Residents in a Paradise Hills neighborhood were left with a huge mess when a driver damaged five cars parked along a street Thursday morning and then fled the area.

The San Diego Police Department (SDPD) said an unknown driver crashed his Ford Mustang into one car along the 5500 block of Potomac Street just before 1:30 a.m., spun out and also hit a fence. The impact caused a chain reaction, and the vehicle hit by the suspect was pushed into four other parked cars.

The driver’s car ended up in a resident’s yard and the suspect took off on foot after causing the damage. As of 6 a.m. Thursday, the suspect had not been arrested, police said.

Paradise Hills resident Norm Shoemaker told NBC 7 today was supposed to be his day off and he and his roommates had planned to go to the San Diego County Fair.

However, all of their vehicles were damaged in the incident and now they will spend the day cleaning up the mess in their yard.

“Two cars in the driveway were turned vertical from where they were at when we left,” Shoemaker explained. “And, walked into the driveway a little further, and I saw a car completely smashed into my roommate’s car.”

Shoemaker heard the commotion and ran out to see what was happening on his street. He said he saw the driver get out of his car. Shoemaker said he told him to stop, but the man ran away.

No one was injured in the incident, police said. The crash is under investigation.

Mayor Kevin Faulconer and other community leaders held a ribbon-cutting ceremony for a new parklet opening in East Village on 16th Street Thursday.

"This is the start of really fostering open spaces, more walkability...bikability," Mayor Faulconer said. "This is a milestone under the city's new permit process...We streamlined that process...so we can create more spaces like this one in the near future." 

Rob Nelson Pedestrian Plaza is the first under the city’s new permit guidelines, and the first to be installed during Faulconer’s term in office.

This parklet is part of the East Village Association's "Do The Ride Thing" initiative, which is based on encouraging the increased use of alternative transportation while improving urban street aesthetics for those who live, work and play in East Village.

The opening comes amid a controversy over big rocks installed along Imperial Avenue by the City and pushed by a former city employee who worked closely with the Padres. The rocks were meant primarily to relocate homeless people before the All-Star game, according to emails between a city traffic employee and city ballpark administrator, John Casey.

"I understand the frustration," Councilmember Todd Gloria told NBC 7. "But what we have to do as a community is actually commit to doing the hard work, and I think too often people are looking for a simple solution to homelessness. Homelessness is an incredibly complex problem." 

He said the answer is long-term rapid rehousing and permanent supportive housing, programs that have been adopted in other cities. 

"We're a great city. We're better than this," Gloria said. "We can get this done." 

The City said the rocks were installed for public safety reasons, and The Padres said they never requested the rocks. Casey is no longer employed by the City.

A JetBlue flight crew helped a grieving woman who was traveling to be with family after losing her 20-year-old grandson in the Orlando massacre, NBC News reported. 

As they were taking beverage orders, two flight attendants passed around a piece of paper to the other passengers, asking them for signatures to cheer the woman up on the plane ride. But passengers began writing paragraphs, filling up pages.

Once the flight ended, the crew held a moment of silence in memory of her grandson, Luis Omar Ocasio-Capo. 

Passengers, on their way out of the plane, gave condolences to the grandmother and stopped to talk to her. 

Flight attendant Kelly Davis Karas, from Maine, wrote about the experience on a Facebook post, which has since gone viral. She said she wanted to share her story so that people could know that even after such unspeakable evil, there can be good.

NBC 7 has learned the motive for placing rocks below an underpass near downtown San Diego may have been to clear the area of homeless people before Padres games at Petco Park this season.

NBC 7 obtained hundreds of emails between City of San Diego officials involved in the project, which show there was a push to install the rocks before the Padres 2016 Opening Day game.

When that deadline could not be met, the focus turned to completing the project prior to the Padres All-Star Game coming up in July.

The Padres deny being involved in the project and said that a now-former Petco Ballpark Administrator acted on his own behalf.

The rocks were placed below the Interstate 5 overpass on Imperial Avenue in April.

They have become the topic of heated controversy in the community.

The area was known to be filled with tents or sleeping bags belonging to the homeless.

Homeless advocates argued the rocks deterred people from sleeping below the underpass and were forcibly moving the homeless out of the area.

