A District of Columbia news crew reporting on an app that identifies “sketchy” neighborhoods had their van burglarized while they were interviewing individuals who lived in a neighborhood the app identified as “sketchy.”

WUSA9 reporter Mola Lenghi said that he, photographer James Hash, and intern Taylor Bisciotti were in the Petworth area interviewing residents who lived there.

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“We were doing a story on an app that describes ‘sketchy’ neighborhoods,” Lenghi said. “It led us to the Petworth neighborhood of Northwest, and I’m not going to call it a ‘sketchy’ neighborhood, but as folks were telling us that it was a good neighborhood, and that not much activity happens around there — as that was being told to us, our van was being robbed.”

“We got back to the news van,” he continued, “and noticed that the lock was popped out. Got in there, and noticed that all of our stuff was gone. I had a backpack full of electronics.”

Lenghi then turned to photographer James Hash, who said that he had two backpacks full of equipment that he had “built up over a career, 15 years.”

Taylor Bisciotti, the intern, had her iPhone stolen, but the crew was able to use the “Find my iPhone” application to track its location, eventually finding it — and much of the crew’s other gear — in a raccoon-infested dumpster in a different part of DC.

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[Image of Mola Lenghi via official Mola Lenghi Reports Facebook page]