A pickup truck crashed into a building on Baltimore Drive in La Mesa early Tuesday.

Heartland Fire Department crews responded to Baltimore Drive at 6:15 a.m.

The driver of a pickup truck fell asleep at the wheel and woke up after the crash, La Mesa Police said.

The truck hit a retaining wall and took down a tree.

Driver may have suffered a concussion and back injury. He was transported to Sharp Memorial in Kearny Mesa.

No other information was immediately available.

Check back for updates on this breaking news story. 

The U.S. Justice Department will announce Tuesday its comprehensive review of the North Charleston Police Department.

A former officer in the department faces charges in the shooting death of Walter Scott.

Check here for a live stream at 10:20 a.m. ET.

A West Virginia woman who died after undergoing plastic surgery at a South Florida clinic suffered a fat embolism, or clogged blood vessel, according to the medical examiner's report.

Heather Meadows died earlier this month after fat entered her bloodstream and blocked an artery during a procedure at Encore Plastic Surgery in Hialeah, the medical examiner said. Meadows was a 29-year-old mother of two, according to her family.

A heart defect also contributed to Meadows' death, which was listed as accidental, according to the examiner. Meadows' mother told NBC 6 she was unaware of her daughter's birth defect.

Meadows and a friend had traveled from West Virginia to Encore for a procedure known as a Brazilian butt lift, described on the clinic's website as a combination of liposuction and a fat graft. The procedure is meant "to make the glutes look round and firm" by redistributing fat, according to the clinic.

Meadows, whose procedure was first, went into cardiac arrest during surgery, according to police. She was rushed to a nearby hospital and pronounced dead.

Encore Plastic Surgery is fully licensed, according to police, who said they are working with the health department to investigate Meadows' death. A manager at Encore was not available to comment Tuesday morning. An email to the clinic was not returned at the time of publication.

In a phone interview Monday, Meadows' mother told NBC 6 she is distraught and taking care of Meadows' two young children.

She said she plans to take legal action and has hired a local attorney to investigate her daughter's death. The attorney has requested all Meadows' medical records.

The family is now working to have Meadows' body sent home to West Virginia for burial.

A big piece of NASA history showed up in San Diego Bay over the weekend, but it won’t be in town long.

The giant orange-colored rocket-shaped object is called ET-94 and it’s making news for several reasons, on an historic trip from New Orleans to Los Angeles.

“If you show them a picture of a space shuttle stack, they immediately identify it as the big orange thing, but I don’t think most people realized this is what housed all of our propellants,” said Dennis Jenkins, Project Director for the Samuel Oschin Air & Space Center, which is where it's headed.

The $60 million external fuel tank that held 1.5 million pounds of fuel needed to get the space shuttles into orbit is the only one left in the world.

NASA built 136 of the fuel tanks over the years, which if laid flat, measure out to half a football field in length. The other 135 disintegrated on actual missions.

"It lasted about 8 and a half minutes to get to orbit and then the tank was jettisoned and burned up on re-entry. This one survived because we never flew it,” said Jenkins.

Following the 2003 Columbia Shuttle Disaster, caused by a foam strike from the same kind of tank, scientists picked apart the foam exterior of ET-94 searching for answers.

Now, it's on a remarkable journey for display alongside the shuttle Endeavor. Similar to Endeavor, it will make its way through 16 miles of Los Angeles streets starting late Saturday night.

The journey began last month in New Orleans, where the tanks were built. A tugboat dragged the barge and its space cargo through the Panama Canal.

Last Thursday, the adventure took a turn when the crew rescued a liferaft full of stranded fishermen in the rough seas about 200 miles south of San Diego. The rescued men got off the boat at the 10th Avenue Marine Terminal as the barge docked for some work.

Jenkins said the tugboat was scheduled to leave the terminal Tuesday morning and head to Marina Del Rey.

That is when the real logistical challenge starts through the streets of Los Angeles.

Trolley service in the South Bay resumed Tuesday after some problems with the signal crossings.

