El Cajon Police officers gave an seven-year-old boy involved in a tragic SWAT standoff last November a special gift this Christmas to help lift his spirits. 

Jayden, of El Cajon, was rescued from an El Cajon home in on Nov. 18 when an armed man holed up inside for eight hours, police said. The armed man was found dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, but Jayden emerged safely. 

After the incident, El Cajon Communications Division and Police Officers' Association wanted to help lift Jayden's spirits. 

When they learned Jayden wished for a new Sony Playstation 4 for Christmas last year, the association helped raise money. Together, with the El Cajon Police Officers' Association board, the team bought the new Playstation along with a new game, extra controller and charging station. 

The officers also gave him a $50 gift card so he could pick out a new game or accessory for himself. 

Emergency crews are responding to a hit-and-run collision in Mira Mesa involving multiple vehicles.

The collision happened just before 6:30 p.m. on Aderman Avenue and Mira Mesa Boulevard, according to the San Diego Police Department (SDPD).

SDPD and San Diego Fire-Rescue crews are on scene.

Check back for updates on this breaking news story.

The San Diego Chargers’ season is over, but fans still have a reason to follow along.

Forget about a new coach, draft picks or free agent signings. Fans just want to know if their team is staying or packing for Los Angeles.

As the possibility of the latter becoming the reality grows, Bolts fans are realizing that they may soon have to say goodbye to their favorite team.

The thought of salutations for a few Chargers super fans aren’t as emotional as you might think, though, because they'v been toughened after sitting through the same drama last year.

“For me, it’s not as emotional as it was last year only because we’ve been on this roller coaster- are they staying, are they going- for too long,” said lifelong Chargers fan Gail Tomkins before heading in to watch the Bolts lose their season finale on Sunday.

Tomkins fought off tears as she spoke with NBC 7 at the Chargers final home game last season. She’s been following the team for 38 years.

It’d be difficult for a fan with nearly 40 years invested in a team to all of the sudden switch sides. Others have, at the very least, entertained the thought.

“I went through the grieving process,” fan Chris Stoefen said. “In the beginning, last year, I was questioning ‘Am I going to follow the Chargers or not?’ And I realized, these players- that’s what it’s all about.”

Chris and his son Morgan hung around Chargers Park on Monday to toss the pigskin and fetch a few autographs. Players like defensive end Cory Liuget appreciated the Stoefen family’s loyalty and scribbled his name on Chris’s powder blue jersey.

“Obviously, I’d love to see them stay in San Diego,” Stoefen added. “But I’m a fan of the players, and it’s going to be a sad day to see them leave San Diego.”

Stoefen’s son Morgan was adamant that his support is unwavering. After all, he’s been following the team for more than a third of his life.

“I’m so attached to them,” 11-year-old Morgan Stoefen said. “I love the Chargers. They’re, like, my life. I’ve watched them day by day. I mean, how could you switch teams after following them for four years, you know?”

It's a been a good year for San Diego grocery shoppers.

They now have more choices than ever before with stores like Aldi, WinCo and Smart & Final Extra moving into town.

"It puts a lot of pressure on a Vons, a Ralphs or an Albertsons," said San Diego State marketing professor Miro Copic.

That pressure comes from discount chains selling store brand and bulk items at lower prices.

Some of those stores save money by requiring shoppers to bag their own groceries or by not accepting credit cards. There has also been a growth from surplus chains like Grocery Outlet and 99 Cents Only stores.

Some of these stores have expanded since Haggen declared bankruptcy. The Washington State-based grocery chain closed nearly 30 stores in San Diego.

On top of that, national food prices for things like beef and eggs dropped in 2016 for the first time in decades according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

So are local shoppers seeing a difference?

Miro Copic believes so: "In a household you're talking 20, 30 or 50 dollars a month depending on what you buy."

Some neighbors in Kensington are forced to buy new belongings this new year after thieves burglarized their homes.

