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Kokomo the Gorilla Shows of 2-Day-Old Baby at SD Safari Park

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Photo Credit: San Diego Zoo Safari Park

Thwarted Golf Cart Robbery Sends Suspect to Hospital: PD

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One of two men involved in attempting to steal a golf cart was seriously hurt when the getaway driver crashed the car he was hanging onto, San Diego Sheriff's officials (SDSO) said. 

The incident happened Thursday at approximately 11:53 p.m. when two men were seen stealing a golf cart used an as advertisement for Performance Plumbing on Greenfield Drive. 

When the suspects took off, employees got into a car and chased after them for several blocks. 

Eventually, the suspects ditched the golf cart and got into a getaway car. 

In their rush, one man got behind the wheel and a second grabbed onto the exterior of the car. 

As the driver went around a turn, he smashed into another car, injuring the second suspect. 

The driver managed to escape. The second suspect was taken to the hospital was a leg injury. 

No one has been taken into custody, and the driver is outstanding. 

No other information was immediately available.



Photo Credit: Getty Images/File

2 Survive After Car Plunges 80 Feet into Canyon

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Two people survived after a car crashed approximately 80 feet down an embankment in Linda Vista Thursday.

The crash was reported at 1 a.m. along Genesee Avenue near Park Mesa Way.

When emergency crews arrived they found two men and a crumbled car at the bottom of the canyon.

Both men were evaluated at the scene but not transported to a hospital.

San Diego Police and San Diego Fire-Rescue responded to the crash site.

IED, Molotov Cocktails Found in Chula Vista Apt Fire

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Detectives discovered several explosives devices and items inside a Chula Vista apartment following an investigation into a fire.

David Wasson, 32, was arrested in connection to the fire that began around 2 p.m. on Monday inside a unit at the Seawind Apartments on 4th Avenue near Naples Street.

According to the Chula Vista Police Department (CVPD), detectives found Molotov cocktails, ammunition, gasoline, an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) and manufactured "zip" guns inside the apartment during an investigation. 

Witnesses told police they saw a man running away from the building after the fire began. Others, like resident Cindy Wallace, reported hearing multiple explosions coming from the apartment.

Cell phone video of the fire also appeared to show an explosion inside the apartment.

Wallace told NBC 7 that she was able to get out of her apartment safely with the help of two Good Samaritans. She was given oxygen by paramedics but declined to go the emergency room.

Two people suffered burns from the fire, including Wasson, police said. The fire also displaced approximately 20 residents in the apartment complex and caused about $225,000 dollars in damage.

Wasson was later arrested and taken to UCSD Hospital for treatment. Police say he initially lied to officers about his identity but they were able to identify him. Wasson also had an outstanding felony warrant.

He claimed that the fire began while he was cooking and his shirt also caught fire, according to police. He removed his shirt and threw it onto gasoline containers inside the apartment before running away.

Fire officials found what they believed to be possible explosive devices inside the apartment--prompting a response from the San Diego County Sheriff's Department Bomb/Arson Unit. 

Chula Vista police confirmed on Wednesday the existence of the explosive devices. The discovery has shocked some residents who spoke with NBC 7.

“I really do want to move, that is scary,” resident Vanessa Jennings said.

“It’s shocking to see that, to hear about it. In something as small as this, as to why you have that kind of thing--ammunition I can understand to a certain degree, but IED's and stuff like that. Why is that in your apartment? Why, why?” resident Austin Schieck said.

At this time, police say Wasson is not involved with any criminal or terrorist group. The cause of the fire is "undetermined," officials said.

Wasson will be in a Chula Vista court on Friday for his arraignment. 

Sailor Was Drunk, Speeding Before Fatal Bridge Crash: DA

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The U.S. Navy Service Member accused in the fatal Coronado Bridge crash Saturday was allegedly driving drunk and speeding when his car plunged 60 feet off the Coronado Bridge ramp and onto a crowd below, killing four, according to the District Attorney's office.

