One person was injured when a tour bus went off a road amid snowy, icy conditions and falling snow in Yosemite National Park on Tuesday morning, officials said.

There were 54 passengers onboard the bus, but all were extricated safely, according to a National Park Services representative. The injury was minor.

The bus driving on the Wawona Road (Highway 41) on its way to Los Angeles. It was removed from the side of the road after the 11 a.m. incident and was being towed — the road was closed for at least a few hours, according to the representative.

The incident came amid an El Nino-related storm hit California.

President Barack Obama evoked a string of other government regulations in making his case for his gun control action, framing the hot-button guns issue as one of practical, common-sense reform and where technology can help. He compared his proposals to reducing traffic accidents or walking through a metal detector before boarding an airplane. Obama also talked about his executive action as a continuation of social justice movements. Invoking Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Obama said "we need to feel the fierce urgency of now."

Here were eight such appeals to history and pragmatism that Obama used in making his argument:

Yelling Fire in a Theater:
"We all believe in the First Amendment, the guarantee of free speech. But we accept that you can't yell fire in a theater."

Knife Violence in China:
"We know we can't stop every act of violence, every act of evil in the world. But maybe we could try to stop one act of evil, one act of violence. Some of you may recall that the same time that Sandy Hook happened a disturbed person in China took a knife and tried to kill with a knife a bunch of children in China. But most of them survived because he didn't have access to a powerful weapon. We maybe can't save everybody but we can save some."

The Metal Detectors Example:
"We cherish our right to privacy but we accept that you have to go through metal detectors before being allowed to board a plane."

Traffic Accident Metaphor:
"We maybe can't save everybody but we can save some. Just as we don't prevent all traffic accidents but we take steps to try to reduce traffic accidents."

The Smartphone Fingerprint and Lost Tablet Model:
"We need to develop new technologies to make guns safer. If we can set it up so you can't unlock your phone unless you got the right fingerprint, why can't we do the same thing for our guns? If there's an app that can help us find a missing tablet that happens to be off ... If we can do it for your iPad, there's no reason you can't do it with a stolen gun."

The Medicine Bottle Example:
"If a child can't open a bottle of aspirin, we should make sure that they can't pull a trigger on a gun."

The Freedom of Worship, Assembly and Pursuit of Happiness Example:
"Second Amendment rights are important but there are other rights that we care about as well, and we have to be able to balance them. Because our right to worship freely and safely, that right was denied to Christians in Charleston, South Carolina. And that was denied to Jews in Kansas City. And that was denied to Muslims in Chapel Hill and Sikhs in Oak Creek. They had rights, too. Our right to peaceful assembly: That right was robbed to moviegoers in Aurora and Lafayette. Our unalienable right to liberty and the pursuit of happiness, those rights were stripped from college kids in Blacksburg and from high schoolers in Columbine and from first graders in Newtown. ... And by the way it happens on the streets of Chicago every day."

Taking the Long View on Progress:
"But a lot of things don't happen overnight. The women's right to vote didn't happen overnight. The liberation of African-Americans didn't happen overnight. LGBT rights was decades worth of work. So just because it's hard, that's no excuse not to try."

A suspect who pushed a 79-year-old man out of his wheelchair then drove off in it after breaking into the man’s apartment pleaded guilty in court Tuesday.

Stanley McQuery, 55, who has three prior felony convictions, is expected to be sentenced to 16 years in prison for robbery and elder abuse.

McQuery broke into William Ballard’s apartment at a senior complex in Hillcrest April 23 around 3:30 in the morning.

Ballard, who has one leg amputated above the knee, testified in June that he heard noises early in the morning and caught McQuery coming through the window.

When he asked McQuery what he was doing he answered, “I’m trying to get out.”

According to Ballard’s testimony McQuery demanded money from him after he called 911, then McQuery pushed him out of his wheelchair and took off in it – running over Ballard’s knees and ankles.