Northbound and southbound trains have been running at the Metropolitan Transit System (MTS) station in Chula Vista.

For the past day or so, trolley service along a two-mile stretch south of downtown San Diego has been interrupted due to signal problems.

Buses were used to move travelers Monday night along the Blue Line trolley service  between the E Street and Iris Avenue stations.

One signal could not be used so trolleys had to travel especially slow through that section for safety reasons.

A contractor doing work on signals along the tracks did not finish the job before Monday’s commute, according to MTS officials.

But the sensors on the crossing arms seem to be working fine as of 6 a.m. Tuesday.

MTS will put out updates on their Twitter page and their website.

Another major player in the grocery business sets up shop in San Diego County.

German discount market Aldi just opened its 25th store in Southern California in 8 weeks, this one in Vista on University Avenue.  The store chain plans to open another 20 stores by the end of the year.

Aldi promises to save shoppers money by stocking more than 90% private label or store brand products which they say are prices much less than brand name labels.  It also limits its inventory to just 1,500 of what it says are the most common household products.

Stella Taylor says she was surprised by the low prices, "I was really stoked on checking out the prices."

Sheena Walczyk was surprised by the size of the store which at 12,000 square feet is much smaller than a traditional grocery store.

"You think it's a small grocery store," said Walczyk, "but it has so many items in here that you don't expect."

Aldi also says it saves shoppers money by not bagging groceries.  Instead customers pay for paper or plastic bags and fill them with the groceries themselves.  On top of that, shoppers pay a quarter to rent a shopping cart which is paid back when they return the cart.

"We don't have to pay someone to go out there and find those carts for us," said Bob Schmalz, the Aldi Director of Store Operations.

The stores only have five aisles but carry produce, dairy, fish and fresh meats.  They also have a large wine section which they say was expanded for California shoppers.

Aldi does not require a membership and does not accept coupons.  Bob Schmalz says Aldi is looking for expansion locations in San Diego County but no announcement is ready.

Aldi joins WinCo, Gelson's and Smart & Final which has made major moves into the San Diego area in the last 12 months.

People are stealing cars in San Diego and disguising their stolen statuses to sell them to unsuspecting customers, according to local auto theft detectives. They said it is an illegal operation called “vin cloning” or “car cloning” that cheats victims out of tens of thousands of dollars. 

People “make the stolen vehicle look legitimate in every aspect,” Officer John Nelson with the California Highway Patrol said. “The paperwork and the vehicle identification (VIN) plate and everything. It’s very difficult for regular patrol officers as well [to tell].” 

San Diego County Regional Auto Theft Task Force detectives told NBC 7 Investigates cars are stolen in San Diego and sent to Mexico to get “cloned.” That means the criminals literally pry the manufacturer-installed VIN plates off the cars’ dashboards and replace them with other plates from cars that were not stolen. Detectives said the VIN could be from a salvaged car, found online or by just walking through a parking lot and snapping a photo of a parked car’s VIN plate. People are also adept at replicating all other car registration documents to make the stolen car seem as legitimate as possible, according to detectives. 

With the new identity, the disguised stolen cars are brought back to San Diego and sold on sites like Craigslist or through individual transactions. 

“It’s really on-demand crime,” Christopher Basso with CarFax said. “Someone wants a high-end vehicle. They’re stealing those cars. They’re stealing VINs from similar cars and manipulating paper work and making those stolen cars look exactly like those similarly registered vehicles.” 

According to detectives some signs the car you are looking to buy might be a cloned car include:

•  Sold on a site like Craigslist or through a questionable individual purchase
• Vehicle is advertised for much less than it should be, even if used
• Seller asks for cash and seems to want to make a quick sell
• Lack of car history information
• VIN plate seems tampered with (scratches or bubbles) 

NBC 7 Investigates spoke to Ocean Beach resident Gary Komo whose Ford F250 was stolen in an elaborate local car cloning scheme. He said his car was stolen from right outside him home. 