Richard Anthony Sepolio, 24, an active duty service member stationed in Coronado, pleaded not guilty to multiple charges related to the fatal crash, including four counts of gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated, driving under the influence causing injury or death, and four different great bodily injury allegations.

However, after his hospital arraignment Wednesday, Sepolio's attorney Paul Pfingst said he had yet to receive paperwork indicating his client was under the influence of alcohol to support the related charges. 

"We are confident that my client was not under the influence at the time of this tragedy," he said. "This tragedy in large part is a result of a conceitedly dangerous situation that has been in existence at that bridge since it was built."

Following the arraignment, Deputy District Attorney Cally Bright detailed what lead up to the fatal crash. 

Bright said Sepolio took a ride sharing service to a restaurant with a friend earlier that Saturday, where the pair had a bottle of wine and a couple cocktails. They used a ride sharing service to take them back to a friend's home, which is where Sepolio got in his truck and headed home to Coronado, Bright said. 

At the time of the crash, Pfingst said, his client was cut off on the road and driven into the side of the bridge, where his car was forced off the ramp. He alleged the retainers on the bridge, meant to prevent accidents at merge points, were the reason the crash happened. 

"My client was cut off when he was on the roadway. He was driven into the side of the bridge and that caused the car to go over the bridge. It was not a result of alcohol. It was not a result of impairment," he said.

Investigators told the DA's office that at the time of the crash, Sepolio was speeding to pass a car and was driving approximately 80 miles per hour when he lost control of his car and spun over the right hand side of the bridge. The recommended speed at that juncture was 45 miles an hour, Bright said. 

Sepolio suffered a broken hand, broken in two places, broken ribs, fractured vertebrae and additional injuries, Pfingst said.

Pfingst said his client is a service member aspiring to be a Navy SEAL and had just qualified to begin the training program.

"He's a patriotic young man with no prior criminal record who was out and was coming back to the base," he said.

When authorities measured Sepolio's blood-alcohol content an hour after the crash in the hospital, he had a 0.08 BAC -- the legal driving limit in California, Bright said. Officials estimate at the time of the crash, his blood-alcohol was at 0.08 or 0.09, according to Bright. 

Four people were killed when the car crashed onto a crowd at Chicano Park, and seven injured. 

Sepolio is facing a maximum sentence of 23 years and eight months in prison. 

"For just the people that have died, they're looking at 2 years for each additional victim so for the 4 people that are killed that max amount of time a judge can impose is 16 years," Bright said.

That is 16 years for those killed and then an additional seven years for those injured.

He is being held on $2 million bail. 

That is 16 years for those killed and then an additional seven years for those injured.



Photo Credit: NBC 7 San Diego

Santa Anas Fuel Red Flag Warning for San Diego

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A fire warning was in effect Thursday for San Diego County and much of Southern California as temperatures were expected to soar as high as 100 degrees amid high fire danger.

The dangerous Santa Anas, typical of fall in Southern California, triggered the warnings for fire danger from coastal counties northwest of Los Angeles down to the Mexico border.

Residents in the mountains and valleys can expect strong, gusty winds and low humidity through the day. Winds were expected to be in the range of 15 to 25 mph with occasional gusts between 35 and 50 mph according to the National Weather Service.

With humidity in the 6 to 10 percent range, any fire that may break out has the potential to spread rapidly.

Santa Anas are spawned by cold air descending on the vast interior area of the West known as the Great Basin. Air flowing from that region of high pressure spills through mountain ranges and down into the metropolitan regions of Southern California.

The winds push back the normal moist and cooling influence of the Pacific Ocean and gain warmth from compression and speed, similar to the way a languid river turns into rapids at a narrows.

The northeast winds have been linked to the spread of some of the region's most destructive wildfires.



Photo Credit: NBC 7

New Issue With San Diego Ballot May Change Results

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One day after several San Diego city officials alerted the public to a ballot issue that could inadvertently register unintended votes, another group has raised concerns about a similar issue with another ballot measure.