As officers approached McQuery a few block away he fled the wheelchair and ran. He was taken into custody shortly after.

McQuery is scheduled to be sentenced on February 3.
 

At least 10 people were displaced after a blocked storm drain flooded a Mid-City apartment building during Tuesday’s heavy rains.

Residents described the water near the building, located in the 4200 block of 48th Street, as high as the windows on their cars. The water was moving fast enough to move parked cars and even a heavy dumpster.

One resident’s pet Chihuahua, trapped behind a retaining wall, even drowned in the high waters.

“The water just clogged everything so then all the neighbors came out they say oh my god everything is flooded,” resident Jeff Tong told NBC 7. “One woman said ‘my house, my cat, my dog' – you know one of the dogs died.”

Tong lives in a second floor apartment, but both of his cars were parked in the complex parking lot when the rains came.

Tong said his two cars and a dozen more were flooded by the storm. Another dozen apartments and single family homes have water damage. Residents can’t start cleaning up until the water recedes.

Water poured into Ernestina Baker's first floor apartment. She was sleeping on the sofa, and didn't realize it until she sat up and put her feet on the floor.

“Water was just gushing in – just gushing in, and I looked outside. It was all up to the tires,” Baker explained. “The water was all over. You couldn't see the yard; You couldn’t see anything. I got kind of nervous I didn't know what to do. I was here by myself. I didn't have no one to help me.”

Witnesses said the storm drain on the west side of 48th street simply could not handle the deluge. There were no reported injuries.

One of the armed protesters occupying a federal wildlife refuge in rural Oregon said he would rather die defending the building than be arrested by the FBI, NBC News reported.

"I have no intention of spending any of my days in a concrete box," occupier LaVoy Finicum said when asked if he would rather be killed than be arrested.

As the occupation at the remote headquarters of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, 250 miles from Portland, entered its fifth day Wednesday, the 54-year-old added "there are things more important than your life and freedom is one of them."

While law enforcement has not attempted to recapture the outpost, the FBI is leading efforts to resolve the impasse and several of the occupiers said they believe there are arrest warrants against them. 

A lawsuit claiming Brendan Dassey, the young man whose case was closely documented in the Netflix series “Making a Murderer,” was illegally arrested and imprisoned in 2005, is now in the hands of a federal judge.

Northwestern University’s Center on Wrongful Convictions of Youth legal team based in Chicago has taken Dassey’s case to federal court in Wisconsin in the hopes that he will be granted a writ of Habeas corpus, which will force the government to examine his case and rule whether he has been imprisoned illegally. The petition is pending before Magistrate Judge William E. Duffin in Milwaukee.

It’s not clear when Duffin could make his decision. An attorney for Dassey says a ruling could come any day, but will likely happen within the year.

Dassey’s case is one of two followed in the popular “Making a Murderer” series, which depicts the story of Dassey’s uncle, Steven Avery. Dassey and Avery are currently serving life sentences for the 2005 murder of 25-year-old photographer of Teresa Halbach.

Avery, a Wisconsin man who was imprisoned for 18 years for sexual assault before DNA evidence exonerated him in 2003, was suing Manitowoc County, Wisconsin, the former district attorney and the county sheriff for $36 million when he was accused of Halbach's murder. 

Most recently, the show's filmmakers said a juror from Avery's murder trial claims he was not proven guilty, but the juror voted to convict him out of fear for his/her personal safety. The two filmmakers have not yet contacted other jurors to independently verify the claim, they said. NBC News has not independently verified the allegation with any jurors.

Dassey was arrested at the age of 16 in connection with case, but his attorneys maintain his confession was coerced.

Steven Drizin, a clinical professor at Northwestern University School of Law who is among the attorneys representing Dassey, said his team of lawyers from the Center on Wrongful Convictions of Youth at Northwestern, and Wisconsin attorney Robert Dvorak, have spent years on the case.