NBC 7 San Diego has reached out to San Diego police to see if the reported crimes are connected and are waiting to hear back. Police confirmed one investigation in the 4900 block of Malborough Drive New Year’s day around 2:00 p.m.

The victim spoke to NBC 7 Monday, but said she was too nervous to go on camera. She said she was only gone for a matter of hours when she came back and saw her house was a mess. It appeared her home had been ransacked.

The victim said the thief stole an irreplaceable piece of jewelry which was a family heirloom. He also took a computer, watches and other belongings.

The victim’s home surveillance video captured the young man walking through the victim’s hallway. NBC 7 is not identifying the person because it’s unclear whether he’s a minor.

The victim said he had broken into her house through her back doors.

She believes there are more victims. She told NBC 7 other neighbors nearby had their homes broken into in a similar way recently.

NBC 7 will update this story when we receive more information about the investigation from police.

In the highest-scoring Rose Bowl game in the event’s history, the final points were scored by a kicker from San Diego.

Cathedral Catholic High alum Matt Boermeester booted the game-winning field goal to give USC a thrilling 52-49 victory in the 2017 Rose Bowl.

Boermeester delivered the decisive 46-yard kick as time expired, sending the Trojans and thousands of their fans into a frenzy.

“As a kicker you dream of something like this, if anything you root for that,” Boermeester said moments after the victory.

The San Diego product had converted two field goals (a 22 yarder and a 44 yarder) in the first quarter but also missed a pair that could have cost his team dearly.

He rebounded nicely when it mattered.

Hitting clutch kicks apparently runs in the family.

Boermeester’s father, Peter, was a kicker at UCLA for three seasons in the late 1970’s and even played for the Cleveland Browns in 1980.

Matt’s path into USC football history includes a detour at Saddleback College. Three years ago, Boermeester was sending footballs through the uprights at the junior college in Mission Viejo.

Before that he helped the Dons win a baseball Division III title as a senior outfielder for his high school.

Monday, the 22-year-old helped deliver USC its first Rose Bowl victory since 2009 (also against Penn State).

USC rallied from a 14-point deficit in the 4th quarter thanks to an impressive outing by quarterback Sam Darnold.

The freshman threw for 453 yards and 5 touchdowns against Penn State and outperformed Nittany Lions signal-caller Trace McSorley. McSorley passed for 254 yards and 3 scores but was intercepted three times.

His most costly mistake came late when Leon McQuay III picked off a pass with 27 seconds remaining and returned it to the Penn State 33-yard line. That put the Trojans on the brink of field goal position.

USC special team coach John Baxter was asked afterwards if he said anything to his kicker before the game-winning attempt. “I just said: Go Pass your final exam,” explained Baxter.

Boermeester passed with flying colors. Cardinal and Gold colors actually.

A suspect was taken into custody after fleeing authorities at the end of a pursuit near El Cajon, San Diego Sheriff's officials (SDSO) said. 

The pursuit began at approximately 9 p.m. when SDSO deputies attempted to pull over a suspect. When the suspect failed to yield, authorities began to pursue the suspect. 

At one point, the man stopped his car and fled on foot, SDSO Lt. Arreola said. 

The suspect was taken into custody nearby after someone called in a report of a suspicious person. 

No further information was available. 

Family and friends are still holding out hope for a 28-year-old Farmington Hills, Michigan, woman who has been missing for a month.

Danielle Stislicki has not been seen since leaving work around 5 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 2, according to police. Stislicki works at MetLife, a life insurance company in Southfield, a northern suburb of Detroit, less than 10 miles from her Farmington Hills apartment.

People who spoke to her earlier that day say she was planning on stopping home after work before meeting her best friend for dinner that evening. Stislicki never showed up to her scheduled dinner, according to police, and concern quickly grew when calls to her cell phone were being forwarded directly to voicemail.

"Danielle would never just disappear on her own," Ann Stislicki, Danielle's mother, told Dateline. "We're terrified that she's been taken and that someone has her, and she can't come home."

