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Vancouver not perfect, television crew finds

  


Linda Nguyen
VancouverSun.com
Friday, May 18, 2007


Call it an ironic twist of fate.

A Boston television crew in town since Tuesday filming a documentary about how Vancouver is a great place to live and visit has become the city's latest break-in victim.

The crew from WCVB-TV5's Chronicle, a television news magazine, parked their unmarked grey rental SUV in the 2700 block of Arbutus in Kitsilano Wednesday around 2 p.m.

They went inside a coffee shop to wait for their next interviewee and when they came out, they discovered thieves had stolen two video cameras, one with high-definition capabilities worth $50,000 and the other valued at $8,000, from the SUV.

"The only thing that separated us from the SUV was a pane of glass," said Tom Piper from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, who is travelling with the crew on the collaborative project with the university.

"It was so professionally done that we suspect we were followed and targeted. The SUV showed no signs of forced entry at all."

Piper said the vehicle's lock was picked, but no windows smashed.

The thieves knew what they wanted to take and just took the cameras, turning up their noses at a handful of purses and wallets left behind.

He said the SUV was parked right in front of the coffee shop. The crew was only inside for 30 minutes.

"We were watching the van the whole time," Piper said. "We were standing right next to it. Nobody saw anybody walk away with the cameras."

The film crew is producing a special half-hour documentary, and is interviewing high-profile Vancouver residents like Larry Beasley, a former city planner, and Mike Harcourt, former city mayor and premier.

They'll also be touring neighbourhoods.

According to a news release, the documentary will be used as an "exploration to help shape the future of metropolitan Boston" and will "examine how Boston can address the challenges ahead drawing on lessons learned from key cities around the world."

Piper said the whole incident has left a bad taste in their mouths.

"The police think that this was a random act of kindness," he said. "But I was scared. I was worried about what would've happened if we stepped in on them robbing us."

Anyone with information is asked to contact police at 604- 717-3535 or anonymously at 1-800-222-TIPS.

lnguyen@png.canwest.com

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