A woman caught on surveillance cameras is wanted for stealing hundreds of dollars in cosmetics from a La Jolla beauty supply store, police said.

Using her purse, the woman was able to shoplift enough beauty supplies to total more than $1,800 according to San Diego Police.

Investigators say the woman visited the Ulta Beauty Supply store in La Jolla Village Square three times - once on Monday, June 29 and twice on Monday, July 20.

Each time she took her time shopping and browsing through the aisles. Meanwhile, police say she filled a large shoulder bag with cosmetics.

The business values the total loss at $1,860.00.

Anyone with information on the woman's identity or the theft can contact San Diego Police through the non-emergency phone line at (619) 531-2000 or (858) 484-3154.

A Sig alert has been issued for a stretch of Interstate 8 at Lake Jennings Park Road in Lakeside after a rollover crash. 

The accident involving one car happened at approximately 10:55 a.m. Wednesday on the westbound road. 

Firefighters on scene worked to rescue the driver. It is unclear how many people were in the car.

The car rolled over and landed on its side, San Diego Fire-Rescue officials said. 

One lane was blocked as crews worked and another was open to traffic. The second lane was open to traffic.

No further information was available.

The Santa Cruz County District Attorney on Wednesday charged a 15-year-old boy with murder and kidnapping in the death of an 8-year-old girl who vanished while riding her scooter near her apartment on Sunday afternoon.

The decision to charge Adrian Jerry Gonzalez as an adult in the death of Madyson "Maddy" Middleton was announced by Jeffrey Rosell at a news conference on the county courthouse steps.

Rosell said he couldn't remember any similar cases in recent history.

Gonzalez is scheduled to be arraigned on Thursday. He is being housed at a juvenile detention facility.  Gonzalez, a minor, is being named publicly because he is charged as an adult.

Rosell would not go into the specifics of the case. But he said the charges are: one count of murder that includes special circumstances of lying in wait, kidnap and sexual assault, and other counts related to sexual offenses and kidnapping. The maximum penalty for the crimes is life in prison, Rosell said, as the death penalty is not applicable to minors.

Because of his age, authorities have declined to say whether the teen had a record.

A motive in the case has never been offered.

"People do things things for all sorts of reasons," Rosell said. "Sometimes we understand them and sometimes we don't."

A call to the Santa Cruz County Office of the Public Defender for comment on the case wasn't immediately returned.

Attempts to speak to the teen and his mother have not been successful. A woman who appeared to be his mother wailed in front of a bank of TV cameras on Monday night as the boy was led off in a patrol car calmly.

Some neighbors who know the boy, however, said that he is a good kid who comes from a loving family. Even the boyfriend of Maddy's mother, Kirby Scudder, told NBC Bay Area that Gonzalez is a "great kid." Others knew him for throwing a yo-yo around the complex.

On Tuesday, Santa Cruz Police Chief Kevin Vogel said that Gonzalez “lured” Maddy up to his apartment on Sunday afternoon or evening, and killed her, before carrying her body down to a recycling bin at the apartment complex where both lived. Police didn't find her body until about 8 p.m. Monday.

Vogel also said that evidence, including the girl’s belongings, witness statements and video surveillance, links Gonzalez to Maddy's death. He also said the “suspect went to great lengths” to disguise and conceal the body left in the dumpster.

The 8-year-old's death has left many near and far in shock and disbelief. Santa Cruz residents held a vigil for her on Tuesday night and the Rio Theatre dedicated its marquee to her.

Neighbors at the Tannery Arts Center said they were stunned by the death. The center is a public-private nonprofit that includes 100 affordable loft apartments for artists and their families. About 250 people live in the complex, including about 50 children.

A memorial has been set up in Madyson's honor, overflowing with dozens of bouquets, stuffed animals, balloons, candles and notes.

On Wednesday, a group of girls about Madyson's age were crying at the memorial. One girl was walking Madyson's dog, Lucy.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

After a four-year construction project, the replica ship San Salvador hit water on Wednesday afternoon.

The ship, a replica of Spanish explorer Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo’s 1542 flagship, was christened and launched from Bayside Park in Chula Vista to cheers and the crack of a champagne bottle.

