A San Diego-area couple is searching for their New Year's Eve hero -- a man who banged on their door after midnight, waking them up and saving them from a potentially deadly house fire. 

“If he had not noticed it and if it had continued to burn, we would have had a very serious fire. The roof would have probably burned and caved in on us,” Rod Davis told NBC 7.

Santee Fire Department Battalion Chief Tim Stuber said crews responded to the couple's home around 5 a.m. on New Year's Day when a luminary landed on the roof of the home, setting the roof on fire. 

Investigators say the Santee couple living at the home were in a 'dead sleep' when they were woken up by a male pounding on their door.

Judy Davis said she and her husband woke up to someone banging on their door, and immediately thought the person was a robber or some sort of burglar trying to get into their home. 

“We watched the ball drop and went to sleep and then all of a sudden I just hear this pounding on the door,” Judy explained. She said she kept hearing somebody scream ‘wake up! There’s a fire in your house!’

After a while, however, the couple smelled smoke. Once they walked out of the house, they found the roof of their house on fire. 

Judy and her husband are certain that if their hero had not woken them up and kept banging on the door, they may not be here by now. The fire could have spread, the roof could have collapsed, and they may not be alive right now. 

Stuber said the fire could have spread from the roof, and any time crews are dealing with a fire on the roof of a home, it's a dangerous situation. Santee Fire Dept said they are unclear who knocked on the couple's door.

"He walked over to the back gate and I told him 'Thank you, God Bless you!' I didn't even get this man's name. And all I really want to tell him is god bless him - this man is my hero," Judy said.

The couple are now looking for the Good Samaritan that saved their lives in hopes of thanking him for what he did for them. 

"You can't put a price tag on anything like that," Judy added.

If you know the Good Samaritan who helped the couple, call NBC7 at (619) 578-0201. 

After the Chargers ended their season with a close loss in Denver Sunday night, a group of loyal fans rallied outside Chargers Park to welcome them back from Colorado.

For many it was an emotional night as lifelong fans cheered in support of the team that may be leaving them.

"I wanted to show our players that we love them and that we appreciate them for everything that they've done for this city, for the community and for us fans," organizer Debra Zettelmier told NBC 7. "We grew up with the Chargers and a lot of us who didn't have a lot in life had the Chargers to look up to," she added holding back tears.

The Chargers have had a famously rough season, and combined with the fact they may be leaving for LA, it’s been a tough season for fans – to say the least.

"I believe that people need to see - not a dollar sign that could be obviously accumulated by a move, but by the love and camaraderie that can bring a city together by them staying," Chargers fan Lorenzo Moralez explained. "I grew up as an orphan...so the Chargers played a vital part in me growing up. From them holding Christmas events, Thanksgiving events...they're more than just a team that plays for 60 minutes on Sunday." 

“NFL football is supposed to be a source of civic pride, entertainment and fun. This season has been an awful experience that most consider to be worse than the 1-15 season. Chargers fans don’t even have the luxury of saying ‘Oh well next year’. We can’t do that,” said David Agranoff co-founder of Save Our Bolts “This season is brutal; we want the owners and the league to understand that this community cares about the team much more than wins and losses. We have not given up. A strong show of support will be noticed.”

First organized by a single Chargers fan, then endorsed by Save Our Bolts, dozens of fans gathered around 8:30 p.m. Sunday to show their support for San Diego's team.

“For this night they’re our San Diego Chargers and I can promise they will never get this kind of support in LA. It’s about the fans and the team,” Johnny Abundez of Save Our Bolts.

The Chargers have called San Diego home since 1961.

San Diego supporters of an initiative to raise the city’s hotel tax, to fund potential projects including a convention center expansion or Chargers stadium, will delay submission of signatures in order to qualify the measure for the November 2016 ballot, rather than the previously targeted June 2016 election.

The move is being made in part to avoid having the measure compete with a potential city proposal to fund a new stadium for the San Diego Chargers, which could go on the June ballot.

“It is always better that ballot measures be in front of voters in November when the most people vote,” said initiative sponsor Donna Frye, the former City Council member who is heading the initiative drive with local attorney Cory Briggs.