Drizin said the team investigated Dassey’s case for two years before filing an appeal in 2010. The appeal was ultimately denied by a state appellate court and the Wisconsin Supreme Court refused to hear the case.

The habeas petition was filed in federal court in the Eastern District of Wisconsin in 2014.

“We’re hopeful is what I would say,” Drizin said. “The deeper you go into this system, whether it’s in the state court system or the federal court system, the harder it is to win. We’ve won cases in federal court before and we’re hoping that this is another one that we’ll win.”

Drizin said the petition focuses largely on Dassey’s original public defender, Len Kachinsky, who was ultimately removed from the case.

“A lot of our appeal has to do with the actions that Brendan’s original attorney Len Kachinsky took, which demonstrated his disloyalty to Brendan and his willingness to work with the prosecution to try to get Brendan to plead guilty and testify against Steven Avery,” Drizin said.

He also maintains that Dassey’s confession was coerced “by [investigators] feeding him facts.”

“To me, this case is a classic example of how not to interrogate juvenile suspects and the tactics that were used during Brendan’s interrogation are a recipe for false confessions,” he said.

In a brief filed last year, the state argued Dassey failed to show that the appeals court’s decision was unreasonable.

“[Investigators] merely stated, in calm tones, that they ‘already knew’ what happened and allowed Dassey to confess that he had raped Halbach, and was involved in her murder,” the brief reads. “Dassey’s confession was not coerced, and the state court’s decision on Dassey’s voluntariness claim did not involve an unreasonable application of clearly established Federal law.”

Former Calamut County District Attorney Ken Kratz, who prosecuted Dassey and Avery, recently told People magazine that he has "a great bit of sympathy" for Dassey, who he said "never would have been involved in this except for his uncle."

Dassey would have been out sooner if he had taken a plea bargain, Kratz said.

Drizin said while “Making a Murderer” has put Dassey’s case in the national spotlight, he doesn’t believe it will have an impact on the judge’s decision.

“I don’t think that the Netflix movie is going to influence a federal judge, but at the same time, judges are human beings and the Netflix film has created a context for Brendan’s case that didn’t exist at the time of his trial or his appeals,” he said.
 

 After multiple reports and searches over the course of a week, authorities pulled a body out of the San Diego River Channel in El Cajon Monday. 

A citizen called El Cajon Police around 11:33 a.m., reporting at least one body floating in the river. Officers were able to locate the body and followed it to Prospect Avenue and Cuyamaca Street near the El Cajon and Santee border. 

By the time crews reached it, the body was up on the side of the channel and caught in some brush, Santee Fire officials said. 

The Santee Fire Battalion Chief told NBC7 they had been receiving reports of a body from residents for as long as a week ago, but didn't find the body until today. San Diego Sheriff's deputies and San Diego Lifeguards assisted in the recovery. 

The body is believed to be that of a man in his 40s. 

The cause of death and manner of death are unclear, though authorities on scene said it appeared as if the man had been in the water for some time. The San Diego County Medical Examiner's office has recovered the body and will make that determination.  

No further information was immediately available.

 State officials say drought-stricken California used 20 percent less water in November, once again missing the 25 percent conservation mandate set by Gov. Jerry Brown.

Still, the State Water Resources Control Board reported Tuesday at a meeting in Sacramento that California remains on course to beat its long-term goal through February.

Residents have saved a combined 26 percent since the mandate was issued in June.

Water Board Chair Felicia Marcus says the cumulative numbers show considerable savings, indicating that residents understand the drought isn't over.

Brown ordered the statewide cutback during the state's fourth year of drought. California posted savings of 22 percent in October compared to the same period for 2013.

The latest figures come as a series of much-anticipated El Nino storms begin to drench the state and boost the snowpack.

Officials across San Diego are searching for two women who removed their ankle monitors and walked away from the Custody to Community Transitional Re-entry Program (CCTRP) in San Diego. 