The San Salvador will make its public debut Labor Day weekend at the Port of San Diego’s Festival of Sail.

The ship was built in a parking lot and has been easily viewable to wandering tourists for years. It was moved to the South Bay last week.

Built by the San Diego Maritime Museum and an army of volunteers, the San Salvador will be a floating classroom of history. It will host tens of thousands of young students each year, and the educational components of the museum will focus on engaging students in the cultural, political and economic underpinnings of Cabrillo’s era of exploration.

Within the first five to 10 years of her life at sea, the San Salvador will travel to various ports up the California coast such as Oceanside, Monterey, Morro Bay and Sacramento to bring this unique classroom experience to other cities.

Before that happens, the ship will remain docked in the San Diego Harbor for several months before visiting those ports.

The history behind the ship goes like this: Cabrillo was the first European explorer to make contact with the West Coast of North America and to establish a relationship with the indigenous populations. Just like the Mayflower is a symbol for early colonial development on the East Coast, so the San Salvador is for the West.

Matthew Flores asked his mailman for junk mail to read since he had no books at home or money for a bus fare to the library. 

After the mailman's plea went viral, the 12-year-old boy received hundreds of books.

"A young man was standing here reading junk mail and asked me if I had any extra," Ron Lynch told NBC News.

Flores has a passion for reading and asked Lynch for junk mail so he would have anytime of literature to read.

"I like using my imagination. It's super fun and it's interesting plus it gets you smarter," Flores told NBC News. 

With Boston now out of the 2024 Olympics race, Los Angeles is exploring a new bid that could include Bay Area cooperation.

The United States Olympics Committee has reached out to San Francisco’s Olympics bid committee regarding a joint bid with Los Angeles, multiple sources within the San Francisco 2024 Olympic Bid and the USOC told NBC Bay Area’s Raj Mathai.

“Discussions are taking place,” one of the sources said, but "a lot will have to happen in the next six weeks." 

According to the Chronicle, Giants CEO Larry Baer, who led San Francisco's bid to host the games, got a call from LA sports agent Casey Wasserman on Tuesday to ask about the possibility of submitting a joint proposal to the U.S. Olympic Committee in September.

"I'm not saying we are going to do it, but we are certainly open to discussing it," Baer told the publication.

Tony Winnicker, who has worked with the office of San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee on Olympics efforts, acknowledged that the city might also be open to the possibility.

Sources say the USOC plans to vet the unique proposal at the 128th IOC Session in Kuala Lumpur from July 31 to Aug. 3.

Boston's bid to host the games had been selected to move forward in January over those by San Francisco and Los Angeles. 

The U.S. Olympic Commitee ended Boston's bid after Boston Mayor Marty Walsh said Monday that he was not ready to sign a host city document that would force taxpayers to cover any cost overruns. 

NBC Bay Area’s Raj Mathai contributed to this report.

When it comes to privacy and biometric software, Beth Givens doesn't mince words.

"I consider facial recognition biometrics to be one of the top privacy issues of our time," said Givens.

She is the executive director of Privacy Rights Clearinghouse, a San Diego based non-profit that has been monitoring privacy issues for more than 25 years.

Facial recognition has really come into its own over that time. Some are using it to replace password log-ins, others are using it for security, while Facebook uses it to "tag" photographs with the names of people in the picture.

Facebook has said that it enchances the user experience, but it does that without getting permission and that bothers Beth Givens.

"There should be an affirmative yes to your name being attached to a photo," said Givens. Right now you need to opt-out of the recognition program. You must go into the "Timeline Settings" to disable the face recognition feature. But it's important to note that the only people who see the "tag" suggestions are users who are already in that person's friends list.

Still, Tony Elliott and his wife Kari, from Missouri, think they should be asked first.

"I would like to be able to give permission for something like that," said Tony Elliott.

By one estimate, Facebook has 250 billion pictures with 350 million added every day.

Beth Givens says laws in two states along with Europe and Canada require prior permission for facial recognition tagging or shutting off the feature all together.

Givens says she would like Facebook users to get notification every time someone wants to tag them in a picture. As for prior permission?

"To me it's a no brainer," said Givens, "It needs to be opt-in."

A fire truck slammed into a shuttle bus in front of a Westchester casino Wednesday evening, hurting 10 people in both vehicles, authorities say. 

