A pedestrian suffered serious injuries after she was struck by a car in the Poway DMV parking lot, San Diego Sheriff's Officials (SDSO) said. 

The crash happened at approximately 1:38 p.m. Wednesday when a 67-year-old driver from Poway was backing up in the parking lot, deputies said. 

Instead of pressing the brake pedal, the driver accidently hit the gas pedal, deputies said. 

The car backed up quickly and sideswiped an occupied, parked car, before striking a 39-year-old woman standing in the parking lot. 

The impact of the crash pushed the victim into a parke pick-up truck and pinched her legs between the two cars, deputies said. 

The victim was taken to Palomar Hospital for treatment. 

The driver did not suffer any injuries. 

Anyone with information on the crash is asked to call Crime Stoppers at (888) 580-8477; you will remain anonymous.

No other information was immediately available.

Shocking video emerged Wednesday of a mother passed out from an apparent overdose as her young daughter watched in horror.

Police in Lawrence, Massachusetts, released the video, which shows the mother on the floor of a Family Dollar as her daughter desperately tries to wake her up.

"It's heartbreaking. This is definitely evidence that shows what addiction can do to someone and what happens when they use these types of narcotics," Lawrence Police Chief James Fitzpatrick said. 

Officers found residue and paraphernalia consistent with either fentanyl or heroin in the mother's bag, according to Fitzpatrick. She was revived with Narcan and then transported to Lawrence General Hospital. Police said she will be charged with child endangerment.

"You see someone in the throes of addiction like that, what they're willing to sacrifice," Fitzpatrick said. "I don't know if they have that thought process about what they're sacrificing to feed their addiction."

Overdose cases involving children only account for about 10 percent of the overdoses police respond to in Lawrence. However, it's become part of a much bigger problem.

"I think it's indicative of so many things going on in our society now," said Deanna Cruz, who helps run an opioid prevention program for Merrimack Valley.

Cruz did not watch the video out of respect for the family involved. She also questioned why someone would film the incident, rather than step in to assist.

"Why not help a crying child whose mother is laying there? I like to see her as a person who happens to have an addiction issue," she explained.

Through her work, she hopes to create better collaboration between police, health officials and the public when it comes to addressing addiction.

"We know in order to get addiction under control people need resources. People need long term sustained resources to get their addiction under control," Cruz said. "And that's what we don't have."

Following Sunday's incident, the 2-year-old was taken into "emergency custody" by the Department of Children and Families.

Although necn reached out to the mother involved, she had no comment on the incident.

"We are all impacted by this epidemic. If not personally, you or a loved one," Cruz said. "If you are out in society today, you are potentially going to be exposed to an overdose."

The San Diego Blood Bank will begin testing all of their blood products for the Zika virus, the organization announced Wednesday.

The Blood Bank is the primary supplier of blood to the majority of hospitals in San Diego County.

They will begin the mandatory testing on Thursday and will be in compliance with directives from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

“This is positive news for the community, our donors and the Blood Bank,” commented David Wellis, CEO of the San Diego Blood Bank, in a statement. “Safety is our utmost concern.”

To donate blood, you must be at least 17 years old, weigh at least 114 pounds and be in good general health.

Charges have been dropped against a local doctor accused of stealing drugs from a hospital operating room, and the hospital is taking heat for the way it tried to uncover the theft.

The Medical Board of California has dropped drug theft charges against Dr. Adam Dorin, a former anesthesiologist at Sharp Grossmont Hospital accused of stealing sedatives from a Women’s Health Center operating room.

Court records show that in May 2012, Sharp Grossmont officials suspected that anesthetic drugs were being lifted from operating room drug carts. Two months later, the hospital installed surveillance cameras inside the operating rooms where doctors perform cesarean sections on pregnant women.

Dorin, who was the only doctor charged during the year-long surveillance sting, was seen on camera taking drugs from an operating room cart and returning the drugs the very same day.

His attorney says that the video also shows other doctors taking drugs from carts and using them in other rooms where they were needed.

“In all the articles, Dorin was just getting slandered,” Dorin’s attorney Duane Admire said. “Sharp was saying ‘We caught a drug thief, we did this to catch a drug thief.’ Well, he wasn’t a drug thief.”

Now the hospital is facing a civil lawsuit, not on behalf of Dorin, but on behalf of the patients who say their privacy was violated when they were unknowingly recorded.

