Larry Krebs; his film felled Wilbur Mills

February 13, 2004|Associated Press

WASHINGTON -- Larry Krebs, the journalist who captured on film a drunken incident involving a powerful congressman and a stripper at the Tidal Basin, has died at 81.

Mr. Krebs worked as a cameraman for WMAL-TV, now WJLA-TV. His specialty was covering police and firefighters.

He got his biggest scoop in 1974 when authorities stopped a car near the Tidal Basin driven by Republican Wilbur Mills of Arkansas. Inside was stripper Fanne Foxe, who leapt from the car and jumped into the Tidal Basin.

Mills's office initially denied the incident, but Mr. Krebs had the pair on film. Mills, chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, later blamed a drinking problem for the incident.

He did not seek reelection in 1976.

Mr. Krebs also worked as a radio reporter. He retired in 2001, and a year later received the Washington Achievement In Radio lifetime honor award. Mr. Krebs died Wednesday at Sibley Memorial Hospital following a long illness.