Tumoi King and Viviana Mendez were participants in the program, which allows participants to serve the remainder of their sentence in a community program instead of state prison. The CCTRP provides a range of rehabilitative services. 

At 7:31 p.m. on Monday, CCTRP staff were told that the two women had removed their ankle monitors. Authorities conducted a facility-wide search, but did not find anyone. 

King, 28, was serving a five year sentence for a second-degree robbery conviction in Riverside County and had been in the program since Nov. 2014. She was scheduled to be paroled in Oct. 2016. Mendez, 20, is serving a seven year sentence for assault with a deadly weapon conviction in Yolo County. She was scheduled to be paroled in Feb. 2017. 

Mendez is described as a 190-pound Hispanic female 5 feet 2 inches tall with brown hair and brown eyes. King is described as a 175 pound black female 5 feet 10 inches tall with black hair and brown eyes.

California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) have notified local law enforcement agencies that the women are missing. Local agencies will be assisting in search and apprehension efforts. 

 Anyone with information regarding either of these women is asked to call (916) 464-4169 or contact their local law enforcement.

No further information was immediately available. 

A Marine stationed in Arizona has been arrested in connection with the fatal shooting of a 20-year-old Texas student. 

The U.S. Marshals apprehended Cpl. Eric Johnson with the Marine Aviation Weapons and Tactics Squadron-1 at the Marine Corps Air Station Yuma, Ariz. Tuesday morning after obtaining an arrest warrant in connection with the alleged shooting in Denton, Texas. 

MCAS Yuma Provost Marshall's Office and Naval Criminal Investigative Service assisted the US Marshal Service in executing the warrant. 

In a press conference Tuesday, Denton, Texas police said Johnson is currently being held on a murder warrant in Arizona. No further details about the arrest have been released. Information on an attorney for Johnson was not immediately available.

NBC 5's Brian Scott and Holley Ford contributed to this report.

A flash flood warning was issued in parts of north San Diego County Tuesday afternoon amid heavy rainfall from a series of winter storms.

The National Weather Service (NWS) said the flash flood warning would remain in effect through 7:15 p.m. in some North County areas that are prone to flooding, including Temecula, Camp Pendleton, Fallbrook and Lake Elsinore. 

This warning came amid very wet weather across the county Tuesday as a series of storms crept in, with much heavier rain expected as the day unfolds.

“Now, yesterday’s [rain] was small, compared to what we’re expecting today,” explained NBC 7 meteorologist Jodi Kodesh. “We’re going to be dealing with heavy rainfall – potential thunderstorms.”

According to the San Diego Fire-Rescue Department between 3 p.m. and 6 p.m. Tuesday they responded to 75 water rescue calls, mostly cars in flooded intersections.

At one Clairemont intersection, such heavy flooding was reported that several cars were trapped in rising waters. San Diego Fire-Rescue crews headed out to Mt. Alifan Drive and Mt. Aguilar Drive to help drivers stuck in rising waters. 

Balboa Avenue between Mercury and Convoy was also heavily flooded, leaving many cars trapped in the high water.

Extreme flooding shut down Midway Drive from Rosecrans to Sports Arena Boulevard, SDFD said, as crews rescue people trapped in their cars. Police are asking people the avoid the area. 

By 4 p.m., California Highway Patrol (CHP) officials had reported 291 crashes along San Diego highways. On a "good weather" day, CHP officials said, they average 140 reported crashes.

If you are planning to drive in rainy situations, the CHP offers these tips:

1. Reduce their speed when the road is wet.
2. Increase their following distance to allow more time to stop.
3. Avoid making sudden turning movements to prevent hydroplaning.
4. If they are involved in a minor collision, and their vehicle is still operable, drive off the freeway to a safe location.
5. Avoid distractions while driving, like cell phones, to prevent last second vehicle maneuvers.
6. If the windshield wipers are on, then the headlights need to be on.

Heavy rain began to pummel San Diego at noon after a morning of light showers and continued on thrugh the night. 

