Record-breaking Jeopardy! contestant Amy Schneider fell victim an armed robbery close to her Oakland home, which saw her phone, credit cards and ID stolen.
Schneider, 42, revealed she’d suffered upsetting crime on her Twitter account on Monday, shortly before she was seen on TV later on the same evening scoring her 24th straight victory on the iconic game show.
‘Hi all! So, first off: I’m fine,’ she tweeted earlier on Monday. ‘But I got robbed yesterday, lost my ID, credit cards, and phone. I then couldn’t really sleep last night, and have been dragging myself around all day trying to replace everything.’
Schneider is transgender, although there is not yet any suggestion that the robbery in crime-ridden Oakland was hate-related, and no arrests have been made. It is also unclear if she was targeted because of her fame and burgeoning bank balance.
In a second tweet, Schneider wrote that she doubted whether she’ll ‘start writing tonight’s game thread’, where she updates fans on what went on behind the scenes, because of the robbery.
‘And if I keep winning, it may take a bit for me to get caught up,’ she added. ‘Thanks for your patience!’
Amy Schneider, 42, made the announcement to her 52,000 followers on Twitter on Monday evening
Clearly affected by the robbery, the 25-game winning champion said it would be unlikely that she would ‘start writing tonight’s game thread’ on Monday’s show of Jeopardy!
The woman with the highest earnings in the show’s history lost her valuables including her ID, credit cards and phone, shortly before she was seen on TV later on the same evening scoring her 24th straight victory on the iconic game show.
Schneider was robbed close to the Oakland apartment building where she lives, pictured
Schneider was referring to her habit of sharing her highs and lows of each game via threads after games with her 52k followers. However, she said the robbery would likely prevent her from finishing up a recap of Monday night’s game when she earned her 24th victory and increased her earnings to $897,600, the fourth biggest amount in the show’s regular-season’s play.
READ RELATED: Disappearance of Polish footballer, 34, treated as a murder probe
Oakland Police shared a statement today that officers were investigating an armed robbery that took place on Lenox Avenue on Sunday shortly after 3.30p.m, close to Schneider’s home. They didn’t name Schneider as the victim, but both the San Francisco Chronicle and NBC News have reported that she is the victim.
Two unidentified robbers — one armed with a gun — Schneider and ordered her to give them their belongings. She passed on their items before the thieves fled the scene, officials said. As of Tuesday afternoon, no arrests have been made.
Schneider will appear on Tuesday evening’s show to win her 25th game, with The Jeopardy Fan website suggesting that if she keeps on winning at the rate she’s currently on, then she could win more than $1million in earnings this week, putting her outside the podium, behind no. 3 winner Matt Amodio, who had a total of $1,518,601 by 38 regular-season games in early October.
With her Christmas Eve victory, Schneider’s hot run has earned the contestant more money than any other woman in the show’s history, overtaking Larissa Kelly’s earnings of $660,930 in 2008.
Schneider overtook Larissa Kelly’s earnings of $660,930 in 2008 on Christmas Eve to become the woman with the highest total in the show’s history at $855,600
Schneider has also been targeted by social media trolls since her recent rise to stardom, including those commenting about her identity. In a New Year’s Eve tweet, she responded to transphobic comments she was mentioned in after finishing first in the winnings for women players
The Ohio native is also active on social media, engaging with her followers on Twitter on being a transgender woman. She knows that her journey as the first transgender contestant to qualify for the Tournament of Champions on the show, where the best players from each season compete against one another, means a lot to others in the trans community.
‘I am from Ohio where the only trans people I thought of were drag queens or prostitutes.’ Schneider told NBC News, although she doesn’t see herself as being ‘special’ regarding her gender identity change.
‘I don’t actually think about it that much,’ she told Yahoo. ‘I was definitely aware, going on the show, that being a trans person in the spotlight could be an interesting thing. But, you know, it’s just what I am, and there’s sort of, like, nothing to do about it. It’s just who I am.’
Schneider has also become a target of social media trolls since her recent rise to stardom, including those commenting about her identity. In a New Year’s Eve tweet, she responded to transphobic comments she was mentioned in after finishing first in the winnings for women players.
‘I’d like to thank all the people who have taken the time, during this busy holiday season, to reach out and explain to me that, actually, I’m a man,’ Schneider said. ‘Every single one of you is the first person ever to make that very clever point, which had never once before crossed my mind.’
Murders in Oakland rose by 70 per cent between 2019 and 2021, and rocketed past 131 in mid-December, the highest number since 2006.
The California city – which sits across a bay from violence-plagued San Francisco – initially moved to defund its police in the wake of George Floyd’s murder, but is now frantically trying to hire more cops to stem its soaring crime levels.
This post first appeared on Dailymail.co.uk
Source:
