A young filmmaker was just looking to give back to his alma mater by doing what he learned during his time at Garfield High School: help capture footage of the East L.A. Classic last week.
The rivalry game was intended to be captured by Mario Ramirez, who was invited by his media teacher to record the annual showdown between Garfield and Roosevelt High School.
But instead of getting his shots, Ramirez and a friend were deprived of thousands of dollars worth of equipment, and they want it back.
“Just return the stuff,” said Ramirez. “We all make mistakes.”
The thief, a man, was caught on camera snatching two cameras.
“For that person to just take my livelihood away — I’ve had to pause projects,” he said.
Ramirez and a friend had left their cameras in what they thought was a secure media room that was blocked off from the public.
But when he went to his car to get more equipment, he returned to find his camera missing.
“At first, I thought that they had put my camera somewhere more secure, until I called and said, ‘Hey, where’s my camera?’ and they said, ‘It’s supposed to be there,'” he said.
But after a search, the cameras remained missing, and a check with Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum security provided video footage of what happened.
“A video shows a young man standing next to our cameras. I guess he was gathering the courage to take our stuff,” Ramirez said. “He decides in that moment, ‘OK, I’m going to take them.’ So, he grabs the white camera and puts it in his backpack. He grabs mine, throws a rag over it, grabs it from the handle and leaves.”
The cameras, a Red Raptor and Z Cam S6, were worth a combined $60,000.
“It’s more than just a camera; it’s the way I make my money,” Ramirez said. “It’s the way I make my future and now I can’t do that.”
Ramirez and the other filmmaker have been in touch with the Los Angeles Police Department and the principals of both schools in hopes to find those responsible.
If you know who took the cameras, contact the LAPD or Ramirez directly by messaging him on his Instagram account, @mariosaurus_.
In the meantime, Ramirez has been borrowing gear so he can continue to work.
“I remain hopeful that this will work out, in one way or another, but it’s definitely not something that’s going to stop me from keeping going,” he said.
A GoFundMe page has been set up to help him “get back on track.”