In a statement from the measure’s supporters, Frye said campaign organizers had agreed from the outset to consider both June and November. However, Briggs noted that a proposed timeline recently submitted by the city to the NFL spells out a plan to place a San Diego Chargers stadium financing measure on the June ballot, and his group recognizes the need for the NFL to “see a unified community.”

“We understand that the NFL has emphasized the importance of acting fast on their issues,” Briggs said. “We have the flexibility to defer our initiative to November. This will ensure that voters have the earliest opportunity to weigh in on a separate city/county NFL financing plan without confusion or complication.”

City and county leaders earlier this week submitted to the NFL a final formal proposal designed to keep the Chargers in the city, including a financing plan for a new Mission Valley stadium that would require voter approval. NFL owners are expected to vote in January on whether the Chargers, Oakland Raiders or St. Louis Rams, or a combination of those teams, will be permitted to relocate to the Los Angeles area.

Supporters of what is formally called “Citizens’ Plan for the Responsible Management of Major Tourism and Entertainment Resources” are seeking to have voters decide on a proposed 5 percent increase in the city’s transient occupancy tax, levied on hotel room bills, from its current 10.5 percent to 15.5 percent.

The Citizens’ Plan is intended to generate at least $18 million annually in new revenue, which would go directly to the city’s general fund. The revenue could go toward a non-waterfront convention center project and could also provide for a downtown backup plan for a new San Diego Chargers stadium if one is not built in Mission Valley.

The Citizens’ Plan would also shorten the environmental review process in the event that the Chargers, city and voters can agree on a location and a financing plan. The Citizens’ Plan itself does not clear the way for the financing of a stadium specifically, which would require a separate public vote.

Organizers are in the process of gathering a minimum of approximately 66,000 signatures – 10 percent of the city’s registered voters – expected to be submitted to the city several weeks ahead of the county registrar’s August filing deadline for the November election.

 Crews have put out a fire at a Lakeside outbuilding. 

The fire broke out around 2 p.m. Monday on the 15400 block of El Monte Road, though it is unclear how it started, said the San Diego Fire-Rescue Department (SDFD). 

No nearby brush was threatened.

There were no reports or injuries. 

Firefighters were on scene working to put it out. 

No further information was immediately available.

A mega church pastor and a former New York mayor offered encouragement and support to thousands of San Bernardino County workers beginning the New Year still reeling from the December terror attack  that took the lives of fourteen colleagues.

Even as the Inland Regional Center reopened Monday for the first time since the attack, the county gave workers the afternoon off so they could attend a gathering dedicated to "Remember, Honor and Support."  Nearly five thousand attended the event at the Citizens Business Bank Arena in Ontario.

They remembered the victims of a radicalized Islamic husband and wife who shot and killed 14 people and wounded 23 others on Dec. 2 during a holiday gathering of the county's environmental heatlh services division.

They heard Pastor Rick Warren encourage them to confront their grief and not try to repress it.

"Tears are a gift fromGod.  Tears are not a sign of weakness, but of love," Pastor Warren said.

He also implored those grieving to reject bitterness--not for the sake of the perperpetrators--but for their own healing.  Bittereness, said Warren, can "eat you alive."

Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani spoke of the strength his city showed in recovering from the 9-11 terror attack in 2001, and assured San Bernardino it can do so as well.

Giuliani shared the story of a New York woman who lost her father, husband, and youngest son all in the same year, but nevertheless insisted on allowing her daughter's wedding to go forward.

"You don't forget the good things because of the bad things," Giuliani remembered her saying.

He praised San Bernardino's strength in the face of terrorists.

"They didn't beat you.  They didn't accomplish their goal," Giuliani said.  "Tell the terrorists, 'Screw You, you can't beat us.  We're stronger than you.'"

Like Warren, Giuliani also stressed the importance of unity and compassion and holding to values, and said San Bernardino will make a powerful statement "by coming out of this as an example of how strong people can be when they love each other, care for each other."

Officials beefed up security around the facility for the event, including police dogs and metal detector screeners.