Stislicki has worked at MetLife for nearly a decade, her family says. Her mother Ann also has worked for the company for 25 years, but was not in the office that Friday.

Farmington Hills police say Stislicki was wearing a sky blue Eddie Bauer jacket, jeans, a black zip-up shirt and burgundy boots the day that she disappeared. Her car, a 2015 Jeep Renegade, was found by authorities the next day, around 6 p.m. on Dec. 3, parked in front of her apartment building in the Independence Green Apartment Complex.

"Everything was there: her cat, her ID, cash, credit cards," Danielle's mother Ann told Dateline. "We don't think she even made it inside her apartment after work."

The Farmington Hills Police Department issued a statement Dec. 19 that said it is believed the young woman was the victim of a crime.

Authorities are also searching for Danielle's set of keys, according to NBC News, which they say have a distinctive key charm: a smiling yellow figure with a green body and yellow legs. Danielle's cell phone, a Samsung Galaxy Core Prime in a rose-colored case, is also missing.

"It's a tremendously busy street that MetLife is on,” her mother Ann told NBC News. “Someone had to have seen that Jeep or Danielle driving that day. We just need to reach that one or two people who saw something.”

A “Find Danielle Stislicki” Facebook page created by friends has since grown to nearly 30,000 followers. More than $29,000 has been raised in a Go Fund Me campaign set up for a reward for information leading to her whereabouts. After both her employer MetLife and Independence Green Apartments contributed $50,000 to the cause, the total reward amount stands at $129,000. A website, finddani.org, has also been set up that allows volunteers to print fliers to join the effort.

“Danielle is a wonderful human being who has many family and friends who love her dearly,” the Go Fund Me campaign writes. “We want Dani home and need everyone's help.”

Stislicki’s parents, Ann and Richard Stislicki, were among nearly 500 people who gathered in Southfield last month for a candlelight vigil, pushing the message of positivity and perseverance.

“It’s been a month now, so you can imagine what’s in our minds,” Ann Stislicki told the Detroit Free Press of herself and her husband, Richard. “We try not to go to that dark place, but that gets harder the longer this goes on.”

Farmington Hills police have told the Stislickis they are working “day and night” on the case of their missing daughter, according to the Detroit Free Press, but any additional details surrounding the investigation have not been made public.

"Investigators have collected evidence currently under analysis and examination," Farmington Hills police said in a statement. "No information will be released regarding the specifics of the case in order to maintain the integrity of an active investigation."

Authorities searched a home in Berkley, Michigan, in relation to the case, the Detroit Free Press reports, but Farmington Hills Police Chief Chuck Nebus declined to say what the connection is.

“It’s hard to stay positive. ... You cry a lot,” Ann Stislicki told the Detroit Free Press. “She’s strong and can get through this. Everyone wants to give Danielle a hug. We miss her, and we want her to come home.”

The focus is to keep Danielle Stislicki's name and story in the public's eye, her family said in an interview with NBC News.

"We're screaming from the top of the mountain," Ann Stislicki told NBC News. "People have seen Danielle. We will not stop until we have her home with us. It's not even a thought."

Anyone with information regarding the case, or who may have seen Danielle or her Jeep on Dec. 2, is urged to call the Farmington Hills Police Department at (248) 871-2610.

General Motors responded to President-elect Donald Trump's Twitter attack that claimed the auto giant is making a Cruze model in Mexico and then sending them to U.S. dealers tax free. 

"Make in U.S.A.or pay big border tax!" Trump said in a tweet Tuesday. 

The company said it makes most of its Chevy Cruze models in the United States and sells only a "small number" of one model made in Mexico in the U.S. GM told CNBC that it sold about 190,000 Cruzes in the U.S. in 2016. About 4,500 of those, or 2.4 percent, were hatchbacks made in Mexico.

