The family of a pregnant, brain dead Tarrant County woman has filed a lawsuit against a Fort Worth hospital to pull her off life support.

In legal paperwork filed Tuesday morning, the family of Marlise Munoz asserts that she is legally dead and that John Peter Smith Hospital has kept the pregnant woman on "'life sustaining' treatment, thus mutilating, disturbing and damaging Marlise’s deceased body, and further refusing to release it to Erick [her husband] for proper preservation and burial."

Munoz has been on life support since being found unconscious in the early morning hours of Nov. 26 by her husband Erick. The family said it doesn't know why she lost consciousness, though a blood clot is a possibility. Both Marlise and Erick are paramedics who agreed they did not want life support should a situation such as this arise. Marlise Munoz's parents agree.

When she was found, Marlise was 14 weeks pregnant. The family has said they do not know the condition of the fetus. Marlise Munoz is believed to have been without oxygen for some time before her husband found her. Doctors have told Erick Munoz that they are monitoring the fetus, but Munoz has said he's uncertain about how healthy the fetus will be given his wife's condition.

"You know what kind of damage my wife sustained, and what kind of possible damage the baby inside her sustained," he said during a recent interview.

A 2010 article in the journal BMC Medicine found 30 cases of brain-dead pregnant women over about 30 years. Of 19 reported results, the journal found 12 in which a viable child was born and had post-birth data for two years on only six of them -- all of whom developed normally, according to the journal.

John Peter Smith Hospital in Fort Worth said Texas law prevents them from withdrawing life-sustaining treatment and following a family directive when a pregnancy is involved.

Specifically, the Texas Health and Safety Code Section 166.049 states that "a person may not withdraw or withhold life-sustaining treatment under this sub-chapter from a pregnant patient."

In the lawsuit, the Munoz family asserts that an earlier part of the same code defines Marlise Munoz's condition as legally dead. 

Experts familiar with the Texas law say the hospital is incorrectly applying the statute because Munoz would be considered legally and medically dead.

"Marlise Munoz is dead, and she gave clear instructions to her husband and family -- Marlise was not to remain on any type of artificial `life sustaining treatment', ventilators or the like," the lawsuit said. "There is no reason JPS should be allowed to continue treatment on Marlise Munoz's dead body, and this Court should order JPS to immediately discontinue such."

The suit argues that the hospital's interpretation of Section 166.049 is "in complete conflict with other portions of the statute, makes no sense, and amounts to nothing more than the cruel and obscene mutilation of a deceased body against the expressed will of the deceased and her family."

Additionally, the suit argues that Section 166.049 is unconstitutional and an "infringement on Plaintiff’s right to privacy pursuant to the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution."

Erick Munoz's lawyers, Heather King and Jessica Hall Janicek, also asked for an expedited answer from the court. No hearing was immediately scheduled.

Hospital spokeswoman J.R. Labbe directed questions about the lawsuit to the Tarrant County District Attorney's office, where spokeswoman Melody McDonald Lanier said attorneys were reviewing the case and declined to comment further.

That office serves as the hospital's legal counsel in many civil areas, including informed consent and state statute issues.

Labbe previously has said hospital officials stand by their position: "This is not a difficult decision for us. We are following the law."

Erick Munoz's lawsuit argues that his directives -- and the hospital's decision to not follow them -- no longer matter because Marlise Munoz is dead under Texas law.

The documents can be read here:

• Petition for declaratory judgment and application for unopposed expedited relief
  
• Plantiff's motion to compel defendants to remove Marlise Munoz from "life sustaining" measures and application for expedited relief
  

A date has not yet been set for the court case.

On Sunday, protesters took a stand alongside the family outside of the hospital as a show of support for the family.

NBC 5's Greg Janda and Associated Press' Nomaan Merchant contributed to this report.

The Sweetwater Union High School District will vote on campaign finance reform Tuesday in the wake of a two-year criminal probe into relationships between contractors and South County politicians.

The community has been persistent in getting the item on the agenda, despite being blocked in the past by the board and superintendent.

The proposal would limit campaign contributions to $750 for a single election contest for candidates for the board of trustees.

It also seeks to ban candidates running for school board to take contributions from anyone other than individuals or political party committees.

If approved, the resolution could shake up board elections in a district that has been historically influenced by the teachers unions and other labor groups, political organizations and the construction industry.

This comes after three Sweetwater Union High School District board members were accused of accepting thousands of dollars on gifts and meals, allegedly for awarding construction contracts to contributing companies.

