Some Oceanside teens have created a Public Service Announcement (PSA) they're hoping will keep other teens from falling victim to drugs and violence.

The group ranges in age from 12 to 17 years old and they already understand the harsh realities of life.

"Anything can happen at any time. Just because you’re with one of your friends it doesn't mean you’re going to be safe all the time,” said one of the teens.

It's a lesson they're now trying to teach others.

They created a Public Service Announcement and entered it in an anti-marijuana contest held by the North Coastal Prevention Coalition. The person who gave them the idea is one of the survivors of last month's deadly shooting at Libby Lake Park.

He was shot six times.

Twice in the head.

"Sometimes you don't realize how important life is, how good it is to live," says the narration -- a part of the PSA that loosely recreates what happened that night.

The teens won the contest and a $1,000 reward. They’re using the money to take a trip to Knott's Berry Farm and are also having a rummage sale this weekend to raise money for the surviving victims.

A driver has been arrested in connection with a hit-and-run crash that critically injured a 4-year-old girl, four days shy of her fifth birthday.

Ricardo Gamez, 20, of Oceanside, was arrested Thursday afternoon, Riverside police announced in a news release Thursday evening.

Driving a black Ford Mustang, Gamez is suspected of speeding down Magnolia Avenue shortly before 2 p.m. on Monday when he broadsided a Chevy Malibu trying to turn right onto Magnolia Avenue from Nelson Street.

In a booster seat, Carlie Rodriguez was in the left rear passenger seat at the time of the crash, police said. She was taken to the hospital with swelling in her brain and was still listed in critical condition Friday night.

Carlie’s father Aaron Rodriguez was driving the family’s Malibu at the time of the crash. His wife was also in the car. Both were unharmed.

The Mustang (pictured below) was reported stolen soon after the crash, but investigators determined that was a false report meant to conceal the driver's identity.

Investigators originally believed the driver of the Mustang may have been racing another motorist before the crash, but said there is no further evidence to support that and they are no longer looking for the driver of a red or orange two-door coupe seen driving next to the Mustang moments before the collision.

Gamez faces one count of felony hit and run, police said. Additional charges are pending against those involved in falsely reporting the Mustang stolen.

Authorities believe a house in Poway was being used as in indoor marijuana growing site.

Three people were arrested on Friday on the 13500-block of Acton Avenue and accused of using a residence as a pot extraction laboratory.

Timothy Tien, 23, Jason Lujan, 25, and 28-year-old Jaime Katzenstein were arrested at the scene. The suspects allegedly operated a mobile marijuana delivery service from the house. They are also accused of making marijuana oil, which is known to cause explosions. They were booked into Central Jail on charges of selling and growing marijuana.

The Narcotics Task Force seized 230 marijuana plants and about 20 pounds of pot at the home. The estimated street value of the drugs is $750,000.

The City of Poway is investigating code violations on the property and the three men will appear in court sometime next week.

LivingSocial, the D.C.-based daily deals site, says more than 50 million customer accounts may have been compromised by a cyberattack.

Customers' names, email addresses, dates of birth and encrypted passwords stored on the company's servers may have been accessed, a company spokesman confirmed in an email to NBCWashington.

The first news of the hacking was reported by All Things Digital.

Credit card information was not accessed or affected, according to the company. Nor was merchants' financial or banking information.

LivingSocial suggests all customers change their passwords on their accounts. The company is in the process of emailing the customers who were affected to help them reset their passwords.

They are also working with law enforcement to investigate the breach.

"The security of our customer and merchant information is our priority," said LivingSocial CEO Tim O'Shaughnessy in the email to customers. "We always strive to ensure the security of our customer information, and we are redoubling efforts to prevent any issues in the future."

Here is the email that LivingSocial is sending to affected customers:

Subject: An important update on your LivingSocial.com account

LivingSocial recently experienced a cyber-attack on our computer systems that resulted in unauthorized access to some customer data from our servers. We are actively working with law enforcement to investigate this issue.

