This Albuquerque Station’s News Van Was Carjacked During a Report on Crime

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Michelle Donaldson, the news director of local Albuquerque station KOB-TV, may be taking back one of her longstanding rules about the NBC affiliate’s stories, after someone stole the station’s news van during an on-location shoot about local crime.

“I have a rule, that you can never be the lead of your own newscast,” Donaldson told the Albuquerque Journal. “So this violates that rule.”

As Donaldson’s crew gathered footage in Downtown Abuquerque for a report about a local company contemplating a move because of an increase in crime, at least one thief made off with their van.

Members of the station were able to recover the van about an hour later without any police intervention. According to reports, crew members used the on-board GPS system in the vehicle to track its whereabouts after the thief apparently abandoned the damaged van. Donaldson said the vehicle was locked and no keys were left inside, leaving her somewhat confused as to how the thief started the SUV.

“Our entire news crew is a little shaken up,” said KOB-TV reporter Kai Porter. “Our news car was stolen from this parking lot here at Central and 1st as we were getting set up for our live shot. Our crew’s okay, we called 9-1-1 and reported it to police. But it just goes to show you that anybody can be impacted by crime down here in this area.”

The live shot was slated to be part of a story about tech startup, Lavu, and the company’s growing concerns about crime in the area. Instead, members of the KOB-TV news staff ended up being subjects of the very type of criminal activity their report was spotlighting.

“We were doing a story about those concerns, and the city’s response to those concerns when, ironically, we became victims of crime ourselves in exactly the area they’re talking about,” Donaldson said.

Despite damage to the SUV, no members of the KOB-TV news crew were harmed.

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