ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — A journalist was assaulted and had his phone stolen while working on a story about the vandalism of political campaign signs, the Anchorage Daily News reported.
Photographer Loren Holmes was assaulted Friday amid the peak of campaigning in a municipal election that is set to wrap up Tuesday, according to the newspaper. Police responded to the incident but did not have any other details, including whether any arrests have been made, the police department’s dispatch supervisor, Dennis Lasley, told The Associated Press on Sunday.
Holmes had arranged to meet someone from a political consulting firm to take photographs on Friday at a site where signs had been vandalized, he said. Holmes was approached by a man who claimed, when asked, to be with the firm, the newspaper reported.
The man, who refused to give his name, said he was in the process of replacing the signs but did not want his photo taken, threatening to take Holmes’ camera if he did, according to the newspaper’s account. Holmes, confused since he had arranged to meet someone from the firm to take photos, took out his phone to document what was happening but tripped and fell down and the man jumped on top of him, holding him down, the newspaper reported.
The man then took the phone from Holmes but Holmes called 911 on his smartwatch and used his camera to take a photo of the man fleeing, he said.
The person that Holmes was supposed to meet arrived a few minutes later and said the man who took the phone and later threw it in the snow as he ran away was not affiliated with the consulting firm, Holmes said.
Holmes was left with an abrasion on one hand, probably from falling, but otherwise was not injured, the newspaper reported. He found his phone in the snow with the help of the smartwatch, he said.
The police report was requested but was not immediately available.