News Detail

News anchor 'regrets' negotiating hostage situation on air

  December 16, 2012.

SAO PAULO, Brazil — The host of a popular Brazilian crime show has said he regrets negotiating a hostage situation on live TV.

Police had surrounded the home late in November of a knife-wielding man had taken his own mother and sister hostage. They negotiated with the man for more than an hour with little progress made.

Eventually, the man demanded to speak with Jose Luiz Datena, host of "Urgent Brazil." Police, and Datena, agreed.

Datena, who was already on air covering the story, pleaded with the man for 20 minutes to release the women, according to Yahoo News. The man eventually released the women unharmed.

CNN reported the suspect was apparently distraught because he had lost his job and had marital problems.

Datena told a Brazilian news outlet he regretted allowing himself to become a hostage negotiator while covering the story.

"I deeply regretted doing that," he said, according to CNN. "It is not our role as journalists."