Sharp Grossmont did not have any comment related to the ongoing lawsuit, but did release the following statement regarding the decision of the state medical board:

“Sharp Healthcare is pleased that the Medical board of California has made progress on the investigation of Dr. Dorin and Grossmont Hospital. We are confident that the Board conducted a thorough evaluation and support their decision on this matter.”

Community leaders are searching for answers after a San Diego Pride executive was removed from his post.

Former San Diego Pride executive director Stephen Whitburn was fired by Pride board members a few weeks ago, and many questions from the local community have gone unanswered.

Pride confirmed with NBC 7 that 2016 has been a record-breaking year in terms of grants and events, and supporters of Whitburn believe that his leadership had a lot to do with it. They also have a feeling that personal issues among the board are what led to his firing after four successful years.

In a statement issued to San Diego Gay and Lesbian News, the board said that “Stephen Whitburn was a beloved member of the Pride family, but we have parted ways at this time.”

No specific reasons behind his firing have been given, but one board member told NBC 7 that Pride “wanted to go in a different direction.”

The decision led several members of the LGBT community, and Civil Rights Activist the Reverend Shane Harris, to confront the board at its monthly meeting at Pride headquarters on Wednesday and demand his reinstatement. They are also calling for the resignation of some board members as a result of the controversy.

“There was a lot of shock that he was just let go unceremoniously,” former Pride board member Will Rodrigues-Kennedy said. “There are also a lot of concerns about the board operating in a transparent manner.”

Nicole Murray-Ramirez, one of the co-founders of San Diego Pride in 1974, told the National Action Network that the organization's current board is out of touch with the LGBT community.

A trio of young Padres made their major league debuts against the Diamondbacks.

Unfortunately our first glimpse of Carlos Asuaje, Hunter Renfroe, and Manny Margot wound up being rather uneventful on the diamond.

Asuaje struck out in his first major league at-bat, Renfroe was intentionally walked, and Margot pinch-ran and then played centerfield.

All three are expected to start on Thursday against the Giants along with catcher Austin Hedges who was also recalled to San Diego from Triple-A El Paso.

The final score Wednesday night was Arizona 3, San Diego 2.

But in a way, it was really Paul Goldschimdt 3, Wil Myers 2.

That’s because those two players combined for three homers and no one else knocked in a single run.

Goldschmidt ruined a fine outing by Padres starter Luis Perdomo with a solo shot in the first inning and a 2-run blast in the 6th.

Perdomo only allowed five hits over seven innings of work but the two gopher balls he threw to Arizona’s All-Star first baseman were costly.

San Diego managed just four hits the entire contest and could not score in the final six frames.

Christian Friedrich takes the mound Thursday against San Francisco. Hedges is slated to be the starting catcher, with Margot in centerfield, Renfroe in right and Asuaje at second base.

Manager Andy Green added that he will mix and match various lineups over the last few games with Wil Myers the only Padre that is likely to play every day the rest of the way.

One man's trash is another man's trombone. 

An internationally-renowned orchestra from Cateura, Paraguay, that has played with the likes of Metallica brought the sweet sound of music to East Los Angeles using instruments entirely made of garbage.

The "Landfill Orchestra" featured in a documentary of the same name straight from a slum in Paraguay are bringing the message to LA that you can achieve great things even when you start with nothing.

"Who would have ever thought you could make music from recycled items?" said LAUSD music student Kaelee Aguilar.

LAUSD students, many members of their school's music programs, filled Torres High School in East LA to hear a once-in-a-lifetime performance from the unique youth orchestra.

The band used oil cans, pots, and old utensils collected from the Cateura landfill to make the instruments. Three million pounds of solid waste are dumped each day at the landfill.

Cynthia Serbin in the orchestra says she has always loved music.

"My instrument is made out of pan, to cook bread," she said.

She plays a violin with a front made out of an old paint can. The back, a baking pan. Wood from pallets form the rest with a fork stabilizing where the strings end.

It is, to say the least, inspirational.

The thought of rebirthing the trash into musical treasure caught the attention documentary filmmakers.

"I love the topic of 'Landfill Harmonic' because it was discovering magic in the most unexpected place, which is a landfill, Julian Penaranda-Loftus, the producer and co-director of the documentary said. "This is the reason a lot of people want to play the violin. This is the reason music should stay alive."

It is the reason a student from South America can form a bond with a student from East LA, and without speaking a single word, they understand each other perfectly as they play "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" together.

The documentary "Landfill Harmonic" premieres Friday at the Laemmle Theatre in Santa Monica.