"General Motors manufacturers the Chevrolet Cruze sedan in Lordstown, Ohio. All Chevrolet Cruze sedans sold in the U.S. are built in GM's assembly plant in Lordstown, Ohio. GM builds the Chevrolet Cruze hatchback for global markets in Mexico, with a small number sold in the U.S," the company said in a statement.

A suspect led Chula Vista police officers on a pursuit Tuesday morning that ended when the suspect's car careened into a ditch.

The incident happened at 6:40 a.m. in the 900 block of G Street.

Police said they had been searching for the 20-year-old suspect since Monday after he's accused of vandalizing his parents' house.

Officers attempted to stop the suspect's car on Tuesday morning, but he took off, triggering a pursuit through a casino parking lot before his car tore through a fence.

The suspect continued on, crashing into a ditch. He ran away, but a police tracking dog helped apprehend him, police said.

No other information was immediately available.

The suspect, whose name has not been released, has been taken into custody.

Check back for updates on this breaking news story. 

Automaker Ford is canceling a plan to build a nearly $2 billion plant in Mexico so it can invest nearly half that money into a plant in Michigan, the company said Tuesday.

Doing so will safeguard about 3,500 jobs at a facility in Wayne, Michigan, the company said in a press release, and the investment in a new "Manufacturing Innovation Center" in Flat Rock will add 700 new jobs.

That plant will build a new, electric SUV with a range of at least 300 miles — one of several new vehicles the company announced Tuesday.

The move comes as President-elect Donald Trump insists that companies should focus manufacturing in the United States, rather than outsourcing to places like Mexico. Tuesday morning, Trump took aim at the Chevy Cruze, which he said is manufactured south of the border, though Chevy disupted that.

High-level sources in Ford told NBC News that Trump had nothing to do with the company's decision to expand U.S. production and hire more employees.

But CEO Mark Fields said at a news conference that he feels tax and regulatory reforms espoused by Trump and his party are encouraging.

"We're also encouraged by the pro-growth policies that President-elect Trump and the new Congress have indicated that they will pursue," Fields said. "And we believe that these tax and regulatory reforms are critically important to boost U.S. competitiveness and of course drive a resurgence in American manufacturing and high-tech innovation."

Gov. Andrew Cuomo has proposed a plan to offer free college tuition to New Yorkers whose families make less than $125,000 a year. 

Hailing the plan as the first of its kind in the nation, Cuomo said Tuesday the "Excelsior Scholarship" would apply to anyone accepted to any two- or four-year city or state university. Nearly a million families would qualify. 

"College is a mandatory step if you really want to be a success ... and this society should say we're going to pay for college because you need college to be successful," Cuomo said. "Other countries have already done it. It's time this country catches up."

Legislators would have to approve the plan, which Cuomo wants to start this coming fall. The plan would be rolled out over three years, and when fully implemented in 2019, is expected to cost about $163 million, according to The New York Times, which first reported the plan. 

Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, who appeared alongside Cuomo as he announced the plan, called the program "revolutionary." During the senator's unsuccessful run for the Democratic presidential nomination last year, Sanders pushed for free tuition at all U.S. public colleges.

Programs are already in place to offer tuition breaks to top students who commit to studying certainly fields, but the new initiative would be much broader. The governor called the plan the most aggressive higher education program ever proposed. 

"This is the most important issue this state and nation must address: higher education and its affordability," Cuomo said. "If we can help you do well, we will. Because that's the American Dream." 

New York has the nation's largest public university system, with 440,000 students spread among 64 campuses across the state.

The 2015 American Community Survey found that of the 7.2 million households in New York state, the vast majority had household incomes that would fall under the threshold for Cuomo's proposal.

A little boy from Utah is being hailed as a hero for pushing a fallen dresser off his twin brother. 

Both boys are OK, but furniture falling is a persistent threat to climbing children, according to the United States Consumer Product Safety Commission, which encourages parents of young children to secure furniture to the wall. 