Some residents said that it made the area safer for them to walk around.

According to back and forth emails between city officials, the plan had been in the works since July 2015. The project also called for installing LED lights around Petco Park and along Imperial Avenue, putting up “No Parking” signs and painting the curbs red.

Those involved in the initial plan were the San Diego Police Department (SDPD), city officials from Real Estate Assets and the Transportation & Storm Water Department.

Caltrans approved the permit for the project by March of this year but did not approve the LED lights.

In a statement, the City said the public wanted lights to be installed in the area to make it safer.

City Councilmember David Alvarez for District 8 said his office was never notified of this project and no lights were ever installed.

“The unfortunate thing about this project is, while the rocks were installed, there were no lights. So what the community was actually asking for has not occurred,” Alvarez said.

Now, questions are being raised about special treatment and lack of community input for the project.

“It always takes a really long time to get anything done but it sure seems this project got pushed along quickly without any community input and that’s what’s really worrisome,” Alvarez said.

The San Diego Padres added they also wanted lights and “No Parking” signs. The team says they never requested rocks below the underpass and did not want to deter the homeless.

Alvarez said the rocks send the wrong message from the city.

NBC 7 spoke with the former Petco Ballpark Administrator on the phone Wednesday.

He said he was not let go from City because of the project and that it was not an attack on the homeless. He also stated that he stands by the project because it was a way to beautify the area of Sherman Heights.

The former employee told NBC 7 that the project is working and people now feel safer walking in that area.

Pacific Beach residents gathered Wednesday night to voice their concerns over heavy alcohol use in their beachside community, and how that could be fueling violence in their neighborhoods.

Many residents feel the prevalence of bars and excessive use of alcohol is to blame for creating crime in the area.

“I have two teenage daughters who won’t go down Garnet Avenue after 10 o’clock,” said Pacific Beach resident Brian Curry, who has spent the last decade trying to make his community safer.

Curry was one of at least two dozen locals at a Pacific Beach town council meeting Wednesday night, where alcohol was the hot topic.

“What happened here in Pacific Beach is we’ve had a clash of personalities and a clash of ideologies that’s really disjointed,” Curry explained. “The alcohol problem has been such a hot topic. Let’s all come together and come up with a solution.”

Rob Hall with the North City Prevention Coalition said Pacific Beach had 192 violent crimes last year, leading to the community’s current ranking as the second most crime-heavy community in San Diego.

“The purpose of tonight’s meeting was to get everyone on the same page,” said Hall. “This issue isn’t new. It’s been around a long time, and yet we keep hearing statistics off the police website and someone says, ‘Oh, you’re a liar, you just made that up.’”

Sara Berns, director of Discover Pacific Beach, works closely with bars and restaurants in the area. She attended Wednesday’s meeting as well, and argued that local businesses are working with the community to reduce crime.

“This conversation always turns into an ‘us versus them’ or this side versus that side. I don’t think anybody wants to be known for crime. I don’t think anyone wants there to be a lot of crime. We’re also talking about a lot of people who come to Pacific Beach,” Berns said.

Curry said it’s unfortunate that this debate has carried on for long.

“We’ve been doing this going on 10 years,” he lamented. “[We’re] trying to come up with a solution. Something has to happen; people are visiting and they’re saying they’re never coming back to our beach areas.”

And although the theme of the community meeting was to implement solutions that work, neither side seemed to have a clear answer on how to reduce alcohol-related crimes in Pacific Beach – at least for now.

A 36-year-old driver was killed when her car overturned in Jamul Wednesday night in what California Highway Patrol (CHP) officials suspect was a DUI-related crash.

The deadly collision happened just after 9:15 p.m. on eastbound State Route 94 east of Otay Lakes Road in unincorporated San Diego County.

CHP investigators said the woman was traveling at 45 mph when she failed to negotiate a curve in the roadway. She drifted off the road and overturned her car on the pavement.

Investigators said the driver was not wearing her seat belt. She was thrown out of the car prior to hitting the pavement.

Officials said she died at the scene. Her name was not immediately released but the CHP said she is a resident of Dulzura.

No other vehicles were involved in the crash, which remains under investigation. The CHP believes alcohol was a factor.