No limits are currently in place. Under the current rules, a board member can accept an unlimited amount of money from a contractor seeking or performing work with the district. For example, during his 2010 reelection campaign, Board President Jim Cartmill accepted a $20,000 contribution from SGI Construction Management, which working at the time for the district under the voter-approved $644 million bond measure.

The proposed campaign finance rules would do nothing to curb the often big amounts of money spent on behalf of candidates through independent committees. A political party could, for example, spend as much as it wants independently to promote a candidate, as long as the campaign was not coordinated with the candidate.

The resolution is being considered tonight by the board at the Sweetwater Union High School District’s 6 p.m. meeting, located at 1130 Fifth Avenue.

A woman’s screams may have helped to thwart two attackers in an Otay Mesa home invasion, officials said.

San Diego police are searching for two masked men who kicked in the front door of the home at Glading Drive at Piccard Avenue around 2:30 a.m. Tuesday.

While they were doing it, one shot was fired into the home. Police say it's unclear whether the gunshot was intentional or accidental.

The attackers pulled a woman and her adult son into a family room where the woman began screaming.

Police say that screaming may have scared the suspects off because she was screaming so loudly, it alerted neighbors.

Virgilio Ballejos, 52, told NBC 7 the suspect pointed a rifle at him when he was in the living room.

He said the suspect pulled the trigger but the gun clicked twice.

Ballejos and his 76-year-old mother were uninjured.

Police say the men fled, driving away in a small car going northbound on Piccard Avenue.

San Diego police officers have been going door to door in the neighborhood to see if anyone saw or heard anything.

Ed. note: A previous version of this article incorrectly identified the investigating agency. We regret the error.

 

A driver is dead after investigators say a car lost control, crashed into an electrical box and caught fire in Vista Tuesday.

Deputies arrived to the crash scene on Sycamore Avenue about one mile south of Highway 78 just before 2 a.m. and found the1998 Chevrolet Camaro engulfed in flames.

Deputies say the driver lost control, crashed into an electrical box, and flipped the car.

It was only after firefighters put out the flames that the victim was discovered inside.

According to a friend, the victim said he wanted to see what the car could do before driving off. The friend told deputies he was asked to follow behind in case anything happened.

Investigators say skid marks left on the street suggest the driver was traveling at high speeds before the crash.

The San Diego County Medical Examiner’s Office arrived to help identify the victim in the crash.

He has been identified by officials as a 19-year-old man who was on a lunch break while working the third shift at Monster Tools.

Sycamore Avenue was closed between La Mirada and Business Court Drive causing some delays for morning commuters in the area.

A power outage resulting from the crash affected about 3,000 customers in the communities of Buena, Twin Oaks, Lawrence Welk, Hidden Meadows and west San Marcos. Power has since been restored.

A bobcat was allegedly spotted near a local high school Tuesday morning, according to school faculty.

The principal of Westview High School – which is located at 13500 Camino Del Sur – said someone reported seeing the large feline near the campus at around 10 a.m. The school has advised faculty to be on the lookout in case the bobcat appears again, the principal said.

As of 10:30 a.m., the San Diego Police Department said no officers were responding to the school. However, aerial footage minutes later showed at least one police vehicle parked in near the campus.

If a bobcat was, in fact, lurking near the high school, this marks the third reported sighting of a big, wild cat in San Diego County in the last two months.

On Dec. 26, a teacher at Canyon Crest Academy in Carmel Valley said he came face-to-face with a bobcat while walking around campus. In that instance, the teacher – who was stopping by his classroom to check on student projects over the winter break – snapped photos of his wild encounter.

On Christmas Eve, a woman running errands in Lemon Grove reportedly spotted a mountain lion near some bushes in a vacant parking lot of a Food 4 Less grocery store on Broadway. The woman was able to snap a photograph showing what may have been the animal.

On Nov. 7, a bobcat was spotted at Mast Park in Santee. A photographer documented the sighting with this series of images.
 

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A pregnant woman was seriously injured in a suspected drunk driving crash in the Mission Valley area Monday night, officials confirmed.

The collision happened just after 10 p.m. in the 2300-block of Hotel Circle South.

San Diego police said a 43-year-old man – believed to be driving under the influence of alcohol – drove his Ford truck across multiple lanes, hitting another vehicle head-on.

