After thieves stole $1 million in CBS cameras, network sues security service who failed to protect them
Golf Culture

After thieves stole $1 million in CBS cameras, network sues security service who failed to protect them

FARMINGDALE, NY - May 16: Brooks Koepka hits his tee shot on the eighth hole during the first round of the 101st PGA Championship held at Bethpage Black Golf Course on May 16, 2019 in Farmingdale, New York. (Photo by Darren Carroll/PGA of America)
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At the 2019 PGA Championship at Bethpage Black on Long Island in New York, thousands upon thousands of rowdy fans made the first modern PGA Championship in May quite an affair. The event apparently brought out some people who crossed the line from rowdy to criminal.

Thieves apparently stole 64 cameras and other equipment belonging to CBS Sports on May 20, the day after the PGA Championship and after rain had saturated the property and left it muddy thanks to the throngs trudging around the course.

Now, CBS is suing the security company, Contemporary Services Corp. of California, hired to protect their equipment.

In the suit filed in federal court in Brooklyn, CBS alleges security guards assigned to watch over the cameras simply watched people rummaging in the area with the equipment as they used large duffel bags to steal the equipment and load it into vehicles.

Upon returning to the course, the New York Post reports, CBS Sports employees found the cameras missing. The employees believe the robbers must have made plenty of noise because of the violent nature by which cameras were removed from stanchions and the volume of then-damaged equipment strewn about the staging area.

The filing claims the thieves “would have needed substantial time to steal a large number of separate pieces of bulky camera equipment in this manner” and “would have created substantial noise and should have attracted the attention of personnel."

CBS Sports is seeking $987,243.74 in damages Contemporary Services Corp., alleging negligence.

Brooks Koepka finished atop the 2019 PGA Championship leaderboard, successfully defending his title with a two-shot victory over Dustin Johnson.

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Ryan Ballengee

Ryan Ballengee is the founder, owner and operator of Golf News Net.

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