Blue Bell Creamery has issued a voluntary recall on some of its ice cream products.

The selected recalled products were produced in its Sylacauga, Alabama, plant because they were made with a chocolate chip cookie dough ingredient supplied by a third party supplier Aspen Hills, Inc., due to the potential for it to contain Listeria monocytogenes, the creamery stated on its website.

This recall covers the following products:

Blue Bell Ice Cream Half Gallons:

• Blue Bell Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough - Code Dates: 082618226

• Blue Bell Cookie Two Step - Code Dates: 080418222, 081818224

Pints:

• Blue Bell Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough - Code Dates: 081518242, 082418242

The products can be identified by the code date found on the bottom of the carton.

The products produced with the chocolate chip cookie dough pieces were distributed in the following ten states Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia.

No illnesses have been reported.

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Although Blue Bell's products in the marketplace have passed their test and hold program, which requires that finished product samples test negative for Listeria monocytogenes, Blue Bell is initiating this recall out of an abundance of caution.

This recall is being conducted in cooperation with the FDA.

Listeria which can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections in young children, frail or elderly people, and others with weakened immune systems. Although healthy individuals may suffer only short-term symptoms such as high fever, severe headache, stiffness, nausea, abdominal pain and diarrhea, Listeria infection can cause miscarriages and stillbirths among pregnant women.

For more information, consumers with questions may call 979-836-7977, Monday – Friday 8 a.m. – 5 p.m. CST.

Last year, Blue Bell halted sales and issued a voluntarily recall of all of its products due to bacteria contamination that was linked 10 listeria cases in four states, including three deaths, drawing regulatory scrutiny from federal and state officials.

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A San Marcos man was arrested Friday, accused of sexually assaulting a number of women while he worked for a ride-hailing service.

Escondido Police have released the information regarding the arrest of Jeremy Vague, 37, of San Marcos because they believe there may be additional victims.

An 18-year-old student at Palomar College San Marcos campus requested a ride to an Escondido home through Uber at 1:15 p.m. on Friday, September 16.

The driver, identified as Vague, arrived in a blue, 2014 Chrysler minivan 7SMH182, according to Escondido Police spokesperson Justin Murphy.

Instead of taking the victim home, Vague intentionally turned off the Uber app and veered away from the route to an area where he sexually assaulted the victim, Murphy said.

After the assault, the suspect drove the rider home and dropped her off.

Vague was arrested on Friday and is being held without bail.

On Tuesday, Sept. 6 the same suspect allegedly attempted to lure another Palomar College student into his van during school hours. The woman did not feel comfortable and did not request a ride-hailing service.

During the evening on Wednesday, Sept. 7, the same suspect gave a woman a ride through the Lyft service. Vague is accused of sexually battering the 19-year-old rider and another 19-year-old female who was waiting for her.

“When he got out of the vehicle, he asked the victims if they wanted to take pictures with him. And while he’s posing and taking pictures with the victims, he’s touching them in inappropriate locations on their bodies,” Murphy said.

Murphy said investigators were not aware of the initial report until after the Sept. 16 investigation began.

Officials say it's believed he worked for Uber for approximately three months and with Lyft for nine months.

Alexandra LaManna, a spokesperson for Lyft, told NBC 7 the company has permanently deactivated the driver's access to the platform.

"We have a strict zero-tolerance policy for any type of violent behavior, abuse or harassment," LaManna said in a written statement.

"Drivers on the Lyft platform undergo a thorough criminal background check across local, state and federal databases, that go back in time to the maximum extent allowable by California law," LaManna said.

Uber is working with law enforcement officials in their investigation. 

"The driver has been banned from accessing the Uber app," the company said through a written statement.

Vague also passed Uber's background check process, the company said.

Vague had a prior criminal record in Utah but not in California, Murphy said. He would not go into details regarding the crime but said it was not a sex crime.

NBC 7 has obtained a criminal record for a Jeremy George Vague listing a 2002 guilty plea to a vehicle theft charge.

Under California law, the maximum extent a background check can go back is seven years with a few exceptions.

Police said Vague's employment at Lyft/uber has been suspended pending investigation.

Vague is 7 feet tall, 270 pounds with tattoos on his arms and neck, Murphy said.

Vague also worked as a girls volleyball coach at Calvin Christian High School. Murphy said he is no longer employed as a coach at the school.

The Escondido Police Department is asking anyone who may recognize Vague or the circumstances to reach out to their investigators.