"We wanat our employees to feel safe and secure," said David Wert, public information officer. "That is a priority of the county."

The formal program ended with Supervisor Janice Rutherford proclaiming, "We are San Bernardino strong." 

Many stayed to talk and reflect before heading to the parking lot.

"The message that we should unite and stay strong and look for the good, to counteract the bad, hit home with all of us," said Laurie Hunter, a San Bernardino County employee who works in the CEO's office

"I was very emotional coming in," said Kendra Theroth, who works on a crisis team.  "But leaving, I felt strong."

Donald Trump may have some explaining to do about footage used in his new campaign advertisement, NBC News reported.

Released Monday, the campaign's much-anticipated first TV ad shows migrants on what the narrator claims is the southern border, scattering. But that footage in fact shows a Spanish enclave in Morocco, Politifact has found.

The footage aired on Italian network RepubblicaTV in May of 2014. Trump's ad shows it with narration that says Trump will "stop illegal immigration by building a wall on our southern border that Mexico will pay for."

The campaign has already spent more than $1 million to air the ad in Iowa and New Hampshire. Asked about it, Trump campaign mananger Corey Lewandowski made no apologies, telling NBC News, "No sh-- it's not the Mexican border but that's what our country is going to look like. This was 1,000 percent on purpose."
 

Michael Slager, the South Carolina cop seen on cellphone video fatally shooting Walter Scott as he was running away in April, was granted bond Monday after a judge expressed concerns that it was taking too long to bring him to trial, according to NBC News.

Indicted on a murder charge, Slager was denied bond in September, but state Circuit Judge Clifton Newman, whom the state Supreme Court appointed to oversee the sensitive case, said Monday that he could go free on house arrest on a $500,000 surety bond.

The Charleston County Sheriff's Office Monday evening had indicated that Slager was freed after posting bond, but later said he was still in custody as of 6 p.m. ET.

Slager, 34, shot Scott eight times after Scott, 50, had turned his back and fled after a daytime traffic stop on April 4. Scott was black and Slager is white, and the shooting renewed tension in the coastal town over alleged excessive police use of force and systemic racism.

Authorities are investigating two ATM thefts that occurred 15 minutes apart early Monday morning in Santee and Rancho San Diego.

The first incident, the attempted pilfering of an ATM, occurred at 1:20 a.m. inside a Walgreens store in Santee.

Then, 15 minutes later, authorities said the cash box from an ATM was stolen from inside a Rite Aid store in Rancho San Diego.

There was little damage to the front door of the store, which was locked at the time.

Investigators still have not said whether the two incidents are believed to be related. Details on a suspect description wasn’t immediately available.

The new format for San Diego radio station KFMB-FM 100.7, previously known as Jack FM, was announced Monday morning.

Now dubbed 100.7 KFM-BFM San Diego, the station is taking a "playing whatever, whenever" approach to music, according to a media release. "Finally, the day has arrived, and it's time to rock and roll!" said Garett Michaels, a veteran of FM 94.9 who was named program director in December. "100.7 FM is a storied frequency in San Diego. I'm honored to have the opportunity to create a new radio station, and we already have the market's number one morning show as a foundation." 

The "Dave, Shelly and Chainsaw" morning show, which airs weekdays 5-10 a.m., is returning to the station, though the music played once the highly rated show signs off each day will now bring "true variety that rocks," according to the media release. In lieu of the pop-skewed Top 40 tracks from Taylor Swift and Justin Bieber that dominated Jack FM, the station has played music from such acts as the Who, Midnight Oil, Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers, Foo Fighters and Nirvana since the new format was announced Monday morning.

While the official statement itself is vague, the bands played on the station since "DSC" host Dave Rickards made the new format announcement Monday morning suggest that 100.7 will cater more toward the 25-54 age bracket that the “DSC” show draws, but without setting itself up to compete with sister radio station 91x by taking on the AAA format that KPRi abandoned when sold a few months back [read SoundDiego's report on the sale].

SoundDiego reported on the impending change in December, when the station dropped its holiday programming (called Jack Frost) for nine days of "stunting," during which the station adopted a new format each day.  

