Camera Stolen from TV News Crew Reporting on London Street Thefts

A TV news crew’s camera was stolen while they were filming a segment on the rising street thefts in London.

A television crew for Saudi Arabian news station Al Ekhbariya News was reporting on the rising number of thefts on Oxford Street, one of the busiest shopping destinations in the U.K., on Saturday.

However, the unsuspecting crew later realised they had captured footage of a man walking up to their equipment, taking part of the TV station’s camera, and running away with it, according to UAE newspaper The National News.

“While reporting on the recent surge in thefts on Oxford Street, a street said to have more CCTV cameras than anywhere else in London, something remarkable happened,” Al Ekhbariya News reporter Mohanad Alrawi says in the subsequent news segment aired on TV.

“Our own camera was stolen. That very camera has captured footage of thefts.”

Footage shared by Al Ekhbariya shows a man in a baseball cap picking up the camera from the pavement on Oxford Street before walking away along the busy shopping street, apparently unnoticed by passers-by.

The camera was placed beside an advertising board along with a microphone stand. It is unclear where the crew was during the theft, which happened on August 9 at 6 P.M. The Metropolitan Police have reportedly been contacted about the incident. The crew did not say what type of camera was stolen.

The incident comes after PetaPixel reported on a $26,000 Arri Alexa Mini that was stolen during a music video shoot in London in April as the crew worked. Dramatic CCTV footage showed a car creeping up to the camera as the crew had their back turned, apparently reviewing the footage they had filmed so far.

Meanwhile, last year, a press photographer had all of his gear stolen in London and revealed that British police did nothing despite getting the exact location of the cameras and a picture of the thief.

Theft from a person, such as phone thefts, are reported to be increasing in London. Over 80,000 smartphones were supposedly stolen in the city in 2024 — meaning one device is robbed every six minutes.

Image credits: Header photo via X/@alekhbariyaEN