“To have your whole car stolen. You whole truck, yeah just a major violation,” Komo said.

After getting “cloned” in Mexico, the detectives found Komo’s truck and more than a dozen other cloned cars on the Barona Indian Reservation and in the East County. 

Detectives determined Brandon McNeil of Lakeside was the mastermind behind selling the cloned cars in San Diego. McNeil and his family are well-known in San Diego’s and Baja’s off-road racing community.

NBC 7 Investigates learned this was not McNeil’s first run-in with the law. He and his brother Tyler McNeil were convicted in Arizona for running a similar operation. They sold salvaged cars for more than they were worth, according to court documents. 

Brandon McNeil pleaded not guilty in the San Diego case. His attorney said his client did not know the vehicles were stolen and had no interaction with those who initially stole the cars. Tyler McNeil did not respond to NBC 7 Investigates’ requests for comment on the Arizona case. 

McNeil has been criminally charged in San Diego for trying to sell these fraudulent vehicles to victims. They include low income families with multiple children, according to detectives.

“When law enforcement comes to take the stolen vehicle, you’re stuck without a car and likely a high loan,” said Basso.

Detectives said, on average, cloned cars are sold for $40,000-$60,000. At times, they’re sold for as much as $80,000 depending on the vehicle. Insurance likely does not cover this kind of loss, according to Basso.

Basso’s final tip to avoid a cloned car is to do thorough research on the vehicle’s history. He said you have to know what you are buying before putting down your hard-earned money. Good thing to keep in mind: If the deal is too good to be true, it probably is.

A man wanted in the deaths of a Washington couple turned himself in Monday to the U.S. Marshals Service in San Diego.

Tony Clyde Reed, 49, is suspected of helping his brother John Blaine Reed, 53, in the killing of Patrick Shunn and his wife Monique Patenaude in April.

Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office confirmed Tony Clyde Reed made arrangements to turn himself in Monday morning. Reed was booked into San Diego County Jail.

Shunn and Patenaude were reported missing on April 12 in Oso, Washington, just northeast of Arlington.

Shunn was last seen at his workplace the day before and his wife was seen outside the couple’s home.

Authorities found two vehicles belonging to the couple on April 14 in a remote wooded area, north of their home.

Evidence inside the vehicle led authorities to believe there was foul play involved.

Authorities launched a nationwide manhunt after their car was found in Phoenix on April 18. Authorities believed the brothers had fled to Mexico.

Shunn and Patenaude have not been found.

John Bliane Reed is still outstanding, according to the Snohomish County Sheriff’s Department.

A San Diego-based company that makes popular baby carriers has pounced on a new, timely design: a carrier that commemorates the centennial of the San Diego Zoo.

In collaboration with San Diego Zoo Global, TULA Baby Carriers has released the exclusive Roar! carrier emblazoned with a colorful lion and its flowing mane – the official logo that celebrates the zoo’s milestone 100th birthday.

The soft structure carrier is made with light gray canvas and the vibrant lion design is embroidered onto the central body panel. The carrier’s hip belt includes the year the San Diego Zoo was founded – 1916 – as well as the 2016 centennial year.

According to the Tula website, the ergonomic M-position carrier can be used in both front and back positions for babies 15 to 45 pounds. Babies weighing seven to 15 pounds can use the carrier with a Tula Infant Insert. A toddler-sized version of the carrier fits little ones between 25 and 60 pounds. It comes with a removable hood, a large front pocket on the hip belt, extra padding for both parent and baby and adjustable straps.

The Roar! carrier is available online ($189 for the baby size; $199 for the toddler size) or at select retail locations across San Diego County. Tula says 10 percent of proceeds from online purchases of the product will be given to the San Diego Zoo Global Wildlife Conservancy, up to $10,000, which provides support for wildlife conservation efforts at the zoo, Safari Park and the San Diego Zoo Institute for Conservation Research.

Tula says the Roar carrier is a limited edition product but should be available through at least the end of summer.