The radio station has a long history, with high ratings particularly in the 1970s and ’80s when it was known as B-100. The Jack FM format of modern super-pop developed just in the last few years, though when the station switched from Star 100.7 to Jack in 2005, there was no live DJ between the ’70s and ’80s tracks that dominated airtime.

Hannah Lott-Schwartz, a San Diego native, moved back to the area after working the magazine-publishing scene in Boston. Now she’s straight trolling SD for all the music she missed while away. Want to help? Hit her up with just about anything at all over on Twitter, where -- though not always work-appropriate -- she means well.

A series of storms headed toward San Diego will bring heavy rains expected to last much of the work week.

Showers started developing during the overnight hours Sunday and steady rain continued on Monday morning, bringing a slick commute across San Diego County.

Two or more storm systems will cross San Diego County starting Tuesday -- the heaviest storm expected -- and may last as long as Friday, NBC 7's Greg Bledsoe forecasts. Rainfall totals of at least 1 inch are expected, though Bledsoe says there is a good chance San Diegans will see more rainfall.

The majority of rain will fall between Tuesday and Thursday, NBC 7 meteorologist Jodi Kodesh said.

A flash flood watch is in effect for San Diego County valleys and mountains from Tuesday morning to Wednesday night.

Temperatures will drop later in the week, meaning mountains should get more snow as the storm wears on, Kodesh added.

The Sierras near Mammoth are already getting quite a bit of snow, as of Saturday, and local mountain temperatures will be in the 30s and 40s with a good chance of snow near home later in the week.

In addition, a high surf advisory is in effect until 10 p.m. Friday, with sets as tall as 15 feet expected on the coast.
 

A husband charged with the murder of his wife appeared in court Monday, emotionless as his attorney pleaded not guilty on his behalf. 

Jose De Jesus Hernandez Cruz, 43, is accused of fatally stabbing the 38-year-old mother of his five children on Dec. 29. In court Monday, he was held on $2M bail. 

Cruz listened to the charges through an interpreter.

The stabbing happened at the family's home on the 2500 block of I Avenue. When officers arrived, they said they found the mother  Angelica Maria Hernandez unresponsive, laying face down. She was pronounced dead at the scene after attempts to resuscitate were unsuccessful, police said. 

In court, prosecutors described the 911 case made by Cruz on the night of the stabbing. When asked by the operator if he needed an ambulance, Cruz said, it's too late, according to the prosecutor. 

The couple has five children together, ages four to 16-years-old. At the time of the stabbing, the children were staying with family in Tijuana and are with their family members now.

When police arrived, they found the suspect with blood on his hands and found his wife face down with a stab wound to her chest. Cruz was taken into custody and booked into the San Diego Central Detention Facility on allegations of murder.

Cruz has no criminal past, but lives primarily in Mexico, which is why the judge set his bail at $2 million, as he might be a flight risk.

His next court appearance is scheduled for Jan. 29.
 

 San Diego police pursued a shoplifting suspect near City Heights for several blocks before arresting him near one of their stations. 

The call came in at 4:30 p.m., saying a shoplifting suspect was at a Radioshack on the 4300 block of University Avenue, San Diego Police (SDPD) said. 

Police pursued the man in a car for a short distance before they arrested him. 

An NBC7 crew on scene said police pulled three suspects out of the car. The arrest happened close to the SDPD Mid City Police Station. 

No further information was immediately available. 

Refresh this page for updates on this breaking news story. 

San Diego County Supervisor Dianne Jacob called the latest details revealed in an NBC 7 Investigates story about the condition of land at the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS) site "extremely troubling."

On Monday, Jacob told NBC 7 Investigates Southern California Edison (SCE) needs to tell the public what condition the land is in at the SONGS.

“Southern California Edison should first be honest with the public,” she said. “If the land is contaminated, they should clean it up, clean it up in its entirety. Be honest, be transparent.”

Through the federal Freedom of Information Act, NBC 7 Investigates obtained letters from the United States Navy to SCE that show portions of the land around SONGS “may be contaminated from activities conducted during SCE’s occupancy and use.”

