Over $25,000 worth of production gear stolen from Fresno State Athletics

FRESNO, Calif. (KSEE/KGPE) – More than $25,000 worth of production gear was stolen from Fresno State’s campus. The university’s in-house video production team, Bulldog Vision, faced not one but two thefts.

Fresno State keeps the stadium and surrounding sports fields locked pretty tight. So Bulldog Vision’s Athletic Director, Brad Blackstone, says the thief or thieves had to jump anywhere from two to four gates to get onto campus. 

The latch of the Bulldog Vision trailer was cut off, bypassing the lock there to protect the equipment.

“They didn’t even bother with the lock. They just ruined it,” Blackstone said. “They were able to open up and you know, they just had access.”

Blackstone says the trailer holds all the equipment needed and doubles as a control room, to put on the Mountain West broadcast for all Fresno State sports and run the video board at games, among a long list of other things.

“It’s all encompassing. It’s all of the coaches’ video, it’s highlights, it’s broadcasts, press conferences, interviews, whatever it needs to be,” he said.

The black trailer sits outside the soccer stadium during the season and is not protected by a security camera. Last Saturday, when Blackstone came in to start preparing for the big game, he noticed the damage.

“It was just trashed,” he said.  

New cameras, a laptop, a fiber box and other important equipment were gone.

“I was on the cart over to Save Mart, grabbing parts and pieces and whatever we needed so we could have a game day,” Blackstone said. 

While the show still went on, Blackstone put in the first police report and took what was left of the expensive equipment out of the trailer. But come Tuesday morning, Blackstone says the bandits targeted the bulldogs once again.

“Soccer coach found a lock, out on the field cut. Like it was out there, which means either that guy got an arm or they carried it across the field and just dropped it out there for some reason,” Blackstone said.

This time, just a few things were stolen, like a camera charger and a microphone.

“They really didn’t know what they were doing. A lot of the equipment’s very niche,” Blackstone said.

He says the more than $25,000 worth of equipment is not really something you can take to a pawn shop and that the gear has serial numbers and Fresno State tags.

Fresno State’s Police Department’s Public Information Officer Alma Hernandez says if the gear shows up for sale, they will be on it. She said that the detectives are working with surveillance operators and are going through footage and hopes it may lead to a tip.

Blackstone says they’re moving the trailer near the police substation, where there are surveillance cameras to keep an eye on the gear. Fresno State Police say they have ramped up patrols in the area.

If you know anything about the thefts on campus, they are asked to call the Fresno State Police Department, 559-278-8400.