Tula was founded in 2009 by San Diego resident and mother of three, Ula Tuszewicka and her husband, Mike Pham. The couple and their children are longtime San Diego Zoo members and – like many zoo visitors with little ones – often wear their babies on their visits.

“The Tula community across the world shares our passion for the experiences zoos offer to our families. In fact, we have a local Tula Love group that visits the San Diego Zoo regularly!” said Tuszewicka in a press release.

As a tribute to customers who wear their babies to the zoo, the company has declared May 21 “Tula at the Zoo” day, encouraging families around the world to visit their local zoo and share snapshots of themselves wearing their babies.

Those visiting the San Diego Zoo that day can test out the Roar! carrier with reps from the company and can enter to win the product, plus future admission for four to the zoo.

An elementary school in Lemon Grove is out 43 laptops after an unknown thief stole the computers from a storage shed on campus, officials said.

The San Diego County Sheriff’s Department (SDSO) said the theft happened at San Miguel Elementary School located at 7059 San Miguel sometime between April 27 and April 28.

According to detectives, the suspect gained entry into a storage shed and stole nearly four dozen black DELL Chromebook laptops worth approximately $12,000.

There were no surveillance cameras around the area of the shed, so there is no video of the theft, officials said. There is no suspect description at this time.

Detectives said the laptops will only work when they’re connected to the Wi-Fi service of San Miguel Elementary School. When the laptops are turned on, the screens display the message: “Property of the Lemon Grove School District.”

As of Tuesday, no arrests had been made and the computers had not yet been recovered. The investigation is ongoing and anyone with information can call Crime Stoppers at (888) 580-8477. Tipsters can remain anonymous and may be eligible for a $1,000 reward leading to an arrest in this case.

Parents of Poway Unified School District students received an email Monday warning them that student records were released accidentally.

The records were released under a California Public Records Act (CPRA) request. By state law, public agencies must provide records on request to anyone who wants to inspect the records during office hours. There are some exceptions to this rule like birth or adoption records or attorney-client discussions.

However, there is also a federal law that protects students’ education records from being released without a parent’s written permission.

The email from Associate Superintendent Malliga Tholandi said the records handed over under a CPRA included directory information and district-based test scores. No social security numbers were included, she added.

No date was indicated on when the records were mistakenly released.

“As we investigate the inadvertent release of this information and work diligently toward ensuring it will not happen again, the PUSD administration has confirmed with the San Diego County District Attorney’s office the released information has been secured,” Tholandi said.

The Board has called a special session for Wednesday at noon.

Parents were advised to email Info@powayusd.com if they needed any other information.

The strange case of a woman found dead inside the truck of a man who led police on a pursuit through El Cajon is now being investigated as a homicide, authorities confirmed.

The El Cajon Police Department (ECPD) said homicide detectives are working to determine why San Diego resident Ginger Juanita Curtis, 41, was killed.

Curtis’ body was found inside a truck driven by Robert George Oakes, 54, on the night of May 13 after Oakes led police on a chase that ended with him crashing into a tree in the 600 block of Broadway in El Cajon.

Oakes died in the collision. When officers searched his vehicle, they made a grisly discovery in the passenger side: the lifeless body of Curtis.

According to investigators, Curtis was stabbed once in the chest and killed before the crash. Her death was deemed suspicious.

Police said the pursuit began just after 9:45 p.m. on May 13when officers were called to reports of domestic disturbance at Oakes’ apartment in the East County.

When officers arrived, they found Oakes driving away from his home in a red Mazda truck. Police tried to pull him over around 9:55 p.m., but he refused to yield. He ran a red light and a police pursuit ensued. The ECPD broadcast a description of the suspect and his truck to surrounding agencies.

At 10:03 p.m., a San Diego County Sheriff’s Department (SDSO) deputy with the Santee station spotted the suspect’s truck in Santee and began to follow the vehicle south toward El Cajon. Officials said Oakes ran another red light and the deputy tried to pull him over. Again, he failed to stop.

