Heather Holmes' purse stolen during live shot at Oakland Police Headquarters

While doing a live report about crime in Oakland for Channel 2’s “Ten O’Clock News” on Monday night, a thief broke into the station's live truck and took the purse of reporter Heather Holmes. The live shot on Monday night was right in front of Oakland Police Headquarters, according to KPIX, media blogger Rich Liberman and SFGate.

Thieves take equipment from KTVU van

The Chronicle is reporting that thieves broke into a KTVU news van parked in Oakland's Fruitvale District on Sunday and stole camera equipment. It was the latest in a series of crimes targeting the media in Oakland. The theft happened after Reporter Katie Utehs and photojournalist Jacob Unger parked their van in a lot at 35th Avenue and East 12th Street at about 10:45 a.m. Sunday to cover an event. When they returned to the van, they found that someone had smashed the locks on the passenger side and stolen a LiveU portable camera-backpack system used for live broadcasting, a laptop computer, a tripod and other gear.

Robbers take news photographer's cameras

The Chronicle reports that another member of the media has been robbed at gunpoint in Oakland today (Feb. 18).

Veteran Bay Area News Group photojournalist D. Ross Cameron had finished taking pictures of a lead-abatement project at a home near the corner of 29th and West streets in West Oakland when he was accosted by two men about 11:30 a.m. 

The men stole two cameras and a lens from him at gunpoint before jumping into a car, described as a Lexus or Jaguar. 

“I’m OK,” Cameron said as he sat in the front seat of an Oakland police SUV giving a statement to Officer Michael Morse. “I’m angry — and embarrassed.” 

Cameron has been an East Bay photojournalist for 24 years.

The robbery is the latest incident in which a journalist has been robbed or attacked in Oakland, including one incident in 2012 where a KPIX camera was taken during a live shot. In response, TV stations have hired security guards to escort news crews.

Thieves in Oakland target both KGO van and the car of news crew's guard

Thieves broke into another news van in Oakland today, but this time a reporter chased them, the Chronicle reports. The break-in happened shortly before noon when a KGO-TV news crew was interviewing the owner of Loakal, an art gallery and boutique at 2nd and Clay streets at Jack London Square.

While the crew was inside the store, thieves broke windows of the news van and a Chevrolet Cobalt belonging to a guard KGO hired. No cameras or expensive gear was taken, just personal items including an iPhone.

Reporter Nick Smith chased the thieves, who jumped into a green Jaguar. No arrests have been made.

This is the latest in a series of robberies and break-ins targeting the media in Oakland. News stations have begun to hire guards to accompany crews while covering stories in Oakland.

Robbers attack CBS5 photographer

KPIX CBS5 photographer Gregg Welk was punched and robbed during a live shot outside an Oakland high school, the latest in a spate of holdups targeting the media.

According to the Chronicle, Reporter Anne Makovec and Welk were on the air shortly after noon Wednesday outside Oakland Technical High School near the corner of 42nd Street and Broadway. They were at the school to do a story on the passage of Prop 30, the tax measure preventing deep cuts to education.

As Makovec was finishing her report, five men rushed up and grabbed a $6,000 camera from the tripod. Viewers saw the live picture being jarred and turned sideways for about two seconds.

One of the assailants punched Welk in the mouth before the group fled in a Mercedes-Benz, which apparently was accompanied by a Lexus, police said. Welk declined treatment by paramedics but saw his doctor.

"He is fine, and he is actually working today," KPIX spokeswoman Akilah Bolden-Monifa said Thursday.

Bolden-Monifa said the station would continue to report in Oakland but declined to specify whether any changes would be made to protect its crews.

Sources told the Chronicle, however, that all KPIX crews covering stories in Oakland would be accompanied by security guards, day or night, effective immediately.

The incident comes amid a series of robberies in which media representatives have been victims throughout Oakland, often in broad daylight.

Veteran Oakland Tribune photographer Laura Oda has twice been robbed of cameras since July.

Late one night in June, a KTVU news crew was robbed of a computer, camera and tripod by several men who pushed their way into their van parked on Redwood Road in the Oakland hills.

In May, a man stole a camera and tripod from a KNTV crew at 20th Street and San Pablo Avenue.

Oakland is a dangerous place to cover news

Oakland Tribune photographer Laura Oda was robbed of her laptop and camera Monday after she took pictures of a mural on San Pablo Avenue. On Thursday, a KTVU crew was robbed in the Oakland Hills. The Chronicle reports that this was the latest in a series of robberies of journalists in Oakland.

KTVU reporter Debra Villalon was sitting in her news van Thursday night, waiting to go on the air with a story about a serious bike crash in the Oakland hills, when several men accosted her and cameraman Alan Leong. 

"Shoot the bitch!" one yelled as the men pushed their way into the van on Redwood Road and stole Villalon's laptop computer and workbag, a camera and a tripod. Villalon called for help on her two-way radio as the men drove off, and station officials called Oakland police.

Villalon and Leong were unharmed but shaken by the incident, one of several crimes in recent weeks in which members of the news media have been singled out in Oakland. 

Cameras, laptop taken

The latest holdup was Monday afternoon, when veteran Oakland Tribune photographer Laura Oda was robbed of her laptop and cameras after she took pictures of a mural on San Pablo Avenue near 35th Street. As in the robbery of the KTVU van, police have made no arrests.

Journalists are no strangers to crime in Oakland. Several vehicles belonging to TV and radio stations were vandalized during recent Occupy Oakland protests, and a KGO-TV cameraman was hit on the head while covering a homicide near the Occupy compound outside City Hall last year. 

Last year, another KGO-TV cameraman and reporter were attacked and robbed of a camera in East Oakland. Thieves have also broken into news vans parked in Chinatown and near the Coliseum, making off with expensive equipment. 

"Sometimes you need combat pay to go into Oakland," said Associated Press photographer Paul Sakuma, president of the San Francisco Bay Area Press Photographers Association. "They're definitely watching their back more than they used to." 

Daylight robberies 

Oda was robbed during the daytime, as were NBC Bay Area reporter Jodi Hernandez and cameraman Rich Goudeau. The two were working on a story May 14 at San Pablo Avenue near 20th Street when a man ran up, grabbed their camera and tripod, and sped off in a car. 

"We've always felt generally safe covering the Oakland community, especially in the daylight hours," Hernandez said. "It was pretty rattling to fall victim to such a brazen attack." 

The recent string of robberies, she said, "has us constantly on guard now, no matter what time of day or where in town we are." 

Officer Johnna Watson, a police spokeswoman, said investigators were "seeing if this is a group of individuals who are targeting media, or if these are just random acts or crimes of opportunity."

TV cameras are worth as much as $60,000 apiece, and tripods are about $7,000. There's speculation among reporters that the gear is being sold on the black market. 

"These are very big, heavy, broadcast-quality cameras," said Janice Gin, KTVU associate news director. "The layperson might be able to figure out how to point and shoot. But they wouldn't know how to maximize the attributes of the camera."

Heightened security 

KTVU, which is based in Oakland, hasn't "made any changes as to how we cover the news, but clearly we are heightening our security measures," Gin said. That includes telling crews to give up their gear if confronted. 

"If a guy wants your stuff, let them have it," she said. "We certainly believe that life is more important than property."