Foreign TV crew robbed while covering APEC summit in San Francisco

SAN FRANCISCO - A foreign news crew covering the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in San Francisco was allegedly robbed while working.

Journalists from a Czech Republic public television, who were in the Bay Area on assignment, were robbed of some of their equipment on Sunday evening while recording near the famed City Lights bookstore, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.

The San Francisco Police Department confirmed it is investigating an armed robbery of a production team at 4:56 p.m. in the area of Broadway and Columbus Avenue.

According to officers, a vehicle stopped on the street, and three armed men with firearms exited the car and approached the group. The suspects demanded their production equipment, and the victims complied.

The suspects returned to their vehicle and fled, police said.

While the police department did not confirm that the victims were journalists, reporter Bohumil Vostal of Czech television station ČT24 said he was among those robbed.

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"Thank you very much for the support we received in ČT news. We'll keep shooting. We are here for the US President's summit with the Chinese leader. And we'll be there (as always) for CT," Vostal wrote in Crech on the social media platform X.

Bay Area television stations often send armed guards with reporters and photographers as a security measure while covering local news.

The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in San Francisco has drawn world leaders, CEOs, and journalists from around the globe, with an estimated 20,000 attendees.

President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping are expected to meet during the summit, marking their first engagement in nearly a year.