The information accessed includes names, email addresses, date of birth for some users, and encrypted passwords -- technically ‘hashed’ and ‘salted’ passwords. We never store passwords in plain text.

The database that stores customer credit card information was not affected or accessed.

Although your LivingSocial password would be difficult to decode, we want to take every precaution to ensure that your account is secure, so we are expiring your old password and requesting that you create a new one.

For your security, please create a new password for your <<email_address>> account by following the instructions below.
1. Visit LivingSocial.com
2. Click on the "Create a New Password" button (top right corner of the homepage)
3. Follow the steps to finish
We also encourage you, for your own personal data security, to consider changing password(s) on any other sites on which you use the same or similar password(s).

The security of your information is our priority. We always strive to ensure the security of our customer information, and we are redoubling efforts to prevent any issues in the future.

Please note that LivingSocial will never ask you directly for personal or account information in an email. We will always direct you to the LivingSocial website – and require you to login – before making any changes to your account. Please disregard any emails claiming to be from LivingSocial that request such information or direct you to a different website that asks for such information.

If you have additional questions about this process, the "Create a New Password" button on LivingSocial.com will direct you to a page that has instructions on creating a new password and answers to frequently asked questions.

We are sorry this incident occurred, and we look forward to continuing to introduce you to new and exciting things to do in your community.

Tim O'Shaughnessy
CEO, LivingSocial
 

 

The embattled former superintendent of the San Ysidro School District says he will return the money from his severance deal to the school district if he is found guilty of any crime.

Former Superintendent Manuel Paul, who worked for the district for 38 years, is being given a deal to leave as the schools chief. The move comes after allegations of wrong-doing and criminal charges from a San Diego County Grand Jury.

Details of the total severance deal remain unclear, but one part is contained in the superintendent's contract - a year's salary or $186,000. But, there's a caveat: Paul will pay back the money if he's convicted of a crime.

Paul is one of 15 South County school officials and contractors snagged in a public corruption case. He's pleaded "not guilty" to perjury charges, and for accepting a gift from a single source over the legal limit.

Plus, in a deposition for a lawsuit, he testified that he accepted $2,500 in cash from a contractor in the parking lot of a South Bay steakhouse. He said the money was for campaign signs, but changes in campaign documentation after the admission raise further questions about the transaction.

He told NBC7's Education Reporter Rory Devine today that he is confident he will be exonerated of any wrong-doing.

A furious community issued recall notices to three board members who accepted Paul's resignation. Trustee Jean Romero, who was issued a recall notice, told us today that the board made the most fiscally responsible decision possible given the circumstances.

"There is no cause proven yet that Mr. Paul did anything wrong," Romero said. "We had to abide by his contract and by the Ed Code that says we have to pay at least one year of his salary. Had we not complied with that contract, he could come back and sue us for many of thousands of dollars more, and it would cost us legal fees and everything else."

Meantime, the district has shut off the superintendent's district email account after concerns were raised by teachers that he was still using it to direct staff after his March 18 resignation letter.

Paul says he was responding to teachers who were asking him questions and that technically he is still the superintendent until June 30.

Locals have plenty of festivals and parties to choose from this weekend.

Here’s what’s going on in San Diego:

Thursday, April 25

SoundDiego LIVE
7 p.m. at 3829 30th St.
Get on the guest list for the hottest party this week, featuring a free happy hour from Jack Daniels and performances by local bands

Friday, April 26

Art Alive
9:30 p.m. at San Diego Museum of Art
Enjoy spring fun at the Flower After Hours party at Art Alive, the exhibition that features floral interpretations of art.

Best of North County
6:30 p.m. at 7100 Aviara Resort Dr.
Our friends at San Diego Magazine are hosting one of their biggest bashes of the year – get your tickets before they sell out!

Saturday, April 27

Adams Avenue Unplugged
noon to 8 p.m. on Adams Avenue
This free, two-day festival brings out some of the best music from across the country with 180 live performances.

