DC news van broken into while crew reporting story

WASHINGTON (AP) — A television news van in the nation’s capital was broken into while the crew was reporting a story on a smartphone application that helps people avoid so-called “sketchy” neighborhoods.

A WUSA news crew parked on a street in northwest Washington on Friday night. The crew members say they locked the van and went out to conduct interviews about a new application that alerts users of neighborhoods believed to be dangerous.

WUSA-9 reports (on.wusa9.com/1lJavAl) that when the crew returned, they discovered the lock popped out of the door and most of their equipment gone.

Crew members used an iPhone feature designed to locate lost phones and traced the gear to garbage cans, where some of it was recovered.

Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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