Yonkers Fire Commissioner John Darcy said the fire department received a call to head to 41 Maple Pl. at about 6 p.m. Engine 313 pulled out of its fire station and about a half-block away, struck the Empire Casino shuttle bus, at Yonkers and Kimball avenues. 

The shuttle bus appeared to have been heading west when it was hit by the fire truck, Darcy said. It was a few blocks away from Empire Casino. 

"A lot of people were bleeding badly, mostly the people on the bus," said witness Tony Finar of Yonkers. "Taken out on stretchers, definitely not conscious." 

Six civilians on the bus were taken to St. Joseph's Hospital and Westchester Medical Center with varying degrees of injury, Darcy said. The extent of their injuries and their ages were not immediately clear, but at least some of them were elderly. 

All four firefighters in the truck suffered back and neck injuries and were taken to Jacobi Hospital. They're expected to be OK. 

Darcy said there was damage to the fire truck and "it looked like a pretty significant impact." 

Both police and fire departments are investigating the crash. 

The American dentist who shot a lion during what officials allege was an illegal trophy-hunt in Zimbabwe, has apologized — but only for the disruption caused to his dental patients, NBC News reported. 

Life-long hunter Walter James Palmer received a barrage of condemnation for killing Cecil, who was popular with tourists and was tagged by researchers in 2008 as part of a study at the U.K.'s Oxford University. Protests forced Palmer to shut his Minnesota dental practice doors and disappear from public view.

In a letter sent to his patients Palmer said: "I apologize profoundly for this inconvenience and promise you that we will do our best to resume normal operations as soon as possible."

Zimbabwe wildlife officials allege Palmer paid $50,000 to guides who used meat to lure the animal out of a protected wildlife reserve. He then shot and injured the lion with a bow, before tracking it for 40 hours and killing it with a gun, according to officials.

While kids may look forward to summer break, their parents and teachers likely feel a different kind of anticipation: anxiety that students will backtrack on the progress they've made in the classroom during the school year.

Studies – like this one from the Johns Hopkins School of Education – have shown students can lose about two months of grade-level math skills over the summer. And that impact can be even greater for low-income students: They lose more than two months in reading achievement, while their middle-class peers make slight gains.

Researchers say that could be because higher-income students are more likely to have better access to summer enrichment programs, or even just books to stay stimulated. That's why San Diego Unified's trying to expand a program with proven results at Chollas-Mead Elementary School. For five weeks, kids spend part of the day inside classrooms, and the rest of it outside for hands-on science lessons.

Now the district's trying to find ways to fund a program like that at about 30 of its highest-need elementary schools. NBC 7's Catherine Garcia and the Voice of San Diego's Caty Green have more on that in this week's San Diego Explained.

A teen who was riding his bike without a helmet was struck by a vehicle in Chula Vista Wednesday, leaving him with serious head injuries.

Chula Vista police say the vehicle was traveling south on Third Avenue when the driver struck a 16-year-old cyclist at the Orange Avenue intersection at 6:10 p.m.

The cyclist was taken to the hospital for serious injuries.

The driver was not injured, but a 10-year-old boy in the passenger seat suffered minor wounds and cuts when the windshield shattered. The child was also taken to the hospital, according to police.

An infant in the back seat was not hurt.

Investigators say the teen was riding a "fixie" bike, a fixed-gear bicycle that apparently does not have brakes.

Officers would not say if that played a role in the accident.

Police have closed southbound Third Avenue between Quintard and Orange as they investigate. Traffic may be impacted for the next few hours.

A man found with three guns was arrested near the Capitol Building early Tuesday after he stopped an officer to ask for directions to the White House. 

Steve Randall Oney approached an officer about 2:30 a.m. Tuesday on the 100 block of Independence Ave SW and asked where the White House was located, according to court documents. 

Oney told the officer he was visiting the area for the night and that he was in the process of moving, adding that everything he owned was in his late model Ford pickup truck with a Tennessee license plate. 

The officer noticed a propane tank and what appeared to be an ammunition box in the back of the truck. He asked Oney if he had any weapons in the vehicle, and the suspect acknowledged he had two guns in the front of the truck and one in the back, court documents say. 