"Not all children are that lucky. Tragically, one child dies every two weeks and a child is injured every 30 minutes when TVs or furniture tip over in the U.S.," CPSC Spokeswoman Patty Davis said in a statement.

The nanny-cam video, initially posted to YouTube on New Year's Eve, shows the boys playing on open dresser drawers before the whole piece of furniture tips over. As NBC affiliate KSL reported, Bowdy Shoff crawled out from underneath the dresser, but his brother, Brock, was pinned.

After a couple of attempts to free his brother, the 2-year-old was able to push it off Brock.

"They have that twin bond, and that's just what you do for your brother," mother Kayli Shoff said on MSNBC Tuesday, with her boys tagging along.

She has since secured the drawer to the wall, which the CPSC recommends for large furniture that childen may want to climb on.

The CPSC is investigating this incident, Davis said. She said it was miraculous that Bowdy was able to push the dresser off Brock. 

Shoff also took knobs off all the drawers and added latches to the bottom drawers, so the boys have a harder time scaling the dresser.

"I don't want this to happen to anyone else's child, because I know how I felt in the moment," Shoff said, when asked why she shared the video. "It's just not something that you think about every day."

Last year, Ikea issued a massive recall of 29 million dressers that were blamed in the deaths of six children and the injuries of three dozen more. It also offered wall anchor kits to any owners. 

The CPSC says securing furniture to a wall is quick and easy and saves lives.

U.S. Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa., said Tuesday that it was a miracle neither of the boys was hurt.

"Horrifying incidents, like the one appearing in this video, show why we need strong, enforceable stability standards for furniture that can harm children," he said in a statement, adding that he intends to reintroduce legislation in Congress to make safer furniture that won't tip over.

The 2017 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival will feature Radiohead, Beyonce and Kendrick Lamar as headliners across its sprawling two spring weekends in Indio, California.

This year's bookends will be on April 14-16 and April 21-23 (both of which are already sold out), with Radiohead, who last played the Empire Polo Grounds in 2012, kicking off things on Friday night, followed by Queen Bee on Saturday and Kendrick closing things out Sunday.

Other highlights for music fans include the XX, Travis Scott, Father John Misty, Empire of the Sun and Dillon Francis sharing Coachella stages on Fridays, with Bon Iver, Future, DJ Snake, Martin Garrix, Schoolboy Q and Gucci Mane the following night. Closing-night stages will also feature the return of Lorde to Coachella, as well as Justice, New Order, Porter Robinson and Madeon, and Future Islands.

Concertgoers have been heading out to the Coachella Valley for the annual festival since 1999. Last year, the festival was headlined by LCD SoundSystem, Guns N' Roses and Calvin Harris.

2017 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Lineup

Friday, April 14 and 21

• Radiohead
• The XX
• Travis Scott
• Father John Misty
• Empire of the Sun
• Dillon Francis
• Mac Miller
• Steve Angello
• Glass Animals
• Phantogram
• Mac DeMarco
• Little Dragon
• Banks
• Bonobo
• Richie Hawtin
• DJ Shadow
• Loco Dice
• Dixon
• Capital Cities
• Big Gigantic
• Crystal Castles
• SOHN
• Jagwar Ma
• Francis and the Lights
• Broods
• Guided By Voices
• Preservation Hall Jazz Band
• Sampha
• Bicep
• Raury
• The Martinez Brothers
• Oh Wonder
• Stormzy
• Zipper Club
• Tennis
• SNBRN
• King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard
• Kungs
• Floorplan
• Denzel Curry
• The Lemon Twigs
• Nora En Pure
• Joseph
• The Interruptors
• Sam Gellaitry
• Klangstof
• Tacocat
• Alison Swing 

