A Univision Chicago TV news crew was robbed at gunpoint early Monday in West Town as they were reporting on a recent rash of armed robberies.
The reporter and photographer were filming shortly before 5 a.m. in the 1200 block of North Milwaukee Avenue when three men wearing ski masks exited two cars and approached them displaying firearms, according to the news outlet and Chicago police.
The suspects demanded money from the two men, then went through their SUV and stole a camera, two bags containing equipment and a backpack belonging to the photographer, according to the station and Raza Siddiqui, president of the National Association of Broadcast Employees and Technicians Local 41.
“Gratefully, the crew is safe,” Luis Godinez, vice president of news at Univision Chicago, said in an email to the Sun-Times.
No injuries were reported.
The journalists were reporting on a string of armed robberies across the city, including an armed carjacking of a woman Sunday night in the same block where the crew was robbed.
Siddiqui 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.
Some of the news stations affiliated with the union planned to take additional safety steps, including assigning security to some TV crews, Siddiqui said.
“We want to make sure that we provide a longer-lasting solution that we work not only with management but our members, and make sure that we read some protocols that everyone is happy with and feels can be a workable solution,” Siddiqui said.
Monday’s robbery was the second this month of a Chicago TV news crew.
An ABC 7 photographer was assaulted and robbed while covering a news conference Aug. 8 in the 2800 block of West 5th Avenue, the station reported.
Contributing: Emmanuel Camarillo
