Industry News


Photographers Robbed of $7,000 in Gear While Stuck in Traffic [VIDEO]

February 9, 2021

By Jacqueline Tobin

Two photographers were robbed of $7,000 in gear this past weekend when a brazen, caught-on-camera daytime robbery took place on the I-80 in San Francisco.

According to news reports, photographers Ben Barghabany and Mahsa Tighi, owners of Home Shots Real Estate and Architectural Photography in San Francisco, were sitting in traffic on the on-ramp of the I-80 when a car drove up beside them. A man in a hoodie jumped out, smashed the photographers’ rear window of their car and stole a bag containing the camera equipment. Another man, identified only as “Alex” and also sitting in traffic, captured the entire incident from behind the wheel of his Tesla 3’s built-in dashboard camera. He pulled over afterwards and exchanged information with the photographers.

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While the entire incident took seconds to unfold, Tighi, who was in the driver’s seat, told officers afterwards that she had noticed the dark car following them after she and her husband had left a photo shoot. Barghabany later told a local news outlet that he was “doing the drone photography and video components outside of the house we were photographing, so I think my guess is that the guy started following us from there.” He added that the frightening experience has forced him to rethink how he stores his equipment in the future and hopeful that by sharing his story, others will do the same.

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“It was everything,” Barghabany said of the bag of gear the robbers took. “It contained a Nikon Z6, Nikon 14-30mm, DJI Mavic Air 2, DJI Ronin SC, Flashpoint speed light, filters, memory cards and some other smaller stuff.”

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Following the robbery, a GoFundMe campaign was launched to help the photographers get their business quickly back up and running. So far, nearly 169 donors have contributed a total of $7,374, exceeding the initial $4,500 donation goal.

Sadly, two more photographers were targeted for their photo gear just a day after this robbery, this time in San Diego.

FOX 5 reported that two men in their mid 20s were conducting a photo shoot shortly before 7 p.m. on Saturday in Chicano Park when they were approached by six young people—three men and three women “in their late teens or early 20s. A struggle ensued and one of the male suspects pulled out a gun and shot multiple rounds at the victims,” according to a San Diego police officer at the scene.

Photographers know to be aware of their surroundings when taking expensive gear to an outdoor shoot, but it never hurts to underscore how important it is to be careful. You never know who might be watching you.