A photographer who had over $12,000 worth of camera gear stolen from a bar in New York is going public with his story in the hope of getting it back. <\/p>\n
Eric Elfstrom was at the Dead Rabbit in Lower Manhattan last Thursday (February 26), going through some photos he\u2019d just taken with a friend. <\/p>\n
But as ABC 7 reports<\/a>, they weren\u2019t alone; they were being scoped out by a nefarious individual. <\/p>\n As Elfstrom and his friend were sitting close to the bar, he temporarily left to wash his hands. <\/p>\n \u201cHe was right next to me, my bag was on my left, he then bent down four times to see if I would notice or if anyone else would notice,\u201d he tells the ABC affiliate. \u201cAnd then the fifth time he bent down, took my bag, and just goes.\u201d <\/p>\n \u201cMy stomach sank,\u201d Elfstrom adds. \u201cI watched my whole bag, everything I\u2019ve worked for just leave me.\u201d <\/p>\n Elfstrom managed to get CCTV footage of the thief scurrying down Water Street with his bag. ABC 7 notes that he was only in the bar for 20 minutes and the robber, who didn\u2019t order a drink or food, was in there for less than five minutes. <\/p>\n Elfstrom speculates whether the thief followed him into the bar since he had a tripod and a gimbal visible outside his camera bag. \u201cMaybe he saw that and thought there\u2019s something good in that bag,\u201d he says. <\/p>\n Police are now investigating and have security video of the incident taken inside the bar.<\/p>\n Elfstrom\u2019s gear wasn\u2019t insured but fortunately for him, his bosses have replaced the stolen camera gear. It is now insured with Apple AirTags attached. <\/p>\n Nevertheless, the theft is still a huge blow to the business, Elfstrom Media<\/a>, which he\u2019s spent long hours building up. His friends have set up a GoFundMe page<\/a> for him. <\/p>\n