Oney gave the officer permission to search the vehicle. According to prosecutors, officials found a .44 caliber revolver, a loaded .22 rifle and a 7 mm Remington rifle. The truck also contained a knife and three boxes of ammunition.

Oney was arrested and charged with carrying a pistol without a license, and possessing an unregistered firearm and unregistered ammunition.

Court documents say Oney said he was unfamiliar with D.C. gun laws.

Presidential contender Donald Trump arrived at his Turnberry golf resort in western Scotland on Thursday for the first day of the Women's British Open, and was grilled about his provocative remarks on immigration in the U.S. by a combative pack of British reporters, NBC News reported. 

Trump, wearing a red hat emblazoned with his campaign slogan "Make America Great Again," was asked if he represented the Hispanic population of America.

"A poll came out two days ago where I am number one with the Hispanics," Trump said. "I know you are surprised to hear that. But I am number one with the Hispanics. And I said that if I get the nomination I will win with the Hispanics."

The real estate mogul was also asked whether Lizette Salas, the American golfer currently ranked 29th in the world whose parents are Mexican, was "not too pleased you're here?"

He replied: "Don't know who she is."
 

Chinese relatives of passengers on board missing Flight MH370 said Thursday the discovery of possible debris from the missing plane would mean nothing until their loved ones were found, NBC News reported. 

"I have no reaction yet because it's not confirmed," Wang Le, whose mother was aboard the plane, told NBC News. "There have been too many updates before and many were not reliable, so I think I'd rather wait for confirmation."

Of the 239 people on board the Malaysian Airlines Boeing 777 that disappeared on March 8 last year, 153 were Chinese citizens.

The piece of debris was found off the southern tip of Africa. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said he has been in contact with other countries regarding the debris, and they are all watching for progress.

Cincinnati officials said a university police officer who shot a driver to death during a traffic stop probably would not have been indicted for murder if it wasn't for the video from a camera worn by the cop.

"We're glad that we did have it," Cincinnati Police Chief Jeffrey Blackwell said on MSNBC on Wednesday.

University of Cincinnati Officer Ray Tensing claimed he was dragged by Samuel Dubose's car during the July 19 stop, officials said. Tensing, 25, said he was "almost run over by the driver of the Honda Accord and was forced to shoot the driver with his duty weapon."

Bodycam video, however, shows the officer approach Dubose's car after pulling him over for missing a front license plate. Tensing asks Dubose, 43, for his license, which the driver says he doesn't have on him.

The stop escalates when Tensing asks him to get out of the car, and a scuffle ensues. Without warning, the officer shoots Dubose in the head while he is still behind the wheel, and the car accelerates down the road.

More and more conferences, conventions and trade shows are bringing their business to San Diego. 

Convention center bookings and convention-related hotel bookings in 2015 fiscal year reached a 10-year-high, according to new numbers released Wednesday.

The Convention Center, which hosts the popular “Comic-Con” each year, booked 57 events this year that will take place from 2016 to 2033, said San Diego City Councilmember Todd Gloria, which will generate $30 million in hotel tax revenue. The short-term sales team booked 1,047,029 convention center and trade show-related hotel nights.

The tax money generated from those bookings goes toward paying police officers and paving new roads, Gloria said at the press conference.

As a result, $1.9 billion will be pumped into the region’s economy, tourism officials said. 

Officials from the Tourism Authority said the convention center was frequently booked for technology and medical industry events, highlighting the need for the center’s expansion.

One cardiology convention in particular was too large to fit in the center and had to leave.

“So they made a tough decision to go to New Orleans in 2019 rather than come to San Diego,” said Joe Terzi with the San Diego Tourism Authority. “And that economic impact for that one convention was almost $114 million.”

San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer has asked for a study on how to fund a convention center expansion which could be completed by next summer.

Last year, nearly 800,000 convention attendees brought in more than $1.3 billion in economic impact.

A man accused of shooting and killing his roommate appeared in court for the first time Wednesday, staring at the ground as friends of the man he allegedly killed filled the courtroom. 

Calvin Glass Jr., 18, was held on $1.5 million bail as his lawyer entered a guilty plea on his behalf. He was formally charged with first degree murder and attempted first degree murder. 

