They Went Looking For D.C.'s 'Sketchy' Neighborhoods. Guess What Happened Next.

Crime, meet journalism and a heavy dose of irony.

A WUSA-TV news van was burglarized in Washington, D.C., Friday while the news crew was interviewing locals nearby, the station reported.

The robbery happened as they were reporting about a "sketchy neighborhood" app.

Image source: WUSA-TV

The crew said they had locked their van in D.C.'s Petworth neighborhood, but someone popped the lock and absconded with "the gear of photojournalist James Hash, the backpack of reporter Mola Lenghi, and the purse of intern Taylor Bisciotti."

The team said they used the "Find My iPhone" app to track a phone that was among the stolen goods, and eventually found many of the stolen items in a dumpster in another part of D.C.

Image source: WUSA-TV

While some items were recovered, many seem gone for good.

"Computers and cameras, we're still out many, many, many thousands of dollars," Hash said.

The ironic theft comes amid criticism that the new app, "SketchFactor" is nothing more than a "racist" way for whites to tell other whites how to avoid minorities.

Gawker's Sam Biddle described it as "smartphone race-baiting," while over at Black Enterprise, Patrick Austin said the app "makes discrimination as easy as breathing."

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