A live TV broadcast in Adelaide took an unexpected turn when a man stole equipment during a report on rising crime rates. Channel Seven reporter Hayden Nelson was reporting on crime statistics at shopping centres in the city for the morning program Sunrise.
While filming in Rundle Mall, a man approached the reporter and his cameraman, casually greeting them. Without anyone noticing, he then took one of the crew’s lights and walked away, continuing the theft unnoticed by the crew members at the time.
Explaining what happened, Hayden later said on air: “To give you an idea of just how brazen some of the crime is, this morning after our last live cross, someone came and took the light off our light stand.”
“We have about three lights here and they’ve just pulled it blatantly off and walked away with it. So, any need for security and calls for police were certainly made clear for us this morning.”
The reporter later told 7News: “After the cross, he’s gone to check on the light – the stand was still there but the light itself has vanished and we were both scratching our heads about how a light can go missing.”
“When you’re about to go live, you’ve got an earpiece in with your director talking to you, and the sound of the presenters, you’ve got lights blaring at you,’ he said when explaining why it took time to realise the light was gone.”
“Your focus is entirely on the story and making sure you get your facts right. You are aware of your surroundings and know anything can happen while you are on air but for something like this for happen and for someone to see that and be opportunistic and take our equipment, they might not know what it’s used for or how much it’s worth.”