Police say Glass confessed to shooting his roommate Jordan Luis and injuring another Sunday afternoon at the Shadow Ridge Apartments on Barnard Drive, a complex that houses former foster children who have aged out of the system, according to residents.

The slain Oceanside man and the roommate accused of killing him had been feuding for months about their apartment’s cleanliness, and the victim was planning on moving out, his former foster mother told NBC 7 in an exclusive interview Monday.

"I told them my baby's life was in danger," said a woman who identified herself as the victim's grandmother. "That's what I told them."

The surviving victim filed a restraining order against Glass. 

Over the past three or four months, Luis and Glass had been fighting over who is messier, according to Luis' foster mother Michelle Zambrana in an exclusive interview. Glass also accused Luis of stealing from him, the victim had told Zambrana.

“I think they were paranoid about each other,” she said. “They got in a few arguments and threatened each other; then they would talk about it, but then they’d be arguing, so I don’t think they’d be able to come to terms of being friends.”

They were both waiting for Luis to move out when the fatal shooting took place.

The victim’s best friend Evan Eckman told NBC 7 that Luis didn’t have to die. Eckman believes their foster program failed to ensure Luis’ safety.

“If someone has been asking to move out because he doesn’t feel comfortable with the roommate he’s with, and you’re supposed to be the ones caring for us, what’s the point of having a program by the state?” Eckman asked.

The foster program, Casa de Amparo, responded in an emailed statement: 

"Our attention, thoughts, and focus have been and will continue to be, on the safety, protection, and well-being of the youth and families in our care. Our hearts are broken by the loss of this young man and our condolences go out to all of those affected."

Read the organization's full statement below.

Choking back tears, Zambrana showed the Native American ritual of water and candles she had established for Luis’ passage into the afterlife.

She also brought out pictures of them together, reminiscing about the teen she thought of as her own.

“He’s just a free spirit, real compassionate as far as kids and animals,” Zambrana said. “And he was the type to be there for a friend, you know, if anyone needed anything.”

The surviving shooting victim, whom Luis called his brother, is wanted for attempted murder in Tracy, California. He will be sent to the Stockton area after he is released from the hospital.

Police say the gun did not belong to anyone involved in the incident.

Casa de Amparo's full email is here: 

"We are deeply saddened by the tragic incident that occurred Sunday afternoon at the Shadow Ridge apartment complex.

"It is critical for the community to be aware that information related to youth in our care is confidential and protected. This legal requirement for our organization to protect the confidentiality of all youths in our programs, remains in place even under extremely distressing circumstances.

"Our attention, thoughts, and focus have been and will continue to be, on the safety, protection, and well-being of the youth and families in our care. Our hearts are broken by the loss of this young man and our condolences go out to all of those affected. Now, more than ever, we appreciate the support of our community and we will continue to cooperate fully with the Oceanside police department regarding the criminal investigation through this difficult time."

A severe thunderstorm warning has been issued for south central San Diego County until 6:15 p.m. 

Areas under the warning include Alpine, parts of the Interstate 8 between Pine Valley and Boulevard, Cuyamaca Rancho State Park, Portrero, Descanso, Lake Morena, Pine Valley, Campo, Captain Grande Indian Reservation and Guatay.

The radar indicated thunderstorms capable of producing damaging winds in excess of 60 miles-per-hour were in the area. 

At approximately 5:45 p.m., the storm was eight miles northwest of Portrero or eight miles southeast of Alpine and moving northwest at 15 miles-per-hour. 

The thunderstorms are capable of producing damaging winds, destructive hail, deadly lightning and heavy rain. 

For more information, click here. 

The San Diego Zoo broke ground Wednesday on a major, $68 million project: an 8-acre space that will be transformed into the new “Africa Rocks” exhibit with a habitat for African plant and animal species.

The largest expansion in the famous zoo’s 99-year history, the Conrad Prebys Africa Rocks exhibit will take over an area once known as “Cat and Dog Canyon.” The transformation will replace 1930s-era grottos and enclosures with new habitats for African species that range from savanna to shore.

San Diego Zoo officials plan to open the exhibit in 2017.