The deputy chased Oakes onto Cuyamaca Street and then eastbound to Fletcher Parkway, which turns into Broadway.

A few minutes into that leg of the pursuit, Oakes lost control of his truck and hit a tree in the center median on Broadway.

The deadly crash shut down traffic in both directions on Broadway, from Cherrywood Way to Ballantyne Street, for many hours. Pieces of the red truck were strewn about the roadway along with other debris from the wreck. The tree hit by the truck was also in pieces.

The ECPD said Curtis and Oakes knew another but detectives are still trying to determine the nature of their relationship. The investigation is ongoing.

A neighbor told NBC 7 Oakes had moved in with a woman and said there was constant “noisy fighting” coming from his apartment.

Businesses play a key role in getting more of their employees out of their cars and onto their bicycles, one local transportation official said at Tuesday’s Bike to Work kick-off event.

SANDAG and its partners offered complimentary bike maintenance checks, safety tips and free snacks as a way of promoting Bike to Work Day on May 20. Cyclists who register in advance can use one of the more than 100 pit stops to pick up freebies and snacks this Friday. See the map here.

Qualcomm not only hosts a subsidy program for its employees who commute by bike but also supports the annual event by hosting a pit stop.

Elizabeth Best works with Qualcomm’s Sustainability team said the company sees a benefit in promoting healthy behaviors among their staff.

Just recently, they've launched a "CO2 and You" to help employees reduce their carbon footprint.

“We actually have signs next to our elevators right now encouraging employees to take the stairs,” she said.

A workplace gym or dry cleaning services at the office can help improve the chances that an employee may park their car and hop on their bike to get to work, Carlsbad’s Transportation Manager Craig Williams said.

“Sometimes you consider driving because you don’t have other options to do the errands that you need to do in the morning or at noon,” Williams said.

When a company offers amenities people need, that can make it more attractive to bike to work, he added.

There are 1340 miles of bikeways in the San Diego Regional Bike Plan, SANDAG officials said. In 2013, SANDAG committed $200 million to add 77 miles of new bikeways within a decade.

“Go by Bike” project teams will be out in four areas to answer questions about how the agency is developing bikeways in San Diego.

Get more information on SANDAG's Bike to Work Day here.

The family of a local firefighter who took his own life after struggling with PTSD for nearly a year wants to save other families from suffering the same fate.

"I just can't let him go quietly because we lost an angel,” Chad Vakili’s sister, Laleh Hanks said.

Vakili, 32, was a firefighter for the US Air Force in San Diego and served one tour in the Middle East.

He was diagnosed with PTSD a few years after his tour.

Vakili was getting therapy and was on medication, but both had been postponed a couple weeks ago during a recent move away from San Diego. Vakili died on May 1.

“Could I have called him one more time? Should I have brought it up? And there are a lot of people struggling with this, and we just want them to know that it's not a weakness. It's something we can get through together,” Hanks said.

She said she wants her brother to have the memorial he deserves. Vakili’s family is asking that anyone who is available to please come to the service at The Church At Rancho Bernardo, the funeral procession, or the salute to service on the freeway overpasses on the way to Miramar National Cemetery where Vakili will be buried.

Everyone is welcome to attend the memorial at the cemetery.

"We just want to give him the service that he deserves, and we just ask for support from our neighbors and, you know, citizens. We have to pull together and help our heroes."

She also said she is determined to do more to spread the word about PTSD.

"These men and women have gone to war and obviously seen things that we can't possibly relate to, and they stood in front of us and it's our time to stand behind them,” she said.

Hanks said she plans to collect signatures to change how veterans get treatment.

"I do believe that we should demand that therapy as part of their benefit once a week and not just leave it up to the veteran. There needs to be an effort to save these heroes,” she said. "I just really think we need to treat this almost like alcoholism. We need to teach coping skills… I'm very frustrated that the solution now seems to be medicine.”

She said she keeps asking herself “what more could we have done?” and has decided to start a website what that title.

"I know Chad was our angel, but I know that there's another veteran right now that probably took their life and they were somebody's angel."

