Thieves take visiting
photographer’s gearKevin Fujii was on assignment
for the Houston Chronicle
Houston Chronicle photographer Kevin Fujii fears the worst after losing about $51,000 in computer and camera equipment in two separate thefts on Oahu.
"I think they're going to give me a pad and paper right now, make me a reporter," said Fujii.
Fujii's laptop computer, which he needs to send digital pictures back to his newsroom, was stolen at Aloha Stadium during the Sheraton Hawaii Bowl on Christmas.
Fujii said he was in the mauka dugout, on the University of Houston side, late in the fourth quarter when everyone's attention was on the field.
"I found the cable I used to lock my computer down, and it was a clean cut, so someone had a cable cutter or something," he said. "Luckily the photojournalism community here is really great. ... I sent game pictures using someone else's laptop."
Yesterday, Fujii joined some friends at a Chinatown restaurant for dim sum. After about an hour and a half, he came out to his rental car and discovered that all his camera equipment was missing from the trunk.
"Even my Christmas gifts were gone," he said. "My Matsumoto Shave Ice T-shirt, my chocolate-covered mac nuts, my guava jelly ... my Palm Pilot, my brand-new iPod (portable digital music player).
"I'm so angry. I can't believe this just happened."
The list of stolen equipment consists of 21 items, including a $7,500 laptop, two $6,000 cameras and an assortment of lenses worth about $13,000.
Fujii also said his newspaper lost all pictures he shot during an additional assignment here, a bikini fashion shoot at the Turtle Bay Hilton for the paper's features department.
"All the money and time we spent at Turtle Bay resort to do the swimsuit fashion shoot is all gone," he said. "Everything's gone ... except for the clothes on my back."
Both thefts were reported to the Honolulu Police Department.
Fujii noted that he thought he would be saving his newspaper money by coming out here since his hanai family lives in Ewa Beach.
"I've got some good family friends, an uncle, auntie, grandma," he said. "I remember I sent my boss an e-mail, said, 'Let me be the first to put my name in the hat for the Hawaii Bowl. ... I've got a free place to stay.'
"Little did he know it was going to cost $51,000."