News Limited

Ok, I can only describe this as sweet irony. The thief who stole $40,000 worth of photography gear from News Corp photographer at Rio olympics was caught by the same photographer he stole from – Brett Costello.

It was not enough for the thief to steal Costello’s $40,000 gear set, and he wanted more. I am not sure if the next step is more bold or more stupid. The thief wore Costello’s media jacket, probably to get an easier pass through security.

That was a bad call as Costello identified him and called the cops while the journalist he was with kept track on the thief. And what do you know, he was headed for the the press box. Either to get a good view of the games, or more likely to snag another camera or two.

As this year’s host of the Olympic Games, it’s not a surprise that Rio currently contains so many photographers. With a lot of photographers come a lot of expensive kit. This has not escaped the notice of local criminals.

News Corp photographer Brett Costello just discovered this, when $40,000 worth of equipment went missing from right beside him. In a well planned and coordinated effort, it took only 10 seconds for his gear to vanish.