The attraction will include a gently winding, ADA-accessible pathway that leads guests through different types of African habitats, including a West African forest, acacia woodlands, Ethiopian highlands, kopje gardens and a Madagascar habitat.

Renderings of the exhibit were also released Wednesday, as seen in the photo gallery above.

Zoo officials say the project is being funded with a $11 million donation from Conrad Prebys, plus donations from more than 6,500 other individuals. In 2013, Ernest Rady donated $10 million to the exhibit and issued a challenge that resulted in 3,800 individual donors giving more than $20 million toward the project, officials said.

Dan and Vi McKinney donated $5 million for an African penguin habitat within the exhibit. Other donations have come from corporations, private foundations and estates, the zoo says.

Africa Rock will be home to mammals, reptiles, birds and plant life native to Africa.

This includes hamadryas and gelada baboons, vervet monkeys and lemurs. Other mammals in the exhibit will include southern ratel, fossa and an African leopard. There will also be an aviary. Dwarf crocodiles, Agama lizards and spurred tortoises will fill the reptile habitats.

The zoo will also relocate several old-growth trees into the area, including a ficus and sausage tree, officials said. Other African-native plants in the exhibit will include acacia, aloe, Madagascar ocotillo and palms.

A penguin beach area will house African penguins as the San Diego Zoo partakes in an international species survival plan for these endangered aquatic birds. The zoo is currently home to two African penguins that live in the Children’s Zoo area.

Douglas Myers, president and CEO of San Diego Zoo Global says the exhibit will be designed to tell a story, and “help connect people to wildlife.”

”We want Conrad Prebys Africa Rocks to showcase Africa, where wildlife and habitat are being threatened like never before,” said Myers.

In true animal-friendly zoo fashion, an African-crested porcupine had the honor of taking the first dig at the groundbreaking ceremony Wednesday, officials said.

San Diego Police Chief Shelley Zimmerman said her department has implemented nearly all of the 40 recommendations laid out in a U.S. Department of Justice audit aimed at cracking down on police misconduct.

The chief updated the SDPD's progress at a meeting for the San Diego City Council’s Public Safety and Livable Neighborhoods Committee, saying the department has executed all but six of the audit’s suggestions.

“These recommendations will help us improve the service we provide to our community,” said Zimmerman. “But I also want people to know the men and women of the police department are great people who overwhelmingly do the right thing and serve with honor, courage, pride and commitment in making San Diego a better place for everyone.”

Zimmerman was named head of the SDPD amid a number of scandals that rocked the department in 2014 and led the resignation of former Chief William Lansdowne. But before he left, Lansdowne requested an outside audit by the DOJ to look at preventing and detecting misconduct.

The 83-page audit, completed in March 2015, found 40 ways the SDPD could handle gaps in policies and practices in regards to misconduct investigations and hiring procedures.

While most of the recommendations have been implemented, Mark Robson with the San Diego Organizing Project told the committee and Zimmerman more needs to be done.

“On Monday we had a meeting at the church. One of our ministers shared a story where he was pulled over and made to put his hands on hood with three grandchildren in the back and then told it was a mistake,” Robson said. “So this conversation is very important to us.”

He said his group needs assurances that the DOJ report is being taken seriously.

Among the points that still need to be addressed is a proposal for a computerized, early intervention system which tracks use of force complaints, arrests, written citations and what officers do in the field.

“Our issue is we want to make sure the process is fair for the officers,” said Brian Marvel with the San Diego Police Officers Association. “If erroneous information is put in there, how do we get it out? Are officers actually allowed to look at their file to determine if it’s accurate? That is the issues we are covering.”

Another issue is the $15 million price tag, according to Marvel. Zimmerman said she is looking at how the system works in other large cities and will be meeting with an expert soon.

The chief also mentioned that a survey of community residents will be forthcoming. The policy director of the local ACLU said she hoped the department would be responsive to the results of that survey.

Over the past few years, the SDPD has been under fire for multiple officer misconduct cases. Ex-SDPD officer Anthony Arevalos was convicted of demanding sexual favors from women. Another, Christopher Hays, pleaded guilty to assault, battery and illegally detaining women while on duty, and a husband and wife formerly on the force, Jennifer and Bryce Charpentier, admitted to illegal activity to feed their own drug habits.