A North County native who destroyed local records as a kid will compete in the Olympic Trials later this month.

Kendyl Stewart of Carlsbad said she feels ready to break through into the Summer Olympics in Rio De Janeiro.

“I think it will be exciting to see because I finally have made progress,” she said.

Stewart attends University of Southern California, where she’s the senior captain and an eight-time All-American swimmer. She stands alone in the Trojan record books.

How did it all start? Her mom enrolled her in water safety classes at a young age. That was enough to stir her passion for swimming.

And long before she accepted a scholarship to USC, she had a bigger dream of swimming in the Olympics. Stewart competed in the 2008 Beijing Olympic Trials as a 13-year-old.

Four years later, a high school senior at the time, she competed again in the 2012 London Olympic Trials.

Now 21, Stewart finds herself gearing up for her next shot, this time with a legitimate chance at making the team.

“There is more pressure. It is more exciting in that sense,” she said. “But I really do try to keep the pressure off a little bit.”

Her signature even is the 100M butterfly – a full sprint where muscle mass makes a difference.

After some hard work in the college weight room, she feels ready.

“I’ve gained 10 pounds of muscle,” she said. “For me, I’m like, ‘Woohoo.’ For other girls, they’re like, ‘Oh please, seriously.’”

Stewart said her secret to success is pretty simple. It’s something she learned a long time ago while swimming her hometown club team, North Coast Aquatics.

“It’s important for me to maintain the love of the sport or else it’s a drag because it’s a lot of work to put in if you’re not totally enjoying it,” she said.

Eater San Diego shares the top stories of the week from San Diego’s food and drink scene, including a peek at a new Italian eatery in Little Italy, word on a Baja chef's first local restaurant and a pro's list of essential local barbecue spots.

Barbusa by Busalacchi's Bring Modern Sicilian to Little Italy
The Busalacchi family of restaurateurs unveils the transformation of their old school steakhouse Po Pazzo into a modern trattoria that reflects the family’s Sicilian roots. Barbusa should open this weekend, with a menu of Southern Italian specialties, including housemade pasta and seafood dishes.

Designer Paul Basile & Chef Drew Deckman Partner on Bankers Hill Project
Local designer Paul Basile, whose high-profile projects have included Ironside Fish & Oyster, will open a new restaurant in Bankers Hill that showcases the talents of executive chef Drew Deckman, who runs the Valle de Guadalupe's acclaimed Deckmans en el Mogor. The wood-fired, seasonally-minded restaurant is due in early 2017.

Where to Eat Barbecue in San Diego
A certified barbecue judge shares her essential spots in San Diego with Eater for our first annual Barbecue Week. Authentic favorites, including Coop's West Texas BBQ in Lemon Grove and North Park's Grand Ole Asado Y BBQ are featured, along with their best smoked meat options.

The Grill at The Lodge at Torrey Pines Reopens
After a multi-million renovation, The Lodge at Torrey Pines just reopened its casual eatery, The Grill. The new dining digs feature an expanded outdoor seating area and revamped menu from executive chef Jeff Jackson that's fueled by a new custom-made wood grill and oven.

Where to Find Asian Grilled Meats in San Diego
From Korean barbecue to Japanese yakitori, San Diego boasts a number of great Asian restaurants dedicated to the art of grilling meat. Eater's list will show you where to find the best spots for juicy slabs of marinated beef sizzled on tabletop grills to delicate skewers of chicken turned over charcoal.

Authorities are asking for your help you find a suspect who stole more than $4,000 worth of construction tools and new windows from a store in Allied Gardens on Thursday morning.

The theft occurred around 6:15 a.m. at Clear Concepts Windows and Doors Construction located on the 7500 block of Mission Gorge Road.

The suspect cut the padlock on a gated storage area and loaded the tools and windows into a silver pick-up truck, according to the San Diego Police Department (SDPD).

A surveillance camera recorded video of the suspect and his truck.

He is described to be in his 30s, wearing a black baseball hate, orange safety vest over a red long sleeve shirt and blue jeans. His vehicle is an older model silver Dodge Ram 1500 with damage to the front driver hub area and stickers on the rear window.