According to one of the August letters from the Navy’s Engineering Command, the Mesa site could be contaminated because of how SCE used the land. The Mesa site is 135 acres of land in and around the reactor domes and across Interstate 5. In the documents, the site is called Japanese Mesa or the "Mesa.”

Click here to see the complete investigation and read the letters from the Navy.

SCE has not responded to questions about the information revealed in the letters. In a statement sent to NBC 7 Investigates on Oct. 2, 2015, after a previous NBC 7 Investigates story aired, SCE spokesperson Maureen Brown said, “There is no current radiological contamination” and “readings (at the SONGS property) are normal background radiation levels."

One of the letters from the Navy was sent to SCE’s Manager of Government Lands Messeret Yilma a month before that NBC 7 Investigates story aired. That story detailed secret negotiations happening between the Navy, SCE and San Diego Gas and Electric to discuss the condition of the land where SONGS sits.

SCE leases the land in and around SONGS from the Navy. That lease is set to expire in 2023. According to the lease, any contaminated land is to be restored for unrestricted use by the Navy. The dynamic can be described in a simple equation: the more the land is contaminated, the more cleanup is needed to satisfy the Navy. The more extensive the cleanup, the more money it costs the utilities.

The Navy letters describe how SCE’s own internal reports show the site may be contaminated. According to one letter, “SCE’s request for partial termination” of the lease “is held in abeyance” until “SCE restores the contaminated site to levels that achieve unrestricted use/unrestricted exposure (UU/UE) closure.”

“It raises a big question that needs to be answered,” Jacob said. “Not only do we want the spent nuclear waste out of San Diego, but we don't want the contaminated property there either. So good for the Navy for calling it out; the public needs answers."

A plan to store nuclear waste from San Onofre in North County was approved but is being challenged in court.

In the letter from Brown, she said, “none of the contamination identified by inspectors in the [NRC] report exceeded allowable limits.”

In an email to NBC 7 Investigates, NRC Public Affairs Officer Scott Burnell said the agency will make sure the utility has “properly decommissioned the site (or any portion of it)” before they can be released from its “regulatory requirements.”
 

Second Amendment activists in San Diego County are hoping Congressional Republicans find a fast and firm way of pushing back against President Barack Obama’s proposed executive orders to impose new gun control measures.

Whether that effort comes through legislation or litigation, they see the White House strategy as an affront to the democratic process.

Gun control activists insist the president has to pull an end-around on Congress because the majority answers to the "gun lobby".

The administration's critics argue that unilateral executive orders are the wrong approach to solving "cultural" problems.

"We're not going to solve this by hacking away at these little bits of people's rights, people's liberties,” says Michal Schwartz, executive director of San Diego County Gun Owners. “What we're going to have to do is change the culture, and make sure that people have the ability to defend themselves."

The President's executive orders will focus on gun shows and online sales venues, where background checks previously have not been required, or avoided.

Whatever form the orders take, they figure to provide political fodder for candidates in this year's Presidential campaign.

Legal observers say it could be iffy for members of Congress to bring litigation against the orders on Constitutional grounds -- but that gun sellers could file suit on the basis of proven economic losses.

"I might think that he's (the President) done is unconstitutional,” says Michal Belknap, a professor at California Western School of Law, “but if I can't demonstrate that I have been harmed by what he did, but I wouldn't have standing to bring a case."

Prof. Belknap says Congressional Republicans could take certain legislative actions against the executive orders -- such as withholding funding for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives unless the President rescinds the measures.
 

A San Diego County Sheriff's vehicle and Carlsbad Police cruiser collided as their drivers pursued a wanted suspect in North County, according to multiple agencies.

At about 8:30 p.m. Monday, sheriff's deputies tried to pull over the suspect, but the man refused and took off.

Deputies began the chase, calling in backup from Carlsbad and Oceanside police.

However, as officers and deputies neared Canyon Drive and State Route 76, a Carlsbad police officer was rear-ended by a sheriff's SUV.

The officer is being checked out for potential injuries, but he appears to be OK, Carlsbad officials say. The deputy complained of pain, so he went to the hospital as a precaution. No other injuries were reported.