Saturday, April 15 and 22

• Beyonce
• Bon Iver
• Future
• DJ Snake
• Martin Garrix
• Schoolboy Q
• Gucci Mane
• The Head and the Heart
• Two Door Cinema Club
• Nicolas Jaar
• Bastille
• Tycho
• Tory Lanez
• Royksopp
• Local Natives
• Majid Jordan
• Dreamcar
• Four Tet
• Roisin Murphy
• Moderat
• The Avalanches
• Mura Masa
• Nav
• Solomun
• Warpaint
• Banks & Steelz
• Hot Since 82
• Classixx
• Kaleo
• Breakbot
• Gryffin
• Car Seat Headrest
• Daphni
• Brodinski
• Mitski
• Floating Points
• Thundercat
• Survive
• Arkells
• The Atomics
• Ben UFO
• Bishop Briggs
• Blossoms
• Chicano Batman
• Autograf
• Moss Kena
• Red Axes
• Shura
• Honey Dijon
• Declan McKenna
• Eli & Fur
• Swet Shop Boys
• Chris Cruse 

Sunday, April 16 and 23

• Kendrick Lamar
• Lorde
• Justice
• New Order
• Porter Robinson & Madeon
• Future Islands
• Hans Zimmer
• DJ Khaled
• Marshmello
• Lil Uzi Vert
• Galantis
• Kehlani
• Grouplove
• Kaytranada
• Tale of Us
• Toots and the Maytals
• Devendra Barnhart
• Tove Lo
• Jai Wolf
• Jack Garratt
• Sasha
• Kiiara
• Real Estate
• The Belleville Three
• Maya Jane Coles
• What So Not
• PNL
• Lee Fields & the Expressions
• NAO
• GoldLink
• Allah-Las
• King Sunny Ade
• Marcel Dettmann
• Sofi Tukker
• Whitney
• Patrick Topping
• Honne
• Twin Peaks
• Tourist
• Preoccupations
• Hinds
• Ezra Furman
• Pond
• Hannah Wants
• Anna Lunoe
• Grace Mitchell
• Los Blenders
• Show Me the Body
• Caveman
• Jen Ferrer

Donald Trump's inauguration as the nation's 45th president will be witnessed by Bill and Hillary Clinton, as well as George W. Bush. 

Clinton aides confirmed to NBC News Tuesday that the Clintons will be in attendance. Hillary Clinton lost the Electoral College vote to Trump after a bruising, bitter campaign. 

Bush's press office announced Tuesday that the 43rd American president and his wife, Laura, will be at the Jan. 20 ceremony. 

"They are pleased to be able to witness the peaceful transfer of power - a hallmark of American democracy - and swearing-in of President Trump and Vice President Pence," a Bush statement said.

The Bushes did not endorse or vote for Trump for president, leaving that field blank on their ballots while voting Republican the rest of the way down.

The Presidential Inaugural Committee's announced Friday the 40 organizations, including several military and veterans groups, that will march in Trump's inaugural parade.

Thousands of veterans who were forced to pay back the bonuses they’d gotten for reenlisting to fight in Iraq and Afghanistan will be getting reimbursed, the Pentagon announced Tuesday.

As NBC News reports, the Pentagon said it has set up a process to reimburse or eliminate the debts of around 17,000 members of the California Army National Guard who received bonuses between 2004 and 2010.

The announcement comes around three months after Defense Secretary Ash Carter ordered the Pentagon to stop collecting back those bonuses, which were originally rewarded in error during the Bush Administration.

“The error was an error on the part of the government as to whether they were eligible” for the bonuses, said acting Undersecretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness Peter Levine.

An Oceanside Police Department officer spotted a unique sight off the north San Diego coast in December: an orca swimming happily through the ocean. 

Oceanside Police Officer Jeffrey Killion took the video two weeks ago about two miles off the coast of Carlsbad at approximately 8 a.m.

The sight happened shortly before a group of fishers spotted a pod of orcas - also known as killer whales - right off the San Diego coast. 

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Deadly DUI crashes in the city of San Diego are up slightly from 2015, according to new statistics from San Diego Police Department (SDPD) officials.

According to local law enforcement agencies, there were a total of eleven deadly DUI crashes on city streets and highways between January 1 and Dec. 28, 2016.