“For everyone who was underwhelmed with yesterday’s light rain, today will be a very different story,” Kodesh added. “This will be the heaviest band of rain, in the series this week.”

Looking ahead, the majority of the rain from this storm system will fall across San Diego County between Tuesday and Thursday, Kodesh said.

Meanwhile, the NWS also issued a winter storm watch Tuesday, effective through late Thursday night. The storm includes snowfall in the Pine Valley area, with the heaviest snow falling Wednesday afternoon into Thursday morning and again Thursday afternoon through that night.

The NWS says the winter storm watch will also bring gusty winds – the strongest of which are expected to develop Wednesday morning through Thursday night. Fog will also be a factor in this storm. The NWS says a weaker storm may be possible for late Saturday into Sunday morning, too.

The NWS's flash flood warning began with a flood watch at 10 a.m. Tuesday that was expected to last through late Wednesday night for all San Diego County coastal areas and other parts of Southern California.

Heavy rain will bring a threat of flash flooding, the NWS says, which may include mudslides in some areas – including portions of land burned by fires.

Finally, the winter storm also brings a high surf advisory this week, in effect in San Diego through 10 p.m. Friday.

The NWS says waves and surf are expected to be between four and eight feet Tuesday, six to 10 feet Wednesday and eight to 12 feet with sets to 15 feet Thursday. The highest sets of waves will occur south of Carlsbad. The high surf should subside by Friday.

The NWS says high surf will mean possible beach erosion and very strong rip currents at local beaches, plus minor coastal flooding during high tide.

Check back for updates on this breaking news story, or follow NBC 7 San Diego on Twitter by clicking here. 
 

The Red Cross has opened a shelter for those affected by flooding that swept the county Tuesday.

The shelter will provide for the immediate needs of those affected by the storm who do not have a place to stay the night.

Services include a safe and clean place to stay, food and backup clothing, comfort kits with personal hygiene items, emotional support and health services.

Breakfast will be served in the morning. The Red Cross said the shelter will remain open for as long as there is a need.

The shelter is located at the College Avenue Baptist Church located at 4747 College Ave., San Diego 92115. It will be open Tuesday night.

A magnitude-4.5 earthquake centered in Riverside County produced shaking Wednesday morning across a widespread area of Southern California.

Shaking was reported in several Riverside County communities and areas of Los Angeles, San Bernardino and Orange counties, including beach cities. The Riverside County Sheriff's Department and San Bernardino County Fire Department said there were no immediate reports of damage.

The quake was reported at 6:42 a.m. two miles north of Banning, a town about 85 miles east of downtown Los Angeles along the 10 Freeway in the San Gorgonio Pass. The earthquake in the San Andreas fault zone was initially reported with a magnitude of 4.8, but later downgraded to magnitude-4.5.

The USGS received hundreds of responses on its earthquake reporting page. Weak to light shaking was reported in Riverside, San Bernardino, Irvine, Mission Viejo, Anaheim, Newport Beach, Long Beach, Downey, other parts of Los Angeles and the high desert.

Residents said the shaking lasted about five seconds.

Landslides were reported after the earthquake on State Route 243 near Twin Pines Road in the Banning area, but authorities did not immediately confirm they are connected to the quake. Caltrans crews were responding to the slide, which occurred as heavy rains hammered Southern California during a week of storms that have increased the threat of landslides.

The quake was located within the San Andreas fault system, according to the USGS. Some of the region's strongest quakes have occurred within the expansive fault zone, which slices the state in two from northern to southern California.

Previous magnitude-4.5 and greater quakes along the fault in the Banning area were reported in 1986, 1988, 1992 and 2005. The largest was a magnitude-5.9 quake north of Palm Springs in July 1986.

Last week, a magntiude-4.3 quake shook the Devore area, about 40 miles northwest of Banning.

 A local community group submitted a ballot proposal Tuesday calling for changes to the City of San Diego’s Citizens Review Board on Police Practices.

