LOS ANGELES -- Some brazen burglars stole hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of computer equipment from the home of a Hollywood filmmaker, and the whole thing was caught on surveillance video.
The high-tech equipment was stolen from Bobby Mardis's West L.A. apartment just after noon February 22nd, according to the time stamp on the security footage.
A camera inside the front-door directory kiosk captures the thieves approaching the building and talking to one another.
They buzz Mardis's unit and get an answering machine response.
"Usually I'm here in the middle of the day editing, so this is really weird that I wasn't here," Mardis told KTLA.
He had been away in Northern California when the break-in occurred, undergoing tests to be a kidney donor for his mother.
One of the thieves then uses a screwdriver to force open the front door.
A hidden camera inside a smoke detector in the lobby shows the two go into the elevator.
They carry their loot -- hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of computer and editing equipment -- out a side entrance and take it to a car waiting nearby.
Mardis had been working on a documentary about President Barack Obama, and that footage was on his hard drive, which was stolen.
"It's two years of work... walking away," Mardis said. "The hard drive was the true treasure for me."
The burglars also took jewelry and other valuables.
Mardis has put some of the security camera images of the thieves on flyers that he's posting around the neighborhood. He hopes someone will recognize the men and call authorities.
The high-tech equipment was stolen from Bobby Mardis's West L.A. apartment just after noon February 22nd, according to the time stamp on the security footage.
A camera inside the front-door directory kiosk captures the thieves approaching the building and talking to one another.
They buzz Mardis's unit and get an answering machine response.
"Usually I'm here in the middle of the day editing, so this is really weird that I wasn't here," Mardis told KTLA.
He had been away in Northern California when the break-in occurred, undergoing tests to be a kidney donor for his mother.
One of the thieves then uses a screwdriver to force open the front door.
A hidden camera inside a smoke detector in the lobby shows the two go into the elevator.
They carry their loot -- hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of computer and editing equipment -- out a side entrance and take it to a car waiting nearby.
Mardis had been working on a documentary about President Barack Obama, and that footage was on his hard drive, which was stolen.
"It's two years of work... walking away," Mardis said. "The hard drive was the true treasure for me."
The burglars also took jewelry and other valuables.
Mardis has put some of the security camera images of the thieves on flyers that he's posting around the neighborhood. He hopes someone will recognize the men and call authorities.