Battle to the Bone
3:30-5 p.m. at Petco Park
Wings-N-Things is hosting a hot wings eating contest to see who's got the strongest stomach in San Diego.

Sunday, April 28

Encinitas Street Fair
7 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Highway 101
The entire city is decked out for their annual street fair that’s fun and free for everyone.

Mission Federal ArtWalk
11 a.m. to 6 p.m. in Little Italy
Bring the whole family to this free ArtWalk that includes kids entertainment and live music.

What are your plans for the weekend? Let us know in the comments below.

Remember all those sick seal lions from earlier this year?

Well now some of them are healthy enough to return back to the ocean, SeaWorld announced today.

Marine mammal experts release eight rescued sea lions into the ocean on Friday afternoon. Five of the sea lions were fitted with satellite transmitters so SeaWorld can monitor their behavior.

The transmitters will eventually fall off the sea lions, according to SeaWorld.

More than 1,100 sea lions have washed up on the shores of California this year. The epidemic, which caused NOAA to declare an "unusual mortality event" earlier this month, has baffled scientists.

SeaWorld San Diego has helped many of the sea lions that have washed ashore by feeding them and providing care at their facility.

NBC 7 has obtained copies of important and previously unreleased evidence in the case of a San Diego police officer shot to death more than two years ago.

The photographs, video tape and crime scene diagrams were presented to a county Grand Jury that charged three defendants with the murder of Officer Christopher Wilson, the attempted murder of four other officers, and other felonies.

Defendants Alex Charfauros, Patrick Luangrath and Melissa Ortiz are charged with murder, even though there’s no evidence that they fired even a single shot that night.

An investigation revealed that the fatal shot was fired by one of two other suspects who had barricaded themselves in at bedroom at the apartment on South Meadowbrook Drive, in Bay Terraces.

Those heavily armed suspects, Holim Lee and Lucky Xayasene, killed themselves after shooting Officer Wilson.

Among the diagrams obtained by NBC 7, whose attorney waged a months’ long legal battle for the release of that evidence, is a diagram that shows where Officer Wilson was standing that night.
He was positioned just outside the bedroom door, where he was hit by a single bullet fired from an angle inside the bedroom.

The grand jury saw cell phone video of Charfauros, who prosecutors say lied to police at the scene, when he told them he didn’t know if anyone else was inside the apartment. The District Attorney said Charfarous lied again, when he told officers there were no drugs or guns inside the apartment.

Those alleged mistruths led the Grand Jury to charge Charfauros with felony conspiracy to resist or delay a police officer.

Luangrath and Ortiz are also charged with that crime.

NBC 7 also obtained video of police interrogations of Luangrath and Ortiz.

In those videos, the defendants both insist they were hiding in a closet when the gun-battle broke out.
But prosecutor Michael Runyon cast doubt on their story, and used evidence to show that the closet was too small, and too crowded, to hold the two defendants.

Runyon also showed the Grand Jury a cell phone video that he said shows  Luangrath handling a pistol and ammunition clip.

He told jurors that an object on the floor near Luangrath was a shotgun, later found in the bedroom, after the shooting.

In another video clip, Ortiz can be seen nodding her head affirmatively, when asked by a detective if she turned out the bedroom lights when police entered the apartment.

Prosecutors say that act gave the shooters an advantage, because police could not see into the bedroom after they broke down the door.

The videos also show what prosecutors say is repeated drug use by some or all of the defendants.
Prosecutors used that evidence to persuade the Grand Jury to charge the three defendants with felony “possession of a firearm by possessor of controlled substance."

The prosecutor’s case is built in part on the legal theory that the defendants are guilty of Wilson’s murder even if they didn’t fire or touch a weapon during the shoot-out, because Wilson’s murder was a “natural and probably consequence” of the other illegal acts they allegedly committed.

