Channel 4 falls victim to thief

Surveillance footage shows crook stealing from news truck at church

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Seldom does a story hit as close to home for a reporter as the one Channel 4's Tarik Minor and photojournalist Matthew Kinzig experienced Monday morning.

"We were here covering a story and we left the truck for about 45 minutes. When we came back, I realized my laptop was gone," said Minor.

Minor and Kinzig were covering a Martin Luther King Day event at Epiphany Baptist Church on McDuff Monday when the crime took place.

"We ended up inside, and I came outside to setup for a live hot and locked the truck, so I thought, and went back inside and resumed doing what I normally do," said Kinzig.

Little did the crook know that the church was living up to the message on its sign, which reads "God Sits High. He Has His Eye On You." As it turns out, a surveillance camera was staring down at the crook and caught the crime on video.

"We know that being in the news business, that this kind of stuff happens and it does happen all the time. But when it happens to you, it can really ruin your day," said Kinzig.  

The surveillance video shows Tarik's laptop being snagged by a man. During the MLK festivities, video shows he went inside the church fence, cased the Channel 4 News van and realized the doors were unlocked.

This was something Channel 4 Crime Analyst Ken Jefferson said can happen to any vehicle.

"It doesn't matter where the vehicle is or where the opportunity is. Cause we have done many stories where people have broken in churches," said Jefferson.

Channel 4 did file a police report with the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office.