The pursuit ended when the suspect got off SR-76 and drove south on Guajome Lake Road. His vehicle struck a guardrail and veered down a dirt road. According to the sheriff's department, the man tried to run, but a K-9 took him down.

The suspect was taken to the hospital for minor injuries.

Oceanside police are handling the collision investigation.

 Following a season filled with losses and injuries, San Diego Chargers Head Coach Mike McCoy will be retained, McCoy confirmed at a press conference Monday. 

"They've been behind me 100 percent," McCoy said at a press conference, saying John Spanos has told him the family is behind him 100 percent the entire season.

"I'm the head coach until I'm told different, and there was never anyone telling me different," McCoy said, adding he was excited for the opportunity.

With help from Offensive Coordinator Ken Whisenhunt, the Chargers went to the playoffs in McCoy’s first season. 

After that, things have gone downhill, in a bad way. McCoy went 9-7, missing the playoffs in 2014. This season, McCoy went 4-12 in an injury-riddled season. McCoy now has a career-losing record as the Chargers head coach. Read a full analysis of McCy's coaching record here.

At a press conference Monday, McCoy said the team had a meeting and said the team kept fighting until the end, though "no one is happy with the way the season went."

"We have a lot of work ahead of us," McCoy said of him, General Manager Tom Telesco and Spanos. 

Additionally, the team announced they had fired Offensive Coordinator Frank Reich. When asked if McCoy would consider Ken Whisenhunt, McCoy said "we'll do what's best for the football team."

In the coming months, McCoy said team officials would look at "what's in the best interest of the team" and see if certain injuries would be preventable.

Within hours of speaking with the media on Monday, the Chargers announced later that afternoon that a total of six assistant coaches had been relieved of their duties:

Offensive Coordinator Frank Reich
Offensive Line Coach Joe D’Alessandris
Tight Ends Coach Pete Metzelaars
Wide Receivers Coach Fred Graves
Defensive Line Coach Don Johnson
Assistant Offensive Line Coach Andrew Dees

Johnson was the longest tenured coach and had been with the Bolts since 2009. Metzelaars just finished his second year with the team while the other four had been with the organization for three seasons.

In an online letter on the state of the team, Chargers' President of Football Operations John Spanos wrote "we are disappointed with the outcome as our expectations have not been met."

Spanos said he has "the utmost confidence" in the team's leadership. Spanos ultimately makes the decision on retaining the head coach or not. 

"Tom Telesco, Mike McCoy, and I have already begun evaluating every aspect of the team to take the essential steps to put a winning product back on the field," Spanos wrote. "We will waste no time in making the necessary changes."

In the letter, he praised the players for their dedication to the team and said decisions made today and in the future will help get the team back on the path to success for next season. Read the full letter here. 

As of Monday 7:30 PT, other assistant coaches including Defensive Coordinator John Pagano and linebackers coach Mike Nolan were still part of the coaching staff and listed on the team's website. During the Monday press conference, McCoy did not comment on any roster changes, saying "we'll always look at the team and see how we need to improve moving forward."

No further information was immediately available. 

Refresh this page for updates on this breaking news story.

How do you feel about the Chargers' decision? Follow NBC7SportsWrap's Derek Togerson on Twitter and let him know. 

A standoff at a Georgia motel, where a woman and 11 children were held hostage for hours, is over after a SWAT team entered the motel and the suspect stabbed himself, according to a tweet from local police.

The man has been taken to a hospital in critical condition, NBC station WXIA reported.  

Authorities responded to the Rite 4 Us Inn and Suites in DeKalb County around 2 a.m. Tuesday after receiving a domestic dispute call from the woman, according to WXIA. 

DeKalb County Police Major Tonya Dedrick told WXIA earlier that officers made contact with the man inside the motel, but he refused to open the door. Dedrick said before dawn Tuesday that officers were negotiating with the man, "trying to hopefully resolve this with a peaceful end to it."

The death of a patient following a struggle with security guards at MedStar Washington Hospital Center in D.C. has been deemed a homicide. 