Anyone with information is asked to contact SDPD at (619)531-2000.

As San Diego’s craft beer industry continues to thrive, a new program is helping local microbreweries tap into the business without risking it all.

Developer H.G. Fenton Company’s Brewery Igniter Program is helping San Diego brewers realize their dreams of opening their own facilities and tasting rooms in communities that appreciate the craft culture.

The program leases small suites known as “turnkey breweries” that come fully equipped with everything needed to launch a brewing business: from barrel systems and a keg washer, to a bar and beer tasting area.

The program is designed to give small brewers the chance to go into business quickly and invest less capital upfront as they get their brewery up and running.

“Basically, it’s a collection of turnkey breweries for rent,” H.G. Fenton portfolio manager Bill Hooper told NBC 7. “Our target customer is not the hobbyist, but someone who is an experienced brewer, who wants to start a craft brew business.”

Brewery Igniter’s first two brewhouses – Pure Project and Amplified Ale Works – opened this year in Miramar, side-by-side at 9030 Kenamar Dr.

Pure Project debuted in late January, bringing its Costa Rica-inspired vibe and unique tap list to the community known by brew enthusiasts as “Beeramar.”

Co-founder Mat Robar said when he and his business partners heard about the Brewery Igniter Program, they jumped at the chance to open their own tasting room in San Diego.

“The Brewery Igniter Program really allowed us to quickly move into this space and quickly be up and running, as opposed to the traditional route, which may take a year to order and get your equipment, several months to get your permitting and work through all the contractors yourself and that type of stuff,” Robar told NBC 7.

“It really eliminated a lot of those headaches and roadblocks that may be preventing a lot of other breweries from opening up. It allowed us to get up and running in about six months, give or take,” he explained.

Rock-influenced Amplified Ale Works opened its Miramar tasting room in May. This is the brewery’s second location.

The original Amplified Ale Works is in Pacific Beach but co-founder Alex Pierson said the brewery needed to expand in order to be able to meet the growing demands of customers.

“We’ve had our location in Pacific Beach for four years now and just hadn’t been able to meet the existing demand that we’ve had,” Pierson explained. “To be able to come in here and do some production brewing has been great.”

Within a month of operating in Miramar, Pierson said Amplified has really ramped up production, quadrupling the amount of beer they were able to produce when they only operated from the Pacific Beach site.

This includes more batches of Amplified’s best-selling brew, Electrocution IPA, the classic San Diego Westcoast-style IPA of which the brewery just can’t seem to make enough.

“That was one of the key selling points for the Brewery Igniter Program for me, was the opportunity to grow and meet the existing demand that we already have in Pacific Beach, without overextending ourselves and trying to grow too fast in an industry where everyone is moving at a very rapid pace,” Pierson told NBC 7.

Amplified's Miramar location offers more than 12 house beers on tap. With this facility and more resources, Pierson said he expects even more growth for his company.

With 128 breweries now operating in San Diego, the Brewery Igniter Program is quickly gaining buzz.

Claudia Faulk, CFO Partner at Aztec Brewing Co. and a member of the San Diego Brewers Guild board of directors, said she wishes the program had existed when her brewery was first coming up.

“I think it gives people an opportunity to jump right in and not have to be as stressed about not having equipment. You don’t always know how to set things up; this is already set up and you can see how things work and when you make the next step, you’re not going to make as many mistakes,” said Faulk.

“I know when we started, we didn’t know what we were doing,” she added, saying that opening a microbrewery is much harder than it looks.

“There’s a lot of paperwork and a lot of steps – the build out. You have to figure out how big you want to be and then it’s like, ‘How much money do I have?’ because that determines how big. And then it’s ‘What did you forget?’ because everything costs more than you think it will,” Faulk explained.

Brewery Igniter will hop to North Park next, with plans to open three turnkey breweries in the heart of San Diego’s craft beer scene. Each of those 2,000-square-foot spaces will include a 10-barrel brewhouse, tap room and other equipment to start a beer business.

H.G. Fenton Company is still sifting through potential tenants to fill those suites, which will all be housed in the same building, making it easy for patrons to hop from brewery to brewery.

Hooper said Brewery Igniter is also looking to expand to the North County, also a hotbed for hops.