Sixteen people died in those crashes, one more than in 2015 in as many crashes, officials said.

One of the most devastating suspected DUI crashes this year happened at Chicano Park in October when a U.S. Navy sailor's truck flew off a Coronado Bridge ramp and onto a crowd below, killing four people.

Married couple Cruz Elias and AnnaMarie Contreras, Andre Christopher Banks and his girlfriend Francine Denise Jimenez were killed in the crash.

Richard Sepolio, 24, has since 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.

The entire San Diego County - which includes statistics from the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department (SDSO), among other agencies - will release their 2016 statistics after Jan. 1, 2017.

NBC 7 has reported on several deadly crashes on county roads, including a DUI crash on State Route 67 that claimed the life of a young man.

At the sentencing for the man convicted in the crash, the victim's mother said she hopes others will learn from the tragedy and avoid drinking and driving.

"This is a horrific crime and it's affecting us as individuals, our family has been devastated," Tami Riley said.

It's a sadness that Monica Zech understands deeply: more than two decades ago, her father was stuck and killed by a drunk driver.

She says it is a pain that never goes away.

"My family was robbed of somebody so precious to the family, the patriarch, and suddenly he's ripped away and my mom now has been living with me over those 24 years because of devastated her to this day," Zech said.

Zech now educates others about the dangers of drinking and driving. She says while her father died nearly 25 years ago, the loss never goes away.

"He was just starting to enjoy life and retirement and the grand kids, who were very young at the time," she said.

One thing adding to her pain is knowing that the crash could have been preventable.

"As long as we still have that statistic where one person is affected or killed, but it's too many and we need to stop it," Zech said.

California Highway Patrol officials remind drivers to always plan ahead before they go out drinking: there are too many alternatives now to make excuses.

San Diego law enforcement agencies said they continue to operate DUI checkpoints across the county on a consistent basis in an effort to get intoxicated drivers off the road and prevent DUI-related crashes and deaths.

The penalties for a DUI can range from $8,000 to $15,000, including attorney fees.

A man who admitted to killing his neighbor - after he had been jailed more than a year ago for the crime, but then released - was sentenced to more than three years in prison.

Michael Walliser, 68, is accused of shooting and killing his neighbor, Ronald Drinkard, 50, on March 22, 2015, at his home in the 23300 block of Coyote Holler Road in Potrero, a rural community about 45 miles southeast of downtown San Diego.

The San Diego County Medical Examiner’s (ME) office conducted an autopsy on Drinkard and determined he was a victim of homicide and had died from multiple gunshot wounds.

On Feb. 10, 2016, SDSO homicide detectives issued a warrant for Walliser’s arrest on one count of murder. The next day, Walliser was taken into custody at his home on Bartley Place in Escondido.

Walliser later pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter in the shooting death of his neighbor. 

According to a plea bargain between the parties, Walliser was sentenced to three years and eight months in state prison. 

A Mar Vista High School tutor who pleaded guilty to statutory rape for having a relationship with an underage student has been sentenced. 

Alejandro Rodriguez, 20, originally faced four felony counts and five years in prison in connection with a relationship he developed with a 16-year-old Mar Vista HS student.

Rodriguez entered a guilty plea to an amended charge in 2016 - one felony count of statutory rape.

On Tuesday, he was sentenced to three years formal probation and 180 days in local jail. He will not have to register as a sex offender. 

His arrest on March 9, 2016 was the third sex crimes arrest in three days involving adults with ties to the Imperial Beach-area high school.

After a previous court hearing, Rodriguez' defense attorney said his client was contacted through Facebook by a young man who was a freshman at the school when his client was a senior.

Rodriguez was not the freshman's tutor, his attorney told NBC 7 in a previous interview.

The relationship lasted about one week when the student told a cousin about the defendant. It was then that the student's father contacted police.

Rodriguez was an employee of South Bay Community Services and was a tutor at Mar Vista High School.