Helluva Welcome Wagon

I have been cursed at by dirtbags, berated by haters, and yes, doused in King of the Jungle juice by one pissy predator. But never in my twenty years behind the lens have I been forced out of a car at gunpoint, made to kiss asphalt, the dismissed for not being sufficiently villainous. Jonathan Alcorn has. Thursday the Venice Beach lenslinger and a Bloomberg news crew were riding along with some paparazzi they were profiling when things went all 1991. Sirens suddenly sounded behind their SUV, choppers jostled overhead and rifles lined them in their sites. "Holy Rodney King, Batman, can't we all just get along?" Apparently not, as Alcorn and company were treated to a full-blown felony stop. It's an easy thing to joke about from the safety of my seat, but living through such an encounter had to leave a welt on your psyche. Just listen to Alcorn describe what it was like...

I lie down on the hot pavement face to the ground / “Spread your legs and Hands out!!” I look over to the cameraman next to me,”Turn your head to the left!” Helicopter circling overhead, more barking out of orders to the next “Perp” the sound man. He’s explaining he has audio gear plugged in, has equipment strapped to his waist. I think oh god, please don’t shoot him.

They didn't, but the LAPD did shave a few minutes off the news crew's life when they mistook Alcorn for an armed robber.In the end, the journalists were released unscathed, but as a penalty for wasting the cops' time, the whole lot of them were frog-marched to the nearest discount multiplex and forced to endure a matinee marathon of Reno 911... Okay, so I made that last part up.

NOW OUT OF THE CAR! (Photo by Brittany Joe via Twitter)