Anyone with information regarding this investigation can call Detective Damian Jackson at (760) 839-4932.

Check back for updates on this breaking news story. 

Watch world leaders make remarks at the Opening Session of the UN General Assembly in the above player.

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American Airlines officials confirmed that a flight headed to North Texas was diverted to Lubbock due to a disruptive passenger Thursday morning.

Authorities said American Airlines Flight 2542 from Ontario, California, to Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport was diverted after the man was banging on the cockpit door.

Another passenger on the plane told NBC 5 the man was acting strange and suddenly got out of his seat, went to the cockpit and began yelling. Flight attendants tried to calm the man, but then several nearby passengers forced the man to the ground and held him.

The Boeing 737 landed in Lubbock at 5:17 a.m. Passengers said police escorted the man off the plane.

Airline officials said the remaining 142 passengers and one infant departed on a flight from Lubbock about an hour later. The flight arrived at D/FW Airport at 7:12 a.m.

No further details have been released.

Mayor Rahm Emanuel is set to deliver what could be one of the most important speeches of his career Thursday as he lays out his comprehensive plan for fighting Chicago’s ever-prominent crime.

After four people were killed and 12 others wounded Wednesday amid a spike in gun violence making national headlines, the mayor’s speech comes at a critical time in the city.

The plan is expected to include the addition of 970 sworn police positions within two years and the hiring of 500 new officers, a plan that could cost the city up to $50 million.

Chicago Police Supt. Eddie Johnson says more officers are necessary at a time like this in Chicago.

“There are more guns than ever before, the gangs have been split up and weakened, but in some ways that makes them less stable and predictable,” he said. “It seems like they’re younger and crazier than they’ve ever been.”

Emanuel’s speech will also hinge on other ways of fighting crime, focusing on mentorship and job creation. He is expected to announce new plans for teen mentoring programs, after school programs and summer job programs.

The mayor is also set to challenge fathers and other role models to play a bigger role in their children’s lives.

“There’s a significance, our kids have the right kind of role models and values in their lives, so they can make decisions today that will impact their lives,” Emanuel has said.

The speech will be delivered at Malcom X College and will include recent crime victim Rhymefest among the guest list.

San Diego Police are asking for the public's help in finding a missing 36-year-old mother and her 11-year-old daughter. 

Yadira Robledo, 36, and Michelle Rosas, 11, were last seen on Sept. 16, San Diego Police (SDPD) said. Th pair live in southeastern San Diego. 

The circumstances of their disappearance are unknown, police said. 

Robledo is described as 5-foot-4 and 200 pounds; she has black hair and brown eyes, police say. She was last seen wearing a green shirt and black leggings. 

Rosas is described as 5-foot-1 and 110 pounds; she has brown hair and brown eyes. It is unknown what she was wearing when she was last seen. 

Police are asking anyone with information on the pair to contact the San Diego Police Department at (619) 531-2000. The SDPD case number is 16-038797.

As of 6:30 a.m. Thursday, police confirmed the mother and daughter were still missing. No other information was immediately available.

On Wednesday, residents of San Diego’s Normal Heights area experienced an event that happens only once per century: the date – 9/21/16 – matched the community’s zip code.

To celebrate the very rare “Date Meets Zip” occurrence, the U.S. Postal Service’s (USPS) John Adams Station on Adams Avenue planned to hold a celebration from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Residents and businesses were invited to bring postcards or letters to the post office to have the items stamped with the commemorative “92116” postmark to mark the special occasion.

The USPS said the limited-edition postmark will be available for the next 30 days.

The next “Date Meets Zip” occurrence in San Diego County will be next year – on Sept. 21, 2017 – when the date matches the 92117 zip code in the Bay Ho and Clairemont areas. Last year, on Sept. 15, 2015, the date matched the 92115 zip code in San Diego’s Rolando and College East and West areas.

Meanwhile, a few popular bars and restaurants in Normal Heights will also celebrate Wednesday's date with drink specials served in commemorative 92116-branded pint glasses.

Rosie O'Grady's Pub on Adams Avenue is among the participants, pouring cocktails in the limited-quantity glasses from 5 p.m. to 11 p.m.

Another potential obstacle is about to be thrown in front of the Chargers convadium plan. The Downtown Community Planning Council has done its own review of Measure C (the Bolts ballot initiative) and does not like what it found.

