$20,000 in video equipment stolen in Calabasas

During the night of Tues., Sept. 23, about $20,000 in video equipment was stolen from Calabasas City Hall. City council members were the last people to leave the building that Tuesday night, aside from the cleaning crew, and everything seemed to be fine when the meeting concluded, according to Calabasas Mayor James Bozajian.

The first evidence of the burglary was a handheld microphone found on the lawn in the front of city hall the next morning.

"It’s mostly the extra equipment that we have that was stolen," Bozajian said. "It’s not studio equipment that’s locked in place and hard to move. It’s more like the transportable things. It’ll make life a little harder until we replace it in terms of our mobile unit going out and filming things around town, but it won’t affect the broadcasting."

A DVD burner, some microphones, cameras and several other items were among the loot. Some of the more expensive items must be replaced, according to Bozajian.

Calabasas media operations director Deborah Steller said she hopes new equipment will arrive soon.

"At the moment, we’ve shut down all of our field operations," Steller said.

The city will replace the equipment as it’s reimbursed by the insurance company, Bozajian said. The lock on the media department’s front door inside city hall was found broken, which allowed access into the room, according to Bozajian. But city hall’s front doors weren’t damaged, according to Steller. It appears that the perpetrator(s) had access to city hall, but not to the media room.

Nighttime security is usually on watch inside the building. The firm, Secural, wasn’t available to answer questions.

––Michael Picarella