"Women Occupy San Diego" submitted the proposal to the San Diego City Council Rules Committee to be considered for the November ballot. Members of the group say they hope the full Council will review the proposal to allow the public to vote on the changes.

Some of the proposed changes include having independent investigators for the Review Board, more diverse citizen board members and opening all of the Board meetings to the public. To help with the diversity of the board, the proposal would allow city council members to appoint board member from their districts.

Click here to see all of the proposed changes. 

An NBC 7 Investigates story revealed two former board members, Lucy Pearson and Benetta Buell-Wilson, said they think the board has a “fixed” and ineffective review process. According to the women, the process subverts the board's intent, something that’s detrimental not just for citizens but for SDPD officers as well.

Buell-Wilson and Pearson claim a lack of transparency and secret decision-making stifles dissent between members and the city. Both women said CRB members who are "pro-police" get the more serious cases, depriving the complaining citizens of a fair hearing.

Click here to see the complete investigation.

Women Occupy San Diego members said the NBC 7 Investigates story inspired them to "include independent legal counsel” for the Board in the ballot proposal.

“Our proposal is a very comprehensive proposal that completely changes the Citizens Review Board to make it truly independent, to make it accountable to the community and to make it transparent,” Kate Yavenditti, an attorney and active member of Women Occupy San Diego, said.

The ballot proposal is supported by 20 local civic organizations including ACLU of San Diego and Imperial Counties, Black and Brown Lives Matter, Citizens Oversight Projects and National Action Network-San Diego.

The Review Board was approved by voters in 1988 to help relieve tensions in the city after the shooting death of a police officer by a young black man in southeast San Diego.

Gerry Braun, Communications Director for the City Attorney’s Office, said the Office does not take a position on initiatives like these. “Our role, once voters make a decision at the polls, is to help implement the will of the voters and to defend it against lawsuits,” he said in an email to NBC 7 Investigates.

Per Council policy, any ballot proposals to be considered by City Council had to be submitted to the City Clerk’s office by Tuesday, January 5. Those proposals are then forwarded to the Council Rules Committee to be considered. That meeting will take place January 13.

Read the full response from Braun in the City Attorney’s Office and Elizabeth Maland, the City Clerk, below:

Hello Lynn,
The City Attorney’s Office does not take positions on citizen initiatives. Our role, once voters make a decision at the polls, is to help implement the will of the voters and to defend it against lawsuits.
As you know, when critics of the San Diego Citizen’s Review Board on Police Practices have complained about its methods or responsibilities, this office has directed them to the initiative process that is now being used.
Yours are policy questions best directed to policymakers.
Best,
Gerry

Hi, Lynn –
As the City Clerk, I can only speak to the process. Council Policy 000-21 provides procedures for the submission of ballot propositions to the City Council, by members of the public, Councilmembers, the Mayor or mayoral departments, independent department directors, or a public agency. The procedures are intended to provide sufficient time for consideration of proposals by the Council Standing Committee chaired by the Council President, or other Committee designated by the Council President, prior to potential consideration by the Council.
As publicly noticed, any ballot proposition submitted to my office by 5 pm on January 5, 2016, is forwarded to the Committee Consultant for docketing at the January 13, 2016 (Rules) Committee Meeting. At that meeting, the Committee members may act to forward any, all or none, of these ballot proposals to the full Council. The full Council would then subsequently consider the proposals for placement on the June 7, 2016 ballot. After confirming with Ms. Yavenditti that she wished for the potential ballot proposition submitted by “Women Occupy San Diego” to be forwarded to the Committee Consultant for the January 13, 2016 Rules Committee Meeting, my staff did so.
Liz
Elizabeth Maland, City Clerk
City of San Diego

Whether or not the Chargers wind up moving north for the 2016 NFL season, the front office seems to have poisoned the well of public opinion here.

