Great Reporting....Not

So some media people got attacked over by the planetarium. First the offenders tried to sic a dog on them. Then they used racial epithets at the reporter. Then they destroyed the windshield of the news van, broke some equipment and drove off.

We thought, these are "reporters," you know - trained observers that ask, "Who, What, Where, When, How and Why" and then report it. Leaving aside they're likely left leaning, they still got what we describe as a "wake up call" regarding criminals. They weren't injured and the only damage was to corporate property.  We read the reporting carefully:

• A Chicago reporter and photographer were attacked while on assignment near Adler Planetarium on Monday afternoon. The incident happened just before 4:30 p.m. in the 900 block of East Solidarity Drive.

  Police said the two victims, who have not been identified, were approached by multiple men who got out of a white truck and yelled racial slurs at them.

Okay....they described the truck, so we know they aren't blind and they passed kindergarten. Who did this dastardly deed?

• One of the suspects then directed a dog to attack the victims. When the dog did not listen, the suspect became irate and damaged the victims’ property, according to police. After the confrontation, the suspects got back into the truck and drove away. Neither of the victims were injured.

  Chicago’s WBBM-TV reported that its photographer’s camera was smashed, along with the windshield of their news vehicle. A CBS spokesperson released a statement following the attack:

  “We are shocked and horrified by this crime and we are grateful that our journalists are safe.”

  Chicago police later said that officers were speaking with three persons of interest, though no charges have been announced. An investigation into the incident is ongoing.

That's it. That's the extent of the WGN reporting of their fellow SeeBS reporters getting accosted, threatened and assaulted.

So we went over to the CWB site to see if there were any actual descriptions:

• Three men are in custody after a CBS2 reporting team was threatened and their news van was damaged near the Adler Planetarium on Monday afternoon, officials said. The men are also suspected of threatening other people with a rifle in other neighborhoods before and after the lakefront incident, according to an officer familiar with the investigation.

  Shortly before 4 p.m., a man reported to Chicago police that four Hispanic men in a white pickup truck-style tow truck threatened him and his girlfriend as they loaded jet skis into the water at the Daley Park boat ramp, 3150 South Western Avenue, the source said. The couple chose not to file a police report.

Well, there's the first description available. And the offenders had a rifle they threatened some other people with....WHO DECLINED TO PRESS CHARGES???

But wait....there's more:

• About 30 minutes later, police believe the same truck pulled in front of the news van, which was parked on the lakefront as a reporter and photographer prepared to go live for the 4:30 p.m. newscast, according to the station.

  [...] Officers who responded to the scene spoke with witnesses and the news crew and radioed descriptions of three men, all of whom were said to be White.

So the witnesses and reporters did give a description (which WGN didn't report) but they gave wrong descriptions. At least no one described a "red hat" being nearby when the racial slurs were hurled.

So much to unwrap here.