In a draft document obtained by NBC 7 SportsWrap, the DCPC plans to “strongly oppose Measure C” during its meeting on Wednesday night. The document outlines the findings of a subcommittee established by the DCPC to review Measure C and how it relates to the Downtown Community Plan, the Planned District Ordinance and the Design Guidelines (referred to as the Governing Documents).

In the document, authored by DCPC Chair Pat Stark, the DCPC came to the following conclusions (quoting from the document):

• Measure C is inconsistent with, violates, voids and directly contradicts the vision and most of the relevant goals, policies, regulations and standards of the Governing Documents.

• [Measure C] eliminates all meaningful public and professional review in the creation and implementation of the most significant land use decision facing Downtown.

• [Measure C] allows a single, disproportionately and disruptively large building.

• [Measure C] allows virtually unlimited and unregulated signage.

• [Measure C] exempts itself from environmental review and fair share of mitigation costs and improvements.

These points were presented at Wednesday's meeting and the DCPC voted overwhelmingly, a 17-1 total, to adopt it as their official public stance on the Chargers initiative. They also want to make it clear the DCPC does not oppose the concept of a Downtown stadium/convention center hybrid, they are specifically opposed to Measure C.

Their determination will now be available for the City Council and other governmental entities to decide what they want to do with the information and whether or not it will influence their opinions.

The Chargers have not yet responded to a request for comment on the development.

An uncle who threatened two teens, prompting a brief standoff at an apartment complex in Chula Vista, has been arrested, authorities confirmed. 

The incident began Wednesday afternoon at approximately 3 p.m. on the 1200 block of Aruba Cove. Police were called to the address to respond to a family disturbance. 

The teens, who were threatened by their uncle, identified as 39-year-old Bryant Kurtz, sheltered-in-place until police could better assist. 

Authorities said they believed the uncle was off his medication for some sort of psychological illness. It was unclear if he had weapons, though police said he stabbed a knife into the door of the teens' room. 

No other information was immediately available.

The aunt of a young girl is demanding answers after she says a security guard at the girl’s school restrained the 10-year-old and caused several injuries.

Treshawnda Junius is the legal guardian of Kayla, who attended Beacon Therapeutic School, which specializes in students with attention and emotional difficulties. Kayla has ADHD and is bipolar, Junius said.

Junius said when she arrived at the school she saw a security guard restraining Kayla.

“He threw her up against the blackboard and threw her against the carpet,” Treshawnda Junius said. “If I would have sent her to school looking like this I’d be in jail right now.”

Kayla had multiple bumps, cuts and bruises on her back and face.

“We heard Kayla screaming, we heard her tussling with the man, we heard him telling her to stop or it’ll get worse,” Junius said.

The school, Junius said, told her that Kayla had hurt herself and declined to comment to NBC 5.

Junius said she filed and a police report and is waiting for Kayla to be assigned to a new school.

“She won’t be back, because now at this point, I can’t trust you to take care of my child,” said Junius.

The Department of Children and Family Services confirmed to NBC 5 that it is investigating the incident.

The world was horrified by images of a wounded Syrian child sitting dazed and bloodied in an ambulance after an airstrike in Aleppo last month, and now a 6-year-old from New York is offering the boy a home. 

The White House posted a copy Wednesday night of the handwritten letter from "Alex" to President Barack Obama. Alex asks the president to bring the boy, identified as Omran Daqneesh, "who was picked up by the ambulance in Syria" to his home in Scarsdale.

"Can you please go get him and bring him," he wrote. "We'll be waiting for you guys with flags, flowers, and balloons. We will give him a family and he will be our brother."

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The administration also released a video of Alex reading his letter, along with footage of Obama sharing it at a United Nations refugee summit in New York City this week. Obama told world leaders that the letter was from a child "who hasn't learned to be cynical, or suspicious, or fearful of other people because of where they’re from, or how they look, or how they pray, and who just understands the notion of treating somebody that is like him with compassion, with kindness."

"We can all learn from Alex," the president noted.

As of Thursday morning, the video had been viewed more than 4 million times and shared more than 82,000 times on Facebook. 

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The Syrian boy's three siblings and parents were also rescued from the rubble after their building in Aleppo was bombed. His 10-year-old brother died as a result of injuries. One of the cameramen who filmed him said he had never seen such a look of shock on a child's face. 

The image of the stunned and weary looking boy, sitting in an orange chair inside an ambulance covered in dust and with blood on his face, encapsulated the horrors inflicted on the war-ravaged northern city and was widely shared on social media.

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