A vote for Measure E could end up registering a vote for Measure K as it appears on the reverse side of the ballot page. A felt-tip pen used to mark the ballot could bleed through to the other side of the page.

"If you use the wrong pen, you could be voting inadvertently," said Sherri Lightner, San Diego City Councilmember for Dristict 1 said Wednesday.

On Thursday, the Independent Voter Project learned of a similar error that would impact results for state measures Propositions 55 and 60.

Prop 55 which determines personal income tax increases on incomes over $250,000 and Prop 60 which would require the use of condoms in the porn industry. 

A spokesperson for the Registrar of Voters told NBC 7 that if a "yes" vote is on one side of the page but there is ink bleeding into the "no" box from the other side, the machine would kick the ballot out. A worker would then review the ballot to make sure the intended vote was tallied up correctly.

The issue only impacts people in the City of San Diego. Reprinting the ballots is not an option with the November 8 election so close.

Lightner said voters must be informed about the flaw.

Election officials will be reaching out to voters in the coming weeks about using a pencil or ballpoint pen to fill out the ballot and not a felt-tip pen.

San Diego Blood Bank Urging Community to Donate Platelets

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The San Diego Blood Bank (SDBB) has issued a “critical appeal” for platelet donations.

High demand and recent regulation changes regarding donor eligibility have resulted in a significantly low stock of platelets for SDBB, and other blood banks across the country.

The local bank is the primary supplier of blood to the majority of hospitals in San Diego County, providing platelets for use in trauma wards and surgical centers. Transplant, chemotherapy and radiation patients often need platelets to survive.

According to the SDBB, platelets only have a five-day shelf life, which makes donations during shortages that much more significant. Donors with A+, B+ or AB are the best candidates for platelet donation.



Photo Credit: NBCDFW.com

Woman Who Tried to Shoot Barber Pleads Guilty

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A woman who is accused of attempting to shoot a barber earlier this year because she did not like her haircut pleaded guilty on Thursday, the San Diego County District Attorney’s Office confirmed.

Adrian Blanche Swain, 30, pleaded guilty to assault with a semiautomatic firearm.

According to barber Manny Montero, he had given Swain a haircut on Feb. 10 at the 619 Barber Shop on the 3900 block of 30th Street in North Park. He told NBC 7 that Swain left happy with the haircut and even gave him a $20 tip. But an hour later, she returned to the barber shop sporting a different haircut.

Police said Swain yelled at Montero saying that he had messed up her hair and then pulled out a gun. She attempted to shoot three times but the gun malfunctioned.

That’s when Montero and other employees tackled Swain to the ground and held her there until authorities arrived.

According to San Diego Police Detective Andrew Tafoya, the gun was fully loaded with 10 rounds but there were no rounds in the chamber. They also found an open gun case with ammunition in Swain’s vehicle.

Tafoya said he had been told by Swain she was diagnosed with schizophrenia.

Swain could face up to 13 years in prison, if convicted. Her sentencing is scheduled for December 12.



Photo Credit: NBC 7

UCSD Graduate Leads Technical Team for 'Pokémon Go'

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A graduate from the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) leads the technical team for the popular game Pokémon Go developed by the company Niantic.

Pokémon Go became a phenomenon with millions of smartphone users when it was released in July. Players search and capture creatures using Pokeballs in various locations around them—a  mix of adventure and fantasy in one game.

Ed Wu, an alumnus of UC San Diego, is the senior project manager at Niantic.

He gave a talk at the university on Oct. 13 as part of an event for the Center for Networked Systems, according to an article published on the school’s website Thursday. 

Wu graduated from UCSD in 2004, earning his bachelor’s degree from the Jacob’s School of Engineering.

He later went to Stanford University to earn a master’s in international policy studies and a Ph.D in physics. He has worked at RAND Corporation and Google before joining the Niantic team.

Niantic had been owned by Google before it branched off into its own company in 2015.



