A wildlife photographer was robbed at gunpoint while out photographing in the Oakland Hills area of California. He lost all of his valuable personal possessions, including the camera that he was using at the time.
Nature photographer Jim Roach told KTVU that he was followed by three masked thieves after parking his car around dawn near Joaquin Miller Road and Skyline Boulevard. He had been preparing to hike and take wildlife and landscape photographs.
“A guy ran up to me and stuck a gun in my ribs and said, ‘Give me your wallet,’” Roach said. “Then they said, ‘Give me your phone,’ and then I couldn’t find my phone, and they got angry, and they looked in my car for the phone, and they found my camera.”
Jim Roach has gained a following on @nextdoor for his wildlife photography. Admirers say his images are a welcome relief from the doom & gloom on social media. But Roach was robbed of his camera at gunpoint in the Oakland hills. He speaks out, 5,6,7 p.m. @KTVU pic.twitter.com/HWx1VzGY8k
— Henry K. Lee (@henrykleeKTVU) June 5, 2023
Roach says that the thieves appeared to be young kids and generously says that “they are victims too”. However, he also issued a warning that they would likely strike again.
Photographers in the San Francisco and Oakland Bay areas have been targeted by thieves for some time now. Several of the thefts have been armed. If you go out alone, particularly before dawn or after dark, you could be a target. Thieves know that camera equipment is expensive, can be sold on easily, is usually insured so owners won’t hesitate to give it up in a fight, and is rarely tagged with GPS and tracking devices. All in all, photographers and filmmakers are easy targets.
Jim Roach, however, is undeterred and says that he will be out doing what he loves again soon. “I’m not going to let crooks stop me from doing what I do. I’d go right out and do it again,” he says.
A Go Fund Me has been set up to help raise funds to replace Jim’s camera equipment.
[Via KTVU]
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