The details of the Thursday afternoon service can be found here. 

Three fishermen stranded on the Coronado Islands in Mexico were rescued Monday in a joint effort by the San Diego Coast Guard and the Mexican Maritime Search and Rescue.

Around 9:30 p.m., a woman reported to the Sector San Diego Joint Harbor Operations Center that her brother and his two friends were stranded after their fishing boat capsized.

The MH-60 Jayhawk entered Mexico airspace after receiving permission while the crew of the Coast Guard Cutter Petrel and a team from Mexican Maritime Search and Rescue combed the waters off the coast of Mexico.

The Coast Guard helicopter located the fishermen after spotting a fire on the beach of the Coronado Islands.

The men were flown to Sector San Diego around 11:30 where the U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers as well as EMS evaluated them.

All three are Mexican nationals and were taken into custody to be taken back to Mexico.

A pregnant woman was stabbed at her home in El Cajon on Monday night by her ex-boyfriend’s current girlfriend, police said Tuesday.

Police said the victim told officers that she was at her home with her two daughters, ages 1 and 3, when the woman forced her way inside the apartment at about 11:30 p.m. The incident happened in the 1200 block of Petree Street.

The woman, who is 10 weeks pregnant, was taken to the hospital after suffering multiple stab wounds to her arms, face and chest. The injuries did not appear to be life threatening to her or her unborn child, police said.

Tuesday afternoon, the victim was due to be released from the hospital, officials said.

The suspect, whom police say is dating the victim’s ex-boyfriend, was found inside a car near her home in the 200 block of West Park Avenue.

Coincidentally, the suspect's boyfriend also was with her. A neighbor told NBC 7 that she heard him screaming as the suspect was apprehended by police.

"He didn't know. He was asleep in the car and he was shocked and screaming," neighbor Cheryl Castillo said, noting the man was concerned for the welfare of the children inside the apartment as well as the victim.

Shagirah Akila Joyce, 28, was booked in the San Diego County Jail on suspicion of attempted homicide.

Police have not revealed a specific motive, nor the extent of the woman’s injuries.

Court records show Joyce has had several run ins with the law. Most recently, she pleaded guilty in March to driving under the influence and resisting an officer.

She's also been charged with possession of a controlled substance and knowingly receiving stolen property.

The County Treasurer-Tax Collector’s Office will be mailing 38,343 delinquent reminder notices to taxpayers who failed to pay one or both installments of their 2015-2016 secured property taxes, County Treasurer Dan McAllister confirmed.

Taxpayers late on their payments will incur a 10% late fee and a $10 cost redemption fee.

Those who have not paid by June 30 will accrue an additional penalty of 1.5% per month.

The total amount due on the delinquent accounts is $91.7 million.

“The good news is delinquencies are down 4.8% this year compared to last,” said McAllister. “We want to make sure taxpayers with unpaid bills don’t end up owing even more after June.”

Taxpayers can pay online and sign up for free e-notifications about future property tax deadlines.

The County Treasurer-Tax Collector’s Office sent out 986,858 annual secured property tax bills to property owners last September, and 98.29% of the total secured charges have been collected.

Payments are due in two equal installments: on Nov. 1 (delinquent after December 10) and Feb. 1 (delinquent after April 10).

The scene has been cleared in a head-on crash that sent at least one person to the hospital with serious injuries Tuesday evening. 

It happened around 6:30 p.m., shutting down East Vista Way and Bobier Drive for more than an hour, North Comm Fire confirmed. 

The driver of a silver Toyota sedan crossed over the center line as he went through an intersection on Vista Way and collided into a tree trimming truck, San Diego Sheriff's Department (SDSO) said.

The truck was stopped in the left turn lane at the stoplight.

He was airlifted to Palomar Medical Center with head trauma.

The driver of the truck was not injured.

SDSO says it is not clear how fast the man was driving and if alcohol or drugs were a factor in the collision.

No other information was immediately available.

Check back for updates on this breaking news story.