“H.G. Fenton’s mission is to help businesses succeed so whether it’s the craft brew industry or a tech startup company, we want to be there to help them with that,” added Hooper.

And, for entrepreneurs trying to make it in a competitive market, a little help is certainly worth a toast.

“We’re a small team; we’re all kind of chief cook and bottle washer at this point,” Robar said with a laugh. “I don’t know if we’d even exist without the Brewery Igniter Program.”

A new Interstate 805 ramp and carpool lanes will soon open to motorists in Sorrento Valley, aimed at easing congestion on the heavily-traveled San Diego freeway.

The project targets the Golden Triangle, one of the most gridlocked areas in the county and is expected to improve the commute. An estimated 100,000 drivers pass through the Golden Triangle each morning, including 14,000 Qualcomm employees who regularly use the route.

The new southbound I-805 ramp is on Carroll Canyon Road and will take thousands of drivers directly into the carpool lanes.

At 11 a.m. Thursday, SANDAG and Caltrans officials will unveil the direct access ramp, which is specifically for carpools, clean air vehicles and motorcycles. Officials will also open four miles of new HOV lanes spanning from State Route 52 to Mira Mesa Boulevard.

The new freeway ramp and lanes will officially open to traffic starting next week.

Two fishermen were rescued in Oceanside Harbor Thursday morning after they encountered huge swells, causing their 16-foot boat to overturn.

"[We] cheated death today," survivor Ted Tielens told NBC 7 after the rescue.

The Oceanside Fire Department and Harbor Police launched rescue efforts in the water near the 1400 block of North Pacific Street just before 8:40 a.m. after Tielens' boat flipped.

Minutes later, crews were able to pull both Tielens and his grandson-in-law, Zach Petite, out of the water. Besides feeling shaken up, the men suffered only minor scrapes and bruises.

Tielens and Petite spoke with NBC 7 and recounted their harrowing boating accident.

The men said they were fishing in the bay and, when they realized they weren’t catching any fish, they decided to venture out into the harbor.

When they arrived at the mouth of the harbor, they were met with huge waves, including one that crept up behind them that was approximately 10 feet. When the men tried to maneuver their boat to get away from the wave, the vessel was overpowered by the water and overturned.

"We sped up but the break caught up with us, buried the bow and we went over," Tielens recounted.

The men told NBC 7 their vessel was destroyed and they lost everything on board, including clothing, fishing gear and equipment. Harbor Police towed the wrecked vessel out of the water.

Still, Tielens and Petite were grateful it wasn’t worse and that they came out alive.

"Neither myself nor my grandson-in-law were injured. Everything's fine," Tielens added.

This rescue came amid a beach hazard warning and high surf at many of San Diego's beaches.

Tielens and Petite said they have been fishing in Oceanside Harbor for about seven years, and have never seen waves like the ones they survived Thursday.

Eight prisoners of war from World War II through Vietnam visited with museum guests aboard the USS Midway Museum about their experiences Thursday.

"Today we have several prisoners of war from World War II, one fella that was on the Pueblo and was a prisoner in North Korea for a year, one fella from Vietnam, one fella from the...police action in Korea and then there's one fella that was captured as a child in Manila with in family in World War II and basically was a child prisoner for almost four years," retired Navy Captain Jim Reily told NBC 7.

Reily's father was a bombardier during WWII who was shot down during a raid in Austria and captured by the Germans. 

He was held at the same camp where "The Great Escape" happened for nearly a year, and after he was released he went to flight school and became a fighter pilot in the Pacific. 

"It's a frightening kind of a thing because your liberty's taken away. You're not really sure whether you're going to make it out of there or not," Reily explained. "Food was really bad, sanitary conditions were terrible." 

Reily said his father got very sick with dysentery during his imprisonment and was down to 90 pounds at one point. 

Veteran Larry Strickland was captured in North Korea while on the USS Pueblo, an unarmed spy ship, in 1968. 

"We weren't really built for fighting...We were supposed to have help within 15 minutes that didn't' show up," Strickland said. 

He spent 335 days in a prison camp before the U.S. government negotiated their release. 