Photo Credit: University of California, San Diego

Dem Group to Warn Millennials Third-Party Vote Helps Trump

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A deep-pocketed environmental group aligned with Hillary Clinton will blanket 1.1 million households in battleground states with mailers warning millennials that a vote for a third-party candidate only helps Donald Trump, the group told NBC News.

The League of Conservation Voters plans to spend $2.6 million before Election Day, most of which will go towards their efforts to prevent Libertarian nominee Gary Johnson and Green Party nominee Jill Stein — polling at about 7 percent and 3 percent, respectively — from siphoning votes away from Clinton.

"There are high stakes for young voters in this election, including the opportunity to meet the climate crisis head-on, and they overwhelmingly dislike Trump. But some may still be leaning towards a third-party candidate instead of Hillary," said LCV National Campaigns Director Clay Schroers. "This is a group of young people who don't want to risk a Trump presidency, and it's important that they know that a vote for anyone but Hillary is a vote for Trump."



Photo Credit: Getty Images

Trump's Media Attacks: 'Biting the Hands That Fed Him'?

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Donald Trump's increased hostility towards the media is not only a dangerous approach because it erodes voters' faith in the integrity of the electrical system, but the strategy is also somewhat ironic for the former reality TV star. After all, without it, he would never have become the nominee of the Republican Party.

"He's biting the hands that fed him for all those months," said Temple University journalism professor Larry Atkins, author of "Skewed: A Critical Thinker's Guide to Media Bias."

Trump earned close to $2 billion worth of free media attention — dwarfing that of his Republican competitors in the primaries, according to the New York Times, NBC News reported.

Kurt Bardella, Breitbart's former spokesman, said that by setting up a narrative that the media are corrupt, he's building the foundation for another business venture. 

"Everything he says and does — and this has been the case for weeks — has been laying down the case for the rationale for a Trump TV," Bardella said.



Photo Credit: Getty Images

Abortion Becomes Debate Flashpoint With 'Late-Term' Question

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Abortion became a topic in the debates between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump for the first time Wednesday night when moderator Chris Wallace focused on access to what he called "late-term, partial-birth" procedures.

"Well, I think it’s terrible," Trump said. "If you go with what Hillary is saying, in the ninth month, you can take the baby and rip the baby out of the womb of the mother just prior to the birth of the baby.

"And, honestly, nobody has business doing what I just said, doing that, as late as one or two or three or four days prior to birth," he said. "Nobody has that."

Abortion is one of the most polarizing social issues in America. A May 2016 Gallup poll showed that 29 percent of respondents believed it should be legal under any circumstances, 50 percent only under certain circumstances, and 19 percent illegal in all circumstances. Only 2 percent of those surveyed had no opinion.

"Late-term abortion" is a non-medical term that varies in definition. Most laws agree that it encompasses abortions near the end of the second trimester, when viability -- the fetus' ability to exist independently of the mother -- comes into question. There are three methods used in "late-term" abortion: dilation and evacuation, where the contents of the uterus are surgically removed after dilating the cervix; early labor induction; and intact dilation and extraction, in which the fetus is taken out as it appeared in the womb and which is widely prohibited.

According to the Guttmacher Institute, a nonprofit dedicated to the advancement of reproductive rights, only 1.2 percent of abortions in the United States occur after 21 weeks gestation. Despite their infrequency, Columbia University professor Rachel Adams said that "late-term" abortions have been a hot topic in the political sphere and have served as a means for conservatives to promote an anti-abortion agenda.

"It allows you to make a more viable argument that you're talking about a baby and not a fetus, which I think is a more dividing ethical line," said Adams, who specializes in gender and sexuality studies.

Americans' attitudes toward late-term abortion seem to be changing as a result of microcephaly, the birth defect that can be caused by the Zika virus. A July poll from Harvard University and STAT, the Boston Globe's publication about health and medicine, found that 61 percent did not think a woman should be able get an abortion after 24 weeks, while 23 percent did. But if the respondents were told that there was a serious possibility that the fetus had microcephaly caused by Zika, the numbers flipped: 59 percent favored allowing a woman to get an abortion and 28 percent disapproved.

