Los Angeles News Service
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The Los Angeles News Service is a news agency owned by Bob Tur and Marika Gerrard. It was created by helicopter pilot/reporter Bob Tur and photographer/reporter Marika Gerrard in 1979. Tur and Gerrard, who have been credited with the creation of helicopter news-gathering, were the first to televise a police chase, in January 1992. The suspect being chased, Darren Michael Stroh, was wanted for two murders. For close to an hour, Tur reported the chase live on a local Los Angeles television station, interrupting a rerun of Matlock. The end of the high speed chase showed California Highway Patrolmen opening fire on the shotgun brandishing suspect. Stroh was pronounced dead on scene by paramedics.
The Los Angeles News Service was also the first to locate and televise O.J. Simpson's infamous slow-speed chase in his friend Al Cowlings' white Ford Bronco in 1994. According to Nielsen ratings, and other television ratings, Tur's coverage of the chase was the highest-rated television event until the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.
At the start of the 1992 Los Angeles riots, the Los Angeles News Service reported exclusively over the intersection of Florence and Normandie, broadcasting live, the vicious attack of Reginald Oliver Denny. Denny, who had been driving a red gravel truck, was seen being pulled from the cab of his eighteen wheeler by gang members, who broke nearly every bone in his skull. Denny was later rescued by four local residents who saw the attacks live on television.
Tur was also credited with saving the lives of 54 people during a freak southern California storm. At the request of a local fire department, Tur piloted his AS-350B Eurocopter helicopter through 60 knot winds, at night, to airlift stranded tourists from 22 foot seas that pounded apart their hotel, the Portofino Inn. Timing the interval of the waves, Tur and his camera operator, Byron Alperstein, made a dozen near zero visibility takeoffs and landings without losing a single victim. Both Tur and Alperstein received numerous awards for their heroism.
Tur and Gerrard have received three television news Emmys, the Edward R. Murrow award for broadcast excellence, an Associated Press national breaking news award, the NPPA Humanitarian award, several Golden Mikes, and numerous other local and national citations.
They have also been credited with locating 9 missing aircraft, including a commercial passenger jet that crashed after a deranged airline employee shot to death the pilot and copilot south of San Francisco.
The Turs have also been featured in numerous programs, including a 2-part special of ITV documentary Police, Camera, Action! in 1995, with Alastair Stewart. The episode was called The Man Who Shot OJ.
In August of 2006, Bob was cited by Israeli medics for saving the life of a IDF soldier during the 2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict. During a Katyusha rocket attack, Bob and his television news crew found a 19 year-old soldier trapped in his crushed automobile. Unconsious, and not breathing, Tur, who had been shooting a documentary for an American satellite news operation, performed an emergency tracheotomy, intubating the man and restoring his breathing. The rescue, which was caught on tape by another reporter, aired as part of a news package dealing with life on the Israeli-Lebanon border.
Marika Gerrard has also been credited for her work in copyright protection for its creators. The Turs through her lawyers have won 5 United States 9th Circuit decisions dealing with intellectual property protection.
Together, the Turs have 2 adult children, Katharine, and James. Katharine is working as a television news producer, and her brother James is a physics major.
The Turs' marriage came to end in 2004. Following the breakup, Robert lived with Star Wars actress Carrie Fisher until they split in late 2005.
[edit] YouTube
On 14 July, 2006 Mr. Tur's news operation filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court alleging hundreds of copyright infringements, leading to hundreds of illegal downloads. The suit is being watched by copyright experts around the globe, and will have far reaching ramifications for new technology that often outpaces existing intellectual property law. Among the infringing works is the attack of Reginald Denny at the intersection of Florence and Normandie, shot minutes after four white Los Angeles police officers were acquitted in the beating of Rodney King.