The three defendants have pleaded not guilty to the 17 charges that tie them to Officer Wilson's death.
Their lawyers insist nothing their clients did that night, or before the shooting, makes them in any way responsible for Wilson's death.

In fact, the defense claims law enforcement botched that probation raid, and must share responsibility for Wilson's death.

The grand jury did not hear that argument, because jurors only hear the prosecution's case when deciding whether there is enough evidence to charge a defendant with a crimes.

Defense attorneys are not allowed in the jury room, and cannot cross-examine witnesses.

There will be three separate trials for the defendants. The first is scheduled for July 19.

A 5-foot-long chunk of airplane debris found near the World Trade Center site is believed to be a piece of landing gear from one of the planes that hit the towers more than 11 years ago, NBC 4 New York first reported.

Police confirmed Friday that the part was found wedged between two buildings in a very narrow alley only about 18 inches wide between the rear of 50 Murray St. and back of 51 Park Place, the site where a mosque and community center has been proposed three blocks from ground zero.

The part bears a "Boeing" stamp, followed by a series of numbers, as seen in an exclusive photo obtained by NBC 4 New York. 

Police Commissioner Ray Kelly visited the alley Friday evening and viewed the debris from about 30 feet away. 

"It brings back terrible memories to anyone who's here, and obviously I think the families could very well be impacted by this finding," he said. 

Kelly described the piece as being about 5 feet by 4 feet and around 17 inches high, lying in a "very, very narrow, confined area." 

"It's difficult to get in there and see," he said. 

He said there was rope intertwined in part of the gear, and there were no marks on the buildings indicating the piece hit the walls on the way down.

"It would have had to fall down at a certain angle," said Kelly.

Asked whether he was surprised to see such a large plane part anchored in such a tight area, Kelly said: "If you see how confined this space is, and you realize the chaos that existed down here on this street, it's not surprising. It's very, very confined. No cleanup went on in this 18-inch space between these two buildings." 

The NYPD said the landing gear was found after surveyors hired by the property owner inspecting the rear of 51 Park Place called police on Wednesday. See below for a map.

Police spokesman Paul Browne said the NYPD has secured the location "as it would a crime scene," and investigators are photographing the scene and restricting access until the medical examiner completes a health and safety evaluation.

Officials said the soil below the piece of debris could also be searched for remains. 

Police officials say the part could be difficult to remove, and may require demolition work that would destroy the two surrounding buildings. Officials are expected to be back at the scene on Monday to see if it can be removed.

"It really is a historical artifact," Kelly said.

On Sept. 11, American Airlines flight 11 hit the north tower at 8:46 a.m., and United flight 175 hit the south tower at 9:03 a.m.

The rubble from the 9/11 attack was cleared from the 16-acre site by the spring of 2002. Other debris, including human remains, has been found scattered outside the site, including on a rooftop and in a manhole, in years since.

A Boeing representative declined comment.

A couple has been charged with 11 felony counts for allegedly scamming San Diego senior citizens out of nearly $2 million.

Michael Woodward, 50 and 47-year-old Melissa Woodward have been accused of burglary, grand theft, theft from an elder and tax evasion. The District Attorney’s office said the couple sold fake in-home service agreements to more than 230 local senior citizens.

The Woodwards supposedly targeted senior citizens and told them an annual fee would get them non-medical services such as cooking, cleaning, laundry and shopping. An investigation revealed that Woodward and his wife were allegedly failing to provide services they promised.

But the couple was unable to provide the services to the victims and did not reimburse senior citizens for money already paid, according to the District Attorney’s office.

In addition, Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones accused the couple of running a $6 million scam across 10 states.

“The defendants in this case were ruthless and heartless in the way they targeted the elderly and sold them fake insurance policies,” District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis said in a press conference today.

The Woodwards were arrested in Las Vegas two weeks ago and were arraigned in San Diego Friday afternoon. They face up to 16 years in local prison if convicted of the charges.

San Diego police are investigating four home burglaries in a month in which the thieves broke in through the garage door opener’s release latch.