Adams criticized Trump's incendiary language of "rip(ping) the baby out of the womb" for its violence toward women and the use of the charged word "baby" for an unborn fetus.

Others took exception to Wallace referring to "partial-birth abortion" in his question.

"Partial-birth abortion is a political term, it's not a medical term," said Laura Ciolkowski, the associate director at Columbia’s Institute for Research on Women, Gender, and Sexuality. "The language that we use to talk about abortion really matters."

Terminology aside, Trump's comments revealed a lack of knowledge of gynecological medical practice, according to experts.

"First of all, there’s no such thing as ninth-month abortions," Ciolkowski said. "We call that Cesarean sections."

Lisa Perriera, a staff physician at Philadelphia Women's Center and associate professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Thomas Jefferson University, called Trump's comments at the debate "completely medically inaccurate."

"Abortion procedures are usually performed until viability, which is nowhere near complete nine-months of pregnancy," she said.

Daniel Grossman, a professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of California, has also told Politifact that if there was a risk to a mother's life on her due date "the treatment for that is delivery, and the baby survives.”

In Pennsylvania, "viability" is legally defined as 23 weeks and six days, but almost all of Perriera's patients have abortions within the first trimester. Among those who don't, it's usually due to a problem with access to healthcare. Because many are on government-issued Medicaid, their procedures aren't covered by insurance and they have to save to be able to afford an abortion, which takes time.

In the rare event of an abortion after 23 weeks and six days, it's often a situation when "the baby is incredibly sick," and the mother finds out late in the pregnancy, Perriera said.

In the debate, Trump said that if his nominees were appointed to the Supreme Court, Roe v. Wade would be reversed "automatically" and issues of abortion would be legislated by the states.

Overturning Roe v. Wade would just make abortion unsafe, according to Perriera.

"It will have really dramatic health outcomes for women," she said. "You will see more women try to self-induce abortion and possibly have an increase in deaths from unsafe abortion."

Cecile Richards, the president of Planned Parenthood, said Donald Trump would block access to Planned Parenthood, attempt to overturn Roe v. Wade, and believed women should be punished for having an abortion.

The comment was a reference a March 30 town hall event when Trump told MSNBC's Chris Matthews that women who had abortions should receive "some form of punishment." He walked back those remarks the same day to say that women should not be punished.

"Make no mistake, Donald Trump would ban abortion in this country," Richards told NBC. "And that's why women will be the reason he's not elected this November."

Ilyse Hogue, president of NARAL Pro-Choice America, said the moment the candidate mentioned reversing the 1973 Supreme Court case "was literally when Donald Trump support bottomed out with independents... His willingness to say that puts him on the wrong side of the vast majority of Americans."

After pushing hard for moderators to ask candidates about abortion access since the primary debates, NARAL activists were thrilled to see Wallace highlight the issue.

"The voters were able to hear a pretty stark contrast in the two candidates," Hogue said.

Some conservatives were annoyed Trump did not directly answer the question of whether he wanted Roe v. Wade overturned.

Evan McMullin, the independent presidential candidate, tweeted: "Why can't @RealDonaldTrump actually say the words 'I want Roe v Wade overturned?' I'm the only pro-life candidate in the race."

Others denounced Clinton’s position.

"Hillary is an extremist on abortion and admitted last night that she is part of a very small, extreme minority of Americans who believe there should be zero restrictions on abortion throughout all nine (months) of pregnancy for any reason," Kristan Hawkins, president of Students for Life, wrote to NBC, emphasizing that she was commenting in a personal, and not official, capacity as a Christian and mother of four.

"While demanding that crimes against children in war torn countries must stop and touting her pro-toddler agenda, she clearly stated that she thinks everyone is worthy of life except children still in their mothers' womb," Hawkins wrote. "You can't claim you are for all rights of women while simultaneously demanding the right to kill pre-born children, half of which are female."