During an in-house video interview recorded for the team’s website yesterday, Chargers chairman Dean Spanos claimed the Bolts have spent 14 years "working very hard" on nine stadium proposals the city has rejected -- and as a last resort targeted the Los Angeles “market”, home to 25 percent of their fan base.

"When the Rams decided to make their move there, this was a decision to protect our business,” Spanos said. “And we so find ourselves where we do right now."

Those remarks prompted disbelief from folks who pride themselves on fact-checking.

Each of the nine local stadium-site explorations – which really didn’t begin until 2003 – was dismissed as less than definitive.

Meantime, the Chargers were scheming on the Carson site long before the Rams went public with their Inglewood plans.

Critics insist they never gave a second thought to the city's proposal to build a new facility on the current Qualcomm Stadium site.

The team has reaped $36 million in rent credits over seven seasons at “The Q” because of the infamous "ticket guarantee”.

Since then it's wound up paying no rent, essentially, when the city by now should be getting upwards of $10 million a year under a controversial lease that has annual escape clauses.

"What you see is that every time a city official in San Diego has embraced the strategy of appeasement,” says former city attorney Mike Aguirre, “they've ended up not only hurting the city, but destroying their political career -- a la Susan Golding."

Aguirre’s reference was to the U.S. senatorial ambitions of a former mayor who had signed off on the Chargers’ guarantee of revenue for unsold seats -- only to see it become a focal point of taxpayer outrage.

In an email Tuesday to NBC 7, Chargers special counsel Mark Fabiani said the team has stopped responding to its critics.

He characterized them as "consistently wrong", adding that "they should have no credibility with anyone at this point."

A Border Patrol agent has been arrested on charges of forcible lewd and lascivious acts on a potentially drugged minor, officials confirmed to NBC 7 San Diego.

Daniel Alfredo Spear, 45, was recently arrested by San Diego Police (SDPD) officials on charges of forcible lewd and lascivious acts on a person under the age of 18 and administering or furnishing drugs to a minor, said Lt. Albrektsen with SDPD’s Sex Crimes unit.

The details of what lead to the charges are unclear. NBC 7 San Diego has reached out to multiple agencies and will update this story when we learn more.

Since his arrest, Spear has been placed on paid administrative leave pending the outcome of this investigation, U.S. Border Patrol spokesman Mark Endicott said.

Border Patrol officials have been cooperating with all investigative agencies on the case, Endicott said. An internal investigation has since been launched.

It was unclear if Spear has retained an attorney. Jail records showed Tuesday night Spear had bailed out. 

He is scheduled to be arraigned Jan. 7 at 1:30 p.m., according to the San Diego District Attorney's office. The DA's office is handling the case. The full list of charges he is facing will be announced at the time of his arraignment.

No further information was immediately available. 

A 4.5-magnitude earthquake that hit four miles north of Banning, Calif., Wednesday morning was felt by some San Diego residents, from North County to downtown.

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) reported the quake hit at 6:42 a.m. The epicenter was about six miles from Beaumont, Calif., 22 miles from Palm Springs, Calif., and 26 miles from San Bernardino, according to the USGS. There were no reports of injuries or damages.

In San Diego County, residents reported feeling the rattle in areas like San Marcos, Oceanside, Vista, Carmel Valley, Fallbrook, La Costa, Rancho Penasquitos, Chula Vista, Ramona and even in Santee, as well as the Gaslamp Quarter in downtown San Diego and Little Italy. Temecula, Menifee and Winchester residents also reported feeling the earthquake.

Many locals described feeling the sensation of a "jolt" or "rumble" as the small Southern California earthquake struck.

Did you feel the quake in your neck of the woods?
 

North Korea said Wednesday that it has successfully conducted its first hydrogen bomb test, which if true, would mean a dramatic escalation of the country's nuclear capability. The announcement came soon after South Korea reported a seismic event resembling an earthquake 30 miles from the Punggye-ri site where the notoriously secretive and impoverished North has conducted nuclear tests in the past.

