WATCH: ‘Inside Edition’ Crew Robbed While Covering San Francisco Crime

Inside Edition, who had been reporting on San Francisco Bay Area crime, became victims of the very crimes they were reporting on.

Inside Edition employees took video footage of themselves hiding GPS trackers inside valuable items placed inside a vehicle parked in an area with a high theft rate to report on the “smash and grab” robberies taking place there.

Crew members placed trackers inside a purse and a $250 speaker and set up video cameras inside the vehicle to capture footage in case thieves stole the items.

The cameras eventually spotted two people robbing the vehicle, with one man breaking the vehicle’s back window and reaching for a handbag. The man eventually tossed the purse to a woman sitting nearby before he removed the speaker, according to the video.

The reporters and crew eventually tracked down the items and the people who allegedly stole them.

But while the reporters had been confronting the man who allegedly stole the items, thieves broke into their unattended vehicle and stole thousands of dollars of video equipment.

“Smash and grab” robberies are quite common in the San Francisco Bay Area. In 2017, more than 31,000 Bay Area residents reported incidents where thieves used the “smash and grab” method to break into their cars, the San Francisco Chronicle reported. The city is also one of the top cities in the nation for property crimes.