Matt Batzel, national executive director at American Majority Action, tweeted, "Trump: Ripping the baby out the womb, may be okay with Hillary, but is NOT OKAY WITH ME #debatenight #prolife #neverhillary."

However, few pro-life organizations have directly addressed Trump's comments during the debate.

Clinton has taken a position that abortions should be "safe, legal, and rare." In the debate, she emphasized that abortion policy has to take into account the life and health of the woman, especially during "late-term" procedures.

"You should meet with some of the women that I have met with, women I have known over the course of my life," Clinton said on Wednesday night. "This is one of the worst possible choices that any woman and her family has to make. And I do not believe the government should be making it."

Many abortion-rights supporters were cheered by Clinton's performance.

"Hillary did a wonderful job of bringing it back to the real crisis of access in this country," said Hogue with NARAL Pro-Choice America. "We have now a presidential candidate in Hillary Clinton --partly because she's a woman, partly because she's an excellent leader -- (who) has chosen to listen to real stories of women."



Photo Credit: Mark Ralston/AP
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Model Katie May's Death Caused By Chiropractic Procedure

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Former "Playboy" model Katie May's death in February was caused by a chiropractic procedure to her neck, the Los Angeles County coroner's office told NBC News.

May died on Feb. 4 due to a "manipulation of the neck," the coroner's office said. Her death was ruled an accident.

On Friday, the American Chiropractic Association offered condolences to May's family, but defended chiropractic neck procedures.

"Our sympathy goes out to the family of Katie May," they wrote in a statement. "With respect to the safety of neck manipulation, it’s important to understand there are risks and benefits to all treatments; however, the best available evidence indicates there is no causal relationship between neck manipulation and stroke."

"Millions of neck manipulations are performed safely in the U.S. every year, providing patients relief from common forms of neck pain and headache, and helping them to get back to their normal activities," the statement continued.



Photo Credit: Handout

Appeals Court Reviews Case Involving SDPD Officer Shooting

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The decision whether to move forward on a federal lawsuit filed in San Diego is being decided by an appeals court in Pasadena.

The three-judge panel received the case after the city attorney’s office, appealed a ruling that there were enough inconsistencies in evidence to move forward with a trial against the San Diego Police Department and the officer involved, Jonathan McCarthy.

Originally, McCarthy was cleared by District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis’s office in the shooting death of Victor Ortega in June 2012. But the family of the dead man, including widow Shakina Ortega and her attorney Christina Denning, filed a lawsuit claiming a violation of the dead man’s civil rights.

The claim alleged there were numerous problems in the police investigation of the shooting incident.

In the 32-minute hearing Wednesday, the city was represented by a veteran litigator from the city attorney’s office: Don Shanahan.

“The first one grazes his stomach enters in a downward position into the abdomen” is how attorney Denning demonstrated to the court how she thinks the two bullets entered Ortega during his confrontation with McCarthy.

The officer had responded to a domestic violence call and ended up chasing Ortega to a breezeway in a nearby apartment complex in Mira Mesa. This is where the shooting took place and while witnesses heard the scuffle and yelling, no one saw what happened.

Denning alleged “there were numerous inconsistent statements” from Officer McCarthy as well as his supervisor, who investigated the shooting.

The city argued to the court that these were simple mistakes made in the course of the investigation. They should have no bearing on the court’s decision.

Denning thinks they were glaring examples of the misconduct of McCarthy and the inept handling of the investigation by the police department.

Judge Morgan Christen asked Shanahan about the location of the entry wounds because the city’s claim seemed to be inconsistent with other reported facts. “The wound paths are more difficult for you to explain. It’s a more serious inconsistency.”

The city argued it was a struggle that had Ortega on the ground then up on his feet. McCarthy tried hard to control Ortega, who wrestled to get free McCarthy’s ankle pistol and his service revolver. Shanahan said: “The question is whether Mr Ortega was coming at him”

The city argued Ortega acted aggressively to take McCarthy’s weapons from him. Denning argued Ortega was in a submissive position when the officer shot him after Ortega was overheard yelling he was going to sue him.