South Korean officials and some experts questioned whether the explosion was indeed a full-fledged test of a hydrogen device. Speaking on condition of anonymity, a senior South Korean military official told NBC News that "we presume that it was not a hydrogen bomb test."

North Korean news agency KCNA reported that the country's leader, Kim Jong Un, "made the final decision on Jan. 3 to go ahead with the hydrogen test and accordingly we have conducted hydrogen bomb test at 10 a.m. on Jan. 6 with total success."

North Korea held its last nuclear test in 2013. That test was also an underground test. If Wednesday's claim is true, it will be the fourth nuclear test conducted by the country since it first tested a device in 2006, U.S. officials said.

Heavy rainfall is expected to sweep San Diego County again Wednesday, with the strongest showers hitting in the afternoon hours.

NBC 7 meteorologist Jodi Kodesh says heavy El Niño storms similar to Tuesday’s conditions will move into San Diego later in the day. Light showers will linger in the morning hours as the storm system develops.

Kodesh says the potential for heavier rainfall will begin in the North County around 10 a.m.
“As we head into the afternoon hours, it will blanket the county with possibly heavy rain, possibly thunderstorms once again,” Kodesh explains.

Temperatures will be in the upper-50s, she said, so bundle up. Also, slick roadways will persist throughout the county so drive slowly and safely.

The National Weather Service (NWS) says a winter storm warning remains in effect. This warning brings rising snow levels to mountain regions in Southern California, with heavier snowfall expected Wednesday afternoon through early evening, and again late Wednesday into early Thursday morning.

The NWS says visibility in the snowy mountains may be compromised, with some areas experiencing blowing snow and fog. Visitors into the mountains should be prepared for hazardous driving conditions and should be equipped with chains for their tires, extra food and warm clothing. A flashlight and extra water should also be kept in one’s vehicle in case of emergency amid the snow.

The NWS says a flash flood watch is also still in effect in San Diego County through Thursday morning, in all coastal, valley and mountain areas below 4,500 feet.

As periods of heavy rain continue, the threat of flash flooding lingers, as well as mudslides and debris flows, the NWS says. As always, there is a possibility the flash flood watch could be upgraded to a warning, as was the case in the midst of Tuesday’s storms.

Check back for weather updates on NBC 7 throughout the day.
 

A champion off-road race car driver helped rescue people stranded in surging floodwaters wrought by the first in a series of El Niño-driven storms pummeling the Pacific Coast.

Elias Hanna, a Baja 1000 champion several times over, rushed to the aid of drivers stranded in the waterlogged streets of San Diego's Kearny Mesa neighborhood on Tuesday. Water levels surged to 3 feet in a matter of minutes, trapping drivers on Balboa Avenue near Off Road Warehouse, where Hanna works.

"Everyone kept going through it so I thought, 'OK, let's try it; hold on!'" recalled driver Bree Wrinkler, whose car stalled in the rising floodwaters between Mercury and Convoy streets. "Halfway through, my car just died and I had to wait for somebody to come push it out."

Wrinkler said within minutes, the whole street was underwater.

Hanna, who is used to driving through difficult conditions and challenging terrain, got behind the wheel of one of Off Road Warehouse's four-wheel drive Jeeps to rescue stranded drivers. One by one, Hanna pushed stalled cars out of the dangerous flood waters.

"I saw people in danger. We might as well help them out, take them out of the way," Hanna told NBC 7.

The rescue mission drew a crowd of nearly 100 as people stepped outside of nearby businesses to watch Hanna and his co-workers and cheer them on.

"We have friends all over the street, so they were cheering for us hoping each vehicle would pull out," Hanna said. "We’ve never seen Balboa Avenue like we did today."

After a full day of rescuing drivers and passengers, Hanna offered some advice.

"If you see a big lagoon, if you don’t have a four-wheel drive vehicle just don’t go through it — or we come out and save you," he said.