Rancho Bernardo resident Ray Castanon demonstrates a special feature on the garage door of his home.

“If there's a power failure, we're still able to get to our vehicles by simply pulling out with a key and unlocking the door,” Castanon said. .

The wire, accessible through a small lock on the outside of the door, is attached to the release latch of his garage door opener.

While it’s convenient for residents it may also be for thieves.

On Thursday, someone stole $2,000 worth of power tools from Castanon's garage.

“You're in a nice beautiful area, you wouldn't think there would be a problem on this side,” he said.

But there's been a big problem since early April. There have been at least four garage burglaries on the 16000-block of Avenida Venusto.

The garages are detached from the homes here so there's little chance of residents hearing the break-ins.

One resident has put a neighborhood burglary alert sign in his car to warn others.

It’s certainly put victims like Castanon on edge.

“I set my alarm every two hours just to come out and make sure my garage is still in one piece, as well as others,” he said.

Detectives aren't sure exactly how the thieves are getting in. It’s possible they're using a coat hanger to pull that wire.

There are YouTube videos that show how a thief can get that release latch to open the door within seconds.

But the good news is that there is also online information on how to prevent it from happening. A homeowner can use plastic ties to secure the latch or wire mesh to cover it.

In the meantime, Castanon says he'll use a good old padlock to secure his garage and deal with the inconvenience of getting in and out of his car.

The homeowners’ association is warning residents about the garage burglaries through its newsletter. Many residents think the thieves are watching the habits of residents. So they’re informing people that if they see something, say something.
 

A commander who oversaw the school that employed three Marines killed in a murder-suicide in Virginia has been relieved of his job, the Marine Corps Times reported.

Col. Kris J. Stillings will no longer lead the Officer Candidates School (OCS) at the Quantico Base, due to the deaths of Sgt. Eusebio Lopez, Cpl. Jacob Wooley and Lance Cpl. Sara Castromata.

Lopez, 25, shot and killed Wooley and Castromata in March before taking his own life in the barracks. All three were assigned to the OCS.

A general who spoke to the Marine Corps Times about Stillings’ dismissal called the decision “painful” but said it came down to a matter of accountability.

 Read more on the story and Stillings’ response at the Marine Corps Times.

Multiple entertainment websites are reporting George Clooney is very interested in a story line that allegedly happened in Coronado nearly 40 years ago.

In the 1970s, a Coronado High School Spanish teacher acted as a translator for his students in a small marijuana deal which turned them into drug lords.

“You know it's like Coronado's dirty little secret,” said Joe Ditler, who many consider to be the city’s historian. "It’s far from a good clean American novel. It's about a bunch of kids taking shortcuts and getting caught.”

Ditler knows the infamous story behind the Coronado Company, which was a multi-million dollar marijuana smuggling ring started by a former Coronado High School teacher and his students.
   
For ten years Ditler has been working on a book about it and now it's rumored to be the story line of a movie George Clooney interested in.

But it’s something people here would rather not expose in the quiet city of Coronado.

“More than these kids. More than the fact that it was a school teacher that led them through this I think it’s that fact that Coronado was involved,” said Ditler.

And though no one really wants to talk about it, if anyone could air Coronado's secrets, they say it would be Clooney.

“I just want to tell Mr. Clooney: If you're going to do this movie. I think you probably want to give us a call and talk to us about it,” said Ditler.

But the executive director of Coronado's Historical Association said they had no information on this even happened.

So to know the story, you might just have to wait for the movie.

A suspected drunk driver crashed his car into a San Diego cemetery on Friday night, according to police.

The two car collision happened around 9 p.m. at Holy Cross Cemetery at 46th Street Hilltop Street in Chollas View. 

San Diego police say before slamming into the Mount Hope Cemetery gate, the driver of a tan
Toyota Camry rear-ended a red sedan.

The man in the Toyota was transported to Mercy Hospital with a head injury. Police said they suspect he was driving drunk. They estimate he was driving his car at 50 mph in a 25 mph zone.