In all, officials said four people were injured in the crash, including a pregnant woman who suffered a fractured spine and broken ribs. A male passenger sustained a fractured spine and broken bones as well. Four people were transported to local hospitals.

Officials said the man suspected of driving drunk sustained minor injuries, including some cuts and lacerations. He was arrested and booked into jail. The suspect's name was not released.

A SigAlert was issued and the road was shut down overnight for several hours following the crash.

The current condition of the pregnant victim is unknown. Check back for updates.

San Diegans enjoyed 80-degree weather Tuesday. You would think that’s a good thing, right?

Well, it depends on who you ask.

Some Southern California residents are asking themselves “Where’s the cold weather?”

Historically, San Diego County sees temperatures in the mid 60s from December through February.

The recent Santa Ana conditions that have recreated summer in the winter is unusual, to say the least.

Even NBC 7 meteorologist Jodi Kodesh called the forecast for Tuesday “insane.”

“We have several days of San Diego sunshine and warm temperatures ahead,” Kodesh said adding, “I cannot believe that, I cannot believe that.”

NBC 7’s Whitney Southwick agreed pointing out that the chance of little to no rain for the rest of the month is unusual.

In January, San Diego receives on average 1.98” of rain. The likelihood of seeing any precipitation is not until Jan. 29 – 30 according to Southwick.

Even February appears to be lacking in rainfall according to long-range forecasts.

Ana Magalhaes Santana shared her opinion on Facebook by posting, "Weather is nice but we need some rain the green is turning brown."

Daze Gigi agreed saying it's too hot for winter. "Kinda of scary if you think about it," she posted on Facebook. "Plus California is in a drought. We need water, it needs to rain."

However, John Eubank of Santee took the moment to brag, "Door's open, tomato plant is a foot tall!"

Let us know what you think and we may share your comments with our users. Vote in our poll or comment below or on NBC 7 San Diego’s Facebook page.

An alleged gang member wanted in connection with a stabbing in Valley Center several months ago is being sought by detectives with the San Diego Fugitive Task Force and Crime Stoppers.

According to investigators, Raymond Allison, 19, is linked to a stabbing that happened on Oct. 26, 2013, in Valley Center. A felony arrest warrant for attempted murder has been issued for the crime. Officials say Allison also has a no bail felony arrest warrant for assault with a deadly weapon.

Officials say Allison is a known gang member also known by the nickname “Raskal” or “Raskol.” He’s known to frequent Washington Street in Escondido and is considered armed and dangerous.

Investigators describe the fugitive as a Hispanic man, approximately 5-foot-8 and 150 pounds. He has black hair and brown eyes.

Anyone with information on Allison’s whereabouts should contact the Crime Stoppers tip line at (888) 580-8477. Tipsters can remain anonymous and may be eligible for a reward for information leading to the fugitive’s arrest.
 

There’s a $1,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of a man who attempted to rob a woman outside a North County bank.

A woman stopping to get cash at the Union Bank on Bernardo Center Drive Sunday afternoon was confronted by a man with a gun.

San Diego County Crimestoppers and investigators have released the surveillance video of the incident in the hopes of identifying the suspect.

The victim parked near the ATM just before 2 p.m. and left the car door open and the key in the ignition, officials said.

As she was using the ATM, a man with a gun walked up to her and demanded cash. He also tried to jump into her car and take off.

Officials say the woman grabbed the man and threw him out of her car and onto the ground.

He fled in a 4-door grey sedan that was driven by another man, investigators said.

Anyone with information on this case can call SDPD Northeastern Division Detectives at (858) 538-8000 or the Crime Stoppers anonymous tip line at (888) 580-8477.

Crime Stoppers is offering up to a $1,000 reward to anyone with information that leads to an arrest in this case.

A hoax involving a fake hostage situation and report of an armed man at a Kearny Mesa office building led to a large police response in the area Tuesday afternoon, authorities confirmed.

According to officials, San Diego police received a call at around 1:40 p.m. reporting that a man with a gun was allegedly holding people hostage inside an office building located at 9444 Balboa Ave.

Multiple police officers responded to the scene but quickly determined the call was a hoax.

By 2:15 p.m., officials confirmed there was no armed man or hostages inside the building. Though officers set up a perimeter and scoured the building, the office was not evacuated. No one was injured in the incident and the building was cleared shortly thereafter.

According to police, the original call – placed by an unknown person – came into the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department communications center and was transferred to police dispatch.
 

