Alex Trebek injured after chasing burglar at SF hotel
July 27, 2011


"Jeopardy!" host Alex Trebek appeared on crutches today while hosting the National Geographic World Championship at Mountain View-based Google.

Trebek says he was chasing a burglar at his hotel in San Francisco at 2:30 a.m. Wednesday when his Achilles tendon suddenly snapped. Trebek says when he fell, he also injured his other leg.

The female burglar entered his room and stole cash, a bracelet his mother gave him, and other items. The woman stashed the items near an ice machine on the floor he was staying on.

Trebek then injured himself while chasing the woman down the hallway.






According to Lt. Troy Dangerfield with the San Francisco Police Department, a 56-year-old white female was arrested and booked on felony burglary and possession of stolen property.

All items except the cash and bracelet were recovered.






Trebek was still able to fulfill his hosting duties Wednesday at the National Geographic World Championship. Three teams of students are in the final round as they vie for the championship; the finalists are Russia, Chinese Taipei and Canada. The U.S. team tied for fourth and is not in the finals.

Trebek reassured the audience that despite the incident, he is OK. He will have surgery on Friday and is expected to be in a cast for six weeks.

http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=news/local/san_francisco&id=8274353

He's a bit clumsy, aint he ?
Should leave the chasing for the overweight cops.

I hope Trebek will be fine to host "Jeopardy!" soon....

At least he tried to stop the thief - I hope Mr. Trebek will be OK!!

Alex Trebek Describes Catching His Hotel Room Burglar on "Today" (VIDEO)
by Nick Zaino
posted Jul 28th 2011


Alex Trebek morphed from game show host to scantily-clad crimefighter Wednesday, when he chased after a woman who broke into his hotel room in San Francisco.

As reported Thursday on "Today" the "Jeopardy!" host ran down the burglar, rupturing his Achilles tendon in the process.




"I woke up and I saw a figure in our hotel bedroom and I thought I was dreaming. And I realized immediately that someone had been in the room and I put on my underwear and ran down the hall to see if I could find her.

I said 'What are you doing in our room?' and she said 'I wasn't in your room, I was visiting friends'. I said 'No you weren't'"

http://www.aoltv.com/2011/07/28/alex-trebek-hotel-room-burglar-today-video/

Just out of curiousity, how far in advance does Jeopardy! (and Wheel of Fortune, etc.) tape? Does anyone here know?

Since then, the woman has been caught and sentenced. I can't remember if she got a life sentence or not? All I know she says that she "regrets" going into the hotel room.

@ Catlover, IDK how far ahead the show tapes.

And Alex, you put on your underwear to go downstairs? Haaay! You better do it with your au natural self. :lol:

I know this is VERY belated...I only just found this story.

I don't know whether to be impressed or to think he was crazy. She wasn't armed...but how could he be sure of that? And, if she had been smarter, she could have told the police or the media a version of the story that could have discredited him...that he assaulted her for no reason, or that she was there for a rendezvous with him (given that she admitted to being a prostitute.)

The media made light of this story and made Jeopardy! jokes.

I saw a video where he was hosting the Geographic Bee on crutches and threatened to "chase out" audience members that blurted out responses. They laughed, as if it was a reference to this incident.

And I saw a video where the interview apologized because it happened in SF, and he said, "Hey, it happens everywhere," and mentioned travelling in Easter Europe and being advised by the tour guides to watch out for pickpockets. Almost amounting to, "Hey, I've been all over the world, I've seen worse."

Jeopardy is currently doing the College Tournament; a contestant on Monday night (the 1st), talked about travelling in Europe and "being accosted by drunken men" who wanted money, and running away.

Trebek said, "When in doubt, run away." I remembered this hotel burglar incident and went, "Wait a minute, that doesn't sound like him!" (Maybe he feels differently about how young women should handle something like that? He does have a daughter, after all.)

I was actually surprised he didn't bring up the hotel burglary story then...someone I was watching with said, "well, he wouldn't, it's their time to talk." But he HAS been known to bring up his own "adventures" similar to those the contestants are talking about.

Well it was a bad experience and it's old news Alex probably doesn't want to talk about it anymore. I know I wouldn't.

Ed.

Well it was a bad experience and it's old news Alex probably doesn't want to talk about it anymore. I know I wouldn't.

Ed.

I see where you're coming from, but when I watched him talking to reporters about the incident, it didn't come across like it was a terrible experience. Granted, he was "on for the public" in those interviews, much as he is on Jeopardy, but I sort of got the impression he had some pride in what he'd done.

Maybe the producers don't want him advocating that people go after bad guys and then they get injured or worse killed and then somebody tries to sue Alex Trebek and the producers of Jeopardy because they could claim that hey Alex was saying it's all right for ordinary people to attack and try to apprehend criminals instead of leaving it to the police. Just a thought. Nowadays I wouldn't put it past some people. Celebrities have to be careful about what they say in public.

Ed.

Maybe the producers don't want him advocating that people go after bad guys and then they get injured or worse killed and then somebody tries to sue Alex Trebek and the producers of Jeopardy because they could claim that hey Alex was saying it's all right for ordinary people to attack and try to apprehend criminals instead of leaving it to the police. Just a thought. Nowadays I wouldn't put it past some people. Celebrities have to be careful about what they say in public.

Ed.

That's actually a good point - and I actually thought it was a bit of a miracle the incident didn't get him in trouble (should I say, "jeopardy,") legally or in a public relations sense. She could have claimed he attacked her, or that he was her "john." Maybe the cops wouldn't have taken her seriously, but once that kind of story was out, it would have been bad for him.

This is the interview I was referring to:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rR9ij3cIQMY

Interviewer: Sorry it happened here
Trebek: Hey, it happens everywhere. It's one of the things you have to put up with, on occasion, when you're travelling [launches into story about travelling in Eastern Europe and pickpockets.]

Kind of like, "Hey, I travel the world, I've seen worse."