did a quick-thinking Dudnick manage to catch a few shots of the fleeing sedan with her phone, but Esparza says that there might be surveillance video of the robbers.
“We’re grateful nobody has been injured, but that being said, we are hoping we can identify who these people are and make an arrest," Esparza told the Chron.
"We will be reviewing any video surveillance in that area to see if we can identify the suspect,” he said, urging anyone with information on the crime to call SFPD's anonymous tip line at 415-575-4444.