The event was organized by the San Diego chapter of the American Ex-Prisoners of War, a group that gets together regularly for social events and to mutually support each other. 

San Diego, Major League Baseball’s 2016 All-Star Game is coming.

You’ve seen the headlines and the billboards, and no matter how well or in this year’s case, how poorly, the Padres are playing -- at least we’ve still got the big game to look forward to on Tuesday, July 12. Hey, if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em, right?

Thankfully, for those of us that notice the sound of a batter’s walk-up music just as much as the crack of their bat, MLB has announced three free blockbuster concerts at Embarcadero Marina Park South in the week leading up to the All-Star Game! And no, “free” wasn’t a typo.

Of course, concerts are all fine and dandy but if they aren’t packin’ 100-mph fastball heat, they’re a dime-a-dozen. Luckily, the league has done us a solid and America’s Finest City is in store for some yuuuuge acts.

On Friday, July 8, soulful pop/rock band OneRepublic and special guest alt-rock radio mainstays NEEDTOBREATHE hit Embarcadero Marina Park South at 7 p.m.

The next day (Saturday, July 9), Grammy-nominated pop singer/songwriter Tori Kelly steals the hearts and minds of the San Diego faithful with acclaimed pop/punk band All Time Low opening the show, which starts at noon.

And lastly, but definitely not least, you know her from No Doubt and NBC’s “The Voice” -- multi-platinum-selling pop artist Gwen Stefani takes the stage later that evening (Saturday, July 9, at 7 p.m.) with Grammy Award-winning hip-hop star and accomplished actress Eve in tow. That, my friends, is a grand slam if we’ve ever seen one.

Gates at Embarcadero Marina Park South will open 90 minutes ahead of the shows’ scheduled start times, and if you’re planning on going, be sure to stick around after the two evening concerts for a special fireworks show!

Now to the nitty gritty: According to a MLB press release, “Fans can obtain a free standing room-only ticket based on availability at AllStarGame.com/concerts beginning Friday, June 17th at 10 a.m. PST. Free tickets, which may not be sold, must be downloaded, printed and brought to Embarcadero Marina Park South for entry to the concert. Limit two tickets and one show per individual request.”

As if these three shows weren’t enough, they’re all part of MLB’s Pepsi Music Series, which will feature a huge range of artists that will be performing throughout All-Star Week. The full lineup will be announced at a later date, so be sure to stay tuned to SoundDiego.com for more details.

A deputy public defender who once served as the top manager for San Diego County's juvenile branch has been arrested and charged with possessing and distributing child pornography.

David D. Lamb, 44, faces two federal charges alleging that on at least two separate occasions, he had possession of child porn and tried to distribute the material to others as part of a file-sharing program, according to court documents obtained by NBC 7.

He appeared in federal court in Santa Ana on Thursday.

Prosecutors said federal agents first came across an encrypted online social media platform in late 2014 that allowed users to trade child pornography photos and videos.

They traced an IP address to Lamb’s computer at his Mission Hills apartment, court documents allege.

After serving a search warrant in September 2015, agents found 847 child porn images and hundreds of videos on his computer and other devices, according to court documents.

Investigators also said they found online chat conversations between Lamb, who went by the pseudonym ‘sdattorney,’ and other users, where he requested specific types of child pornography.

Lamb has not worked at the San Diego County Public Defender’s Office since September 2015, said Public Defender Henry Coker.

“To say the least, I am saddened by this development. I have great faith and confidence in our criminal justice system and will await the outcome of the process,” Coker said.

Lamb once defended Elizabeth Smart's kidnapper, Brian David Mitchell, on a prior charge that he faced in San Diego.

Lawyers who worked with Lamb and residents at his apartment complex were shocked by the news.

"It's definitely unsettling," said one neighbor, who wished to not be identified. "I had no idea anything like that would be happening here."

The Chargers are off on summer vacation after wrapping up mini-camp Wednesday afternoon.

While they're taking a break from x's and o's, some of the guys are working on something very important: their swag.

If you’re unfamiliar with the term, it means swagger or our overall demeanor and level of confidence. For most, “swag” is heavily influenced by your wardrobe.

Have I lost you?