A $3.8 million lifeguard tower installed last summer at San Diego’s La Jolla Shores is causing some distortion and visibility issues for lifeguards on duty, city officials and local lifeguards confirmed.

According to Scott Robinson, public information officer for the City of San Diego, the new beach safety facility was installed in summer 2013. Shortly after construction, lifeguards began noticing a glare and reflection that started causing some visibility issues at the observation tower.

“The reflection on the three window panels and the distortion located at the edges of each window panel became apparent after installation,” Robinson told NBC 7 San Diego in a statement Tuesday.

After that, Robinson said some experiments were performed at the tower to try to curb the distortion.

“Subsequently, two types of window tint were tested on the interior side of the glass windows. While each tint reduced the glare and distortion, it became apparent that further study was required to identify the cause of the problem,” said Robinson.

Now, the time has come for that further study at the tower, as lifeguards say it’s impacting their day-to-day work at La Jolla Shores.

According to San Diego Lifeguard Capt. Nick Lerma, the visibility problem has resulted in extra staffing at the La Jolla tower right at the time of day when the glare and distortion is at its peak. Lerma said an additional lifeguard is needed for about three hours every day when the visibility is compromised.

“During the latter part of the day there’s glare that comes in that sort of reflects and the lifeguard is unable to see clearly through the glass,” Lerma explained.

Essentially, Lerma said the distortion problem is this: lifeguards will see something on their left.

“But with the way the glass is set up it creates an optical illusion,” he explained. “It’s something like a mirroring effect, so whatever they’re seeing on their left, it’s actually happening on their right.”

Robinson said that this month, an expert specializing in window glazing issues will begin conducting “a thorough assessment of the problem” at the tower. The expert will then give the city recommendations, which Robinson said “should be implemented in summer 2014.”

Mark Nassar, Deputy of Architecture and Engineering with the Public Works Department, said the city is trying to address the problem.

“We’ve tried a couple of different remedies, tinting options, and we couldn’t figure out the problem.

We’re now hiring an expert,” said Nassar. “There were different glasses tried at this station, tempered, non-tempered types of tinting tried. It may not be just glass, we don’t know exactly what the cause is but the expert will tell us.”

Nassar said it will cost approximately $75,000 to fix the lifeguard tower. He said the City of San Diego will recover the cost from the manufacturer or whoever is responsible for the problem.

In the meantime, lifeguards in the area are using another tower adjacent to the problematic one and will continue to staff an additional lifeguard during that peak time when the glare makes it especially hard to see the beach beyond.

“During that period [it] makes us comfortable in knowing that we’re covering the area adequately and safeguarding the public,” added Lerma.

Last week, “La Jolla Light” spoke with San Diego Lifeguard Union spokesperson Ed Harris regarding the tower. Harris also told the outlet that lifeguard views from the upper observation booth are, in fact, being obscured by light distortion in part because the right type of glass wasn’t used for the project. .

The mayor of Los Angeles was a passenger in a police car that struck a pedestrian Tuesday in downtown Los Angeles, according to his office.

Mayor Eric Garcetti was traveling in an LAPD vehicle when it hit a woman about 12:20 p.m. near Second and Spring streets. Garcetti’s office said the mayor was on the phone and did not witness the crash, and has been interviewed by investigators.

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"Our team of investigators have sat down with the mayor and interviewed him just as they would any other citizen or person in this type of collision," LAPD Lt. Andy Neiman said. "He's been fully cooperative."

An unmarked LAPD sport-utility vehicle was driving the mayor eastbound on Second Street when, according to police, a woman walked into the roadway against a red light and between two vehicles, causing the crash.

The pedestrian, identified as a 59-year-old woman, was recovering in the hospital Tuesday night, Neiman said. Police first said the woman was 37 years old but later changed her age.

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"I'm very concerned about her and wish her a speedy recovery. I look forward to speaking with her soon," Garcetti said in a statement.

Authorities had thought the death of a Virginia rock climber last month was a terrible accident. But now, they say a fellow rock climber killed the man, striking him with a claw hammer, after an argument near a popular rock-climbing park.

David DiPaolo, 31, of Bristow, Va., has been charged with manslaughter in the death of Geoffrey Farrar, 69, of Arlington.

Farrar was found with massive head injuries at the bottom of a cliff at Carderock Park, just south of Potomac, Md., Dec. 28. He was airlifted to a Bethesda hospital, where he died later that day.

DiPaolo has now told investigators