As soon as San Diegans heard the news – that the San Diego Chargers had selected linebacker Manti Te’o in the second round of the NFL draft – the jokes began.

NBC 7 caught up with Chargers season ticket holder Chris Catano who went right after the Notre Dame alum who made national headlines just a few months ago for his role in an elaborate hoax involving a fake girlfriend.

“Don't know if he's real,” Catano said from a popular bar in Pacific Beach. “I'm here with his girlfriend right now, so things are pretty good for me actually, but Chargers I don't know.”

Many San Diegans only know the Manti Te’o for the Internet hoax involving a girlfriend who didn't actually exist.

“I actually felt really bad for the guy,” Chargers fan Dina Houser said. “ I don't know if that was the female instinct in me.”

Then there were those fans who said they saw this coming, already drawing comparisons between Te’o and the legendary linebacker Junior Seau.

“I don't know what it was. Maybe it was the Hawaiian thing with Junior Seau, maybe that. But I was like, he's going to go to San Diego,” Houser said.

Lars Johnson was visiting San Diego for a mock draft party. He had this analysis:

“You're getting a steal at Manti in the second round, which is great for you guys. But it's also Manti Te’o who, let's be honest, kind of has some issues.”

An officer fatally shot a woman in Paradise Hills on Saturday morning, according to the San Diego Police Department.

Around 12:15 a.m. officers responded to several 911 calls in the area of 6800 Quebec Ct. to reports of a woman stabbing her 9-year-old son and harming her 15-year-old son. Officers arrived to the scene and found the two children suffering non-life threatening injuries, including stab wounds and head trauma.

Police said they eventually found the woman, who allegedly also injured her boyfriend. The man told officers his girlfriend was acting irrationally and had stabbed him and their children. Officers located the woman, and said she was wielding a knife in addition to threatening two men nearby.

An officer ordered the suspect to drop the knife multiple times, according to police. Witnesses said the suspect refused and instead raised the knife above her head and charged at the officer. The officer then fired his weapon multiple times, fatally striking the suspect. She was declared dead at the scene.

The children and man were transported to local hospitals.

Lt. Jorge Duran said officers conducted witness checks at the scene for additional information about the incident and have talked to the victims of the assault.

Police said the officer involved in the shooting is a 5-year veteran of the department.

Check back for updates on this story.

A Homestead man was struck and killed by a passing driver after the driver reportedly sneezed and crashed into him, police said.

Victor Aguiar, 56, was pushing a disabled car on the side of Haverhill Road in Lake Worth early Saturday morning, when another car, driven by Shawn Gruber, 27, crashed into him, said a report from the Palm Beach Sheriff's Office.

Aguiar was pushing the disabled car north on Haverhill Road with Oscar Cristo Gomez, 28, while Michael Gomez Rodriguez, 16, helped steer it. The car did not have lights or reflective markers, according to the report.

Gruber told police he sneezed as he was driving, and when he opened his eyes, he saw the disabled car. He swerved to the left, but hit the disabled car from behind, pinning Aguiar and Gomez between the two cars, police said.

Aguiar was pronounced dead on the scene, while Gomez was transported to Delray Medical Center where he remains in critical condition, the report said.

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Two hikers were rescued safely after spending a night in San Diego’s mountains without food or water officials said.

Two 23-year-olds were found just before 5 a.m. Sunday morning near Cuyamaca Peak.

The men called for help late Saturday saying they were lost and trapped in thick brush on the west side of the mountain.

The San Diego County Sheriff’s Department Search and Rescue team mobilized near the Paso Picacho Campground in the Cuyamaca Rancho State Park located along Highway 79, a few miles north of Interstate 8.

More than two dozen people including members of the Border Patrol’s BORSTAR team and San Diego Mountain Rescue Team helped in the search.

The men were found thirsty and hungry but in good condition deputies said. They were given food and water and guided out of the area by search teams.