Veteran Chargers tight end Antonio Gates is right there with you. At 35 years old, he finds himself looking to his younger teammates on how to stay hip.

"Age is a number, so I feel younger because I'm around younger guys,” he said. “I got the music; the younger music is totally different from what I got. The jeans are so much tighter now. Everything is so different now so I'm trying to adapt to that whole situation. The guys are wearing stuff that we just wouldn't dare wear. So it's just one of those things where I'm just adjusting to everything and enjoying it at the same time."

Gates often speaks about his friendship with Bolts wide receiver Keenan Allen who came into this week with the news of a four-year contract extension. Gates has been a mentor for Allen since he joined the team, but now Allen says it’s his turn to be the teacher.

"I’m just trying to keep him with what's hot right now. He still likes wearing those baggy pants and fitted hats and I'm like ‘Gates you have to calm down. Take a breath and watch me now.’ You watch me off the field when I get dressed and when we go on the field I'll watch you” Allen said.

Wednesday’s minicamp was the last OTA of the off season and you could sense the excitement on the field.

The defensive players have been in high spirit since off season workouts began. Their sideline celebrations seemed bigger each time they hit the grid iron as they forced turnovers in practice. While we're still months away from hitting the field for the first preseason game, the players and coaches are confident in the progress they've made so far.

"I'm very happy with the off season program. I couldn't be happier at this point in time” says Chargers Head Coach Mike McCoy. “There always going to be some mistakes in every practice we have and some things we need to clean up, but very pleased with the way the players have worked. Whether it's bringing in the new free agents that we've brought in, the way they've practiced every day, the way they've worked--the veteran leadership and then the way the draft picks have fit in, it's really going to help our football team moving forward."

The Chargers are off for the next five weeks and will return for training camp at the end of July. The Bolts head to Tennessee to face the Titans in week one of the NFL preseason.

In his second start as a Padre and in his first appearance in a home white uniform at Petco Park, Erik Johnson made the Washington Nationals put the ball in play.

Unfortunately for Johnson, the ball didn’t always stay in the park as he allowed three costly homers and the first place Nationals took the series opener 8-5.

The right-hander worked his way into the 3^rd inning with a 2-1 lead before losing control of the game. Bryce Harper and Wilson Ramos smacked back-to-back homers to give Washington a 4-2 advantage.

After that, the Padres were playing catch up again and as we’ve seen many times in 2016, they have a tough time digging themselves out of early holes.

Wil Myers cut the deficit to 4-3 when he blasted a solo shot in the 5^th inning. It was the 15^th homer of the season for the Padres first baseman, which ties him with Matt Kemp for most on the team.

But any momentum for the home squad evaporated the very next inning when Washington’s Anthony Rendon made it three total homers off of Johnson. Rendon sent an 0-2 offering over the fence in left-center to make it 5-3. 

The Nationals tacked on another run in the 7^th off of Padres reliever Brad Hand and two more insurance runs off of Matt Thornton in the 9^th.

Padres manager Andy Green said in his postgame press conference that Johnson "battled" and that this was “a better effort,” than his first outing against Colorado but the righty still fell to 0-2 since joining San Diego.

Johnson allowed five runs on seven hits in six innings of work. He also struck out two and walked two.

Kemp and fellow outfielder Melvin Upton Junior each collected two hits in the loss and combined for 3 RBI. The pair contributed RBI singles in the first inning to give San Diego a brief 2-0 lead and Kemp added a sacrifice fly in the 9^th. 

Kemp is batting .361 in the month of June and is 22-for-61 over the course of his last 15 games.

Christian Friedrich is slated to start Friday against former Padres 1st round pick Joe Ross. First pitch is set for 7:40 p.m.

A NASA spacecraft is on track to rendezvous with Jupiter after a nearly five-year journey.

The space agency said Thursday the encounter between Juno and Jupiter will occur on July 4. That's when Juno will fire its main engine to slow down and slip into orbit around the biggest planet in the solar system.

Juno launched from Cape Canaveral in August 2011 on a long and increasingly strange trip that will put the orbiter through a harrowing approach to Jupiter. NASA and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California even produced a Hollywood-style trailer to illustrate the perils that await.