Under the Constitution, police officers like city officials have a degree of protection when performing their duties. It is called qualified immunity and that is what the city uses as part of its defense. It is valid as long as someone’s constitutional rights are not violated. 

At the appeals hearing, Judge Barrington Parker Jr. asked why hasn’t McCarthy’s claim for qualified immunity already been denied? “On the basis of McCarthy’s various statements” it should be, he argued. He went on to say about the officer: “He couldn’t get his story straight. He tells one person something one time” and something else at another time.

McCarthy’s own words betray him, the judge pointed out, because “this is a definitive statement of what happened, it’s not in a deposition, it’s not to an opposing council, it’s to another police officer.”

Judge Christen said the case goes “to the physical evidence of the shooting," the bullets trajectory and where both men were standing. She said to Shanahan: “I think you are right, there are inconsistences and there are material inconsistencies.”

It is now up to this appeals court to decide just how relevant the police inconsistences are. Once the court decides, it can take months for the ruling from an appeals court, then either this case is terminated or it would return to a San Diego courtroom for a new trial.


After Major Outages, 3rd Cyberattack 'Has Been Resolved'

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A third wave of denial-of-service attacks on a key piece of internet plumbing was resolved by late Friday, said the company that was targeted.

Internet infrastructure company Dyn Inc. told CNBC earlier in the day that the third wave was underway, causing more disruptions after dozens of the world's most popular websites were taken largely offline Friday morning. 

The White House said it was aware of the situation and that the Department of Homeland Security was looking into it; a senior law enforcement official told NBC News that the FBI has been investigating as well. U.S. intelligence officials told NBC News Friday afternoon that they did not know who was responsible for the attacks, though one source said involvement by North Korea had been ruled out.

Dyn, which runs domain name servers, said on its website that it was subject to a distributed denial of service, or DDoS, attack. Domain name servers translate website names to the numeric Internet Protocol addresses behind them. Dyn, headquartered in Manchester, New Hampshire, is one of the larger companies in that business. 

Major internet services including Spotify, Twitter, Paypal, Reddit, the PlayStation Network, Netflix, SoundCloud and a number of media websites were difficult or impossible to reach early Friday.

DownDetector.com, a popular website for checking internet outages, showed a sharp and simultaneous spike in users reporting sites being inaccessible just after 7 a.m. ET and again around noon. 

Service providers including Comcast, Cox, Time Warner Cable and AT&T were also affected. 

Dyn told CNBC that it was being hit by "tens of millions of IP addresses" Friday afternoon, around 4:15 p.m. ET. They said one of the sources of the attack is devices like DVRs, printers, and other appliances that are connected to the internet, collectively known as the "Internet of Things."

Dyn said normal service was restored just over two hours later. But on its website it reported a new attack as of 11:52 a.m. ET that was still underway a half hour later.

"(We) have begun monitoring and mitigating a DDoS attack against our Dyn Managed DNS infrastructure. Our Engineers are continuing to work on mitigating this issue," the company said on its status update page. 

Later Friday, Dyn released a statement saying the third attack "has been resolved."

The extent of the effect was not clear as the attacks unfolded — Twitter experienced partial outages throughout the day. 

"The earlier issues have resurfaced & some people may still be having trouble accessing Twitter," the company wrote on its support account at 12:55 p.m. ET. "We’re working on it!"

After four and a half hours of problems, Twitter reported that Dyn had mitigated the attacks and that Twitter was once again available to all its users. 

Dyn said it was "still investigating and mitigating the attacks on our infrastructure," though a monitoring issue was resolved, it tweeted shortly after 3 p.m. ET.

On social media, people reported renewed difficulty accessing Spotify in Europe, as well as problems with photos and video on Twitter. DownDetector showed fresh spikes in outage reports for sites including PayPal, Netflix and Pinterest. 

