A NBC 7 reporter following a story on a boat dumping unwittingly became part of the story when a man claiming to work for the boat owner accosted her.
Reporter Vanessa Herrera was at the spot where a boat was abandoned on the side of a busy road in Mission Valley on Tuesday afternoon. There, she was attacked by a man who said he worked for the owner.
She was trying to track down the owner and find out why the boat was there, as were San Diego environmental crews.
Herrera was on Camino Del Rio when a man and woman approached her and told her to stop rolling her camera. As she was on a public sidewalk, she refused and called 911.
Video footage of the incident shows the man curse at her while she’s on the phone, relaying information to a 911 dispatcher. He then smacks the camera she’s holding.
“This guy just hit my camera, man,” she’s heard telling the dispatcher.
Police responded and diffused the situation.
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“It became a police matter when the incident occurred out here involving your reporter,” said Jose Ysea, spokesman for the City of San Diego.
An hour and a half after the ordeal, San Diego police sent a tow truck to tow the boat. Environmental Services officials said they’ll continue to investigate who owns the boat and why it was left on the side of the road.