The spacecraft will fire its main engine to slow down, then move into place to begin its orbit around the fifth planet from the sun.

It will be a delicate, precisely calculated celestial dance.

"It's a one-shot deal," mission chief scientist Scott Bolton from the Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio, Texas, said Thursday. "Everything is riding on it."

Once in place, Juno will begin circling Jupiter's poles and peering through clouds to study how the planet formed and evolved. Unlike Earth, which is a rocky planet, Jupiter is a gas giant made up mostly of hydrogen and helium.

"Jupiter is a planet on steroids," Bolton said. "Everything about it is extreme."

Previous missions to Jupiter have relied on nuclear power sources this far out from the sun. Juno is unique because it has solar panels that are designed to face the sun during most of the mission.

It will orbit the planet for 20 months — that's 37 times around — before ending its mission in February 2018. After all that, the orbiter will simply burn up as it soars toward the planet's surface. 

Juno's instruments are protected from radiation by a titanium vault. It also is equipped with a camera, which should provide stunning views if previous missions are any indication. 

Previous Jupiter visits showed its signature Great Red Spot, a long-lived storm, and its many moons.  The Galileo mission dropped a probe on the planet's surface and conducted 14 years of exploration. 

But many questions remain, such as whether Jupiter has a solid core and how much oxygen and water are present. 

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The Associated Press contributed to this report.

A father punched a manager at a Kosher supermarket in Brooklyn in a wild confrontation that was allegedly sparked when one of the managers chucked a peach at the man's daughter when she wouldn't get off a hoverboard at the store.

Three people were arrested after the brawl broke out at Central Market on Division Avenue in Williamsburg on June 9, police said.

The store erupted in chaos shortly after a 24-year-old woman came into the store on a hoverboard and got into an argument with store managers, according to police. Witnesses told NBC 4 New York a nephew of the woman had been riding the hoverboard inside the store and employees asked him to stop.

Police said that one of the managers allegedly chucked a peach at the woman while another tackled her to the ground. The woman's family told NBC 4 New York the manager actually threw a soda can at her, leaving her with a cut under her eye.

“I believe it was a can, a can of Coke,” the woman’s 41-year-old father, Mark Soto, said. “My daughter tells me after the fact, when she felt something hit her in the face, she looked down and saw a can of Coke. There was no peach.”

After the can or peach was allegedly thrown, Soto showed up and confronted the men.

Video from the interaction that was posted to Facebook shows Soto punching one of the managers in the face near a checkout line as several people yell. Soto tells the manager "I'll kill you" several times as other workers in the store yell.

Soto then walks around the checkout lines as several employees hold up cardboard boxes as shields. Soto again threatens to kill the man before leaving.

Soto denies he yelled racial threats during the brawl and says the video only shows him as the aggressor. He says he said things in the heat of the moment that he would not have followed through with.

“I might have said a couple of words out of anger, but nothing that I would actually, physically do to anyone. I would never harm anyone,” he said.

The two managers and Soto were all charged with assault after the incident, police said. Only one of them — the man accused of throwing the peach — is being charged with a felony. Because of the injuries the victim reportedly sustained, the peach is being considered a weapon. Soto and the other manager are facing misdemeanors.

The grocery store declined to comment Thursday, but the man who posted the video to Facebook said in a post that the manager was falsely accused of throwing a peach at the girl.

Community leaders said the workers never threw anything and that they are the victims.

“Two innocent people were arrested, both of them being managers,” community activist Isaac Abraham said.

Community activist Gary Schlesinger says the managers were wrongfully arrested and had “nothing to do with the altercation that was outside of the store.” 

Gothamist first reported the grocery store fight.

Dozens of State Department employees have signed an internal document that calls for airstrikes against the government of Syria's President Bashar Assad, a position that's in contrast with the White House policy, NBC News reported.

The "dissent channel cable" was signed by 51 State Department officers who have been involved with U.S.-Syria policy, an official familiar with the memo told The Wall Street Journal.

The document repeatedly called for "targeted military strikes" against Assad, who has been fighting rebels and ISIS for over five years, the newspaper reported.

Former U.S. Ambassador to Syria Robert Ford told Reuters the dissent channel cables are not unusual but the number of signatures on this latest document is very large.