The attacks immediately renewed fears about the security of the Internet's core infrastructure, particularly with the presidential election - already the subject of hacking concerns - less than three weeks away.

(Comcast is the owner of NBC parent NBCUniversal.)



Photo Credit: DownDetector.com
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Kidnapping Suspect Arrested in Carlsbad: PD

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A Chula Vista man was arrested on Thursday for allegedly kidnapping a person and forcing him to perform sex acts at gunpoint, according to the Carlsbad Police Department.

Antoine Henderson, 44, was arrested after an officer noticed a driver of a vehicle on the southbound Interstate 5 in Carlsbad matched the suspect description given by the victim. Officers conducted a felony vehicle stop near Birmingham Drive and detained three people inside the vehicle, including Henderson. 

Police say they were notified of the incident when the victim called 911 and claimed he had been kidnapped in Escondido. Officers say the victim had escaped the hotel room from the Ramada motel on the 700 block of Macadamia Drive when Henderson left. 

Henderson allegedly held the 22-year old victim, a resident of Escondido, captive inside the hotel room and forced him to perform sex acts at gunpoint. During an investigation of the scene, officers recovered a handgun and other evidence.

Lt. Chris Boyd told NBC 7 that the suspect and victim are accquaintances.

The other people inside the vehicle with Henderson are not considered to be suspects. 

He was arrested and booked into the Vista Detention Facility, police said. He is facing multiple felony counts, including kidnapping, forced oral copulation and a no-bail felony warrant for violating parole.



Photo Credit: NBC10

New Advice: Parents Should Share Screentime with Kids

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Instead of playing a constant game of keep-away, parents are now encouraged to join the fun. Updated guidance from the American Academy of Pediatrics on kids' media usage represents a shift to making moms and dads "media mentors." Previously the influential group of pediatricians suggested no media before age 2. Now they say there's evidence toddlers as young as 18 months could learn and benefit from some forms of technology, as long as parents are there to guide them and the technology is not overly stimulating.

Photo Credit: NBC News

Local Business Owner's Trailer Stolen, Theft Caught on Video

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A local man says his small business is taking a financial hit because of a recent theft.

Mike Bruno's covered work trailer was stolen around 4:30 a.m. on Oct. 11 and the entire theft was caught on surveillance cameras. Bruno uses the trailer to haul customers' carpet and furniture for his restoration company All American Carpet and Tile in Bay Ho.

Surveillance video appears to show two suspects exit a Jeep, walk over to the trailer and hook it up to their vehicle before driving away.

“It’s not nice! Nobody wants their stuff taken,” Bruno told NBC 7. "Especially when you work so hard to get that stuff and someone works for 7 minutes and takes it.”

Bruno said the night it was stolen, there was a rug, an equipment ramp and a washer and dryer he had just bought inside the trailer. The theft is costing the small business owner around $3,000.

“You’ve got to clean a lot of carpets to make $3,000,” Bruno said. "It’s not chump change, I’m a small business man. We have enough to pay for, not to have somebody take it away from us.”

While police investigate the crime, Bruno told NBC 7 that he and his employees are also doing some detective work—attempting to decipher the license plate on what appears to be a silver Jeep Liberty.

“I’ve tried taking the graphics on photo shop,"said employee Tiffany Sorber. “We just really want to find these guys. It’s not right when something so mean happens to someone so nice. It’s not okay. It’s sad the world we live in."

Montana Judge Criticized for 60-Day Sentence for Incest

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Thousands are calling for the impeachment of a Montana judge for what they argue was a too lenient sentence given to a father who admitted to committing incest with his 12-year-old daughter, NBC News reported.

The judge, John McKeon, sentenced the man to 60 days in prison when the sentence could’ve been as long as 25 years. NBC News is not identifying the father in order to protect the identity of his daughter.

A Change.org petition has accumulated more than 62,000 signatures of people demanding the judge’s impeachment.

McKeon defended his decision, stating that the psychosexual evaluation during the trial revealed the man could be safely treated and supervised.



Photo Credit: Shutterstock
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