James E. McBride, 74, died from blunt force injuries to the neck, including damage to his spinal cord, the medical examiner's office announced Monday.

McBride, a husband and father, was a patient at MedStar Washington Hospital Center when he left the hospital on the evening of Sept. 29 without having been formally discharged, Dr. Arthur St. André, the clinical director for Surgical Critical Care Services, said at a press conference after McBride's death.

McBride was then spotted at the nearby MedStar National Rehabilitation Hospital and was being escorted back to the hospital's main entrance when he encountered two MedStar Washington Hospital Center security guards.

A police report said McBride "became non-compliant and resisted," and was pulled to the ground. He became distressed and was resuscitated by a nurse who had been escorting him back to the hospital, St. André said. 

McBride died two days later. He was "a loving husband to his wife of 40 years, and a wonderful father to his son and daughter," the hospital said in a statement issued in September on behalf of McBride's family.

The hospital has not said what sparked the clash and has not identified the security guards, who sources tell News4 no longer work there.

In the wake of McBride's death, the hospital has examined what happened, they said in a statement issued Monday.

"Immediately following the tragic event, we conducted a series of analyses to gain a complete understanding of the situation," the statement said. "We have integrated several new initiatives, including enhanced communications and training with all care teams and security officers. We also identified a unique multi-disciplinary team to respond to certain high-risk situations."

The hospital is cooperating with an investigation being conducted by the U.S. Attorney's Office, the hospital's statement said.

"As always, our commitment is to provide the highest quality, safest care to every patient, every day, and our post-event evaluations were focused on ensuring that nothing like this ever happens again," the statement said. 

An inmate badly burned in his cell when a South Florida corrections officer threw scalding hot water on him three years ago said there's finally justice after the officer pleaded guilty to battery last week.

Joshua Wiggins, who was 18 years old when the incident occurred in his cell at the Miami-Dade Pre-Trial Detention Center, suffered burn marks across his upper torso. He was being held on a drug charge in his first time behind bars. 

"A person like that in a position like that... Yeah, I was shocked," said Wiggins.

Officer Charlise Daniels-Wadley, who pleaded guilty last week to misdemeanor battery, is no longer employed by the county. Wiggins said he still may sue the county over his injury.

Wiggins exclusively told NBC 6 he had gotten into an argument with Daniels-Wadley, who came back with scalding water.

"When she dropped the flap, she threw the water on me. The pain started really setting in through the jumper. It started setting in. I got on my knees, you know. I yelled before she even walked off. I told her, 'You are not going to get away with this,'" Wiggins recalled.

Daniels-Wadley pleaded guilty three years later. As part of a plea deal, she resigned from her job and was given a year probation and 50 hours of community service. Daniels-Wadley quickly left the hearing after entering her plea.

Wiggins said he thought it would all get swept under the rug.

"I figured they just forgot about it, you know? I figured everybody forgot about it," Wiggins said. "I felt like I didn't forget, and that's what I told her in the cell, that I wouldn't forget. I felt like I had to follow up on it myself."

He said he was surprised when Corrections Investigator Sgt. Burke traveled to North Florida to speak with him. It gave him hope something might come of the complaint he filed.

The corrections department told NBC 6 the incident "does not condone conduct that undermines the trust of the community. It is disheartening when a corrections officer betrays his fellow officers and the community."

U.S. stocks traded sharply lower Monday, the first day of trading for 2016, weighed by renewed concerns of negative impact from slowdown in China and increased tensions in the Middle East.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed down 276 points, or 1.58 percent, ending at 17,149 points at the closing bell. Earlier, it had briefly fallen more than 450 points before making a slight recovery – if those losses held, they would have accounted the worst opening day since 1932.

The Standard & Poor's 500 and Nasdaq composite both took a hit Monday, with the former down 2.5 percent, and the latter down more than 3 percent.

"A lot of it has to do with China and a lot of it is overdone," said Art Hogan, chief market strategist at Wunderlich Securities. "The China PMI hasn't changed much. It's not unusual to have an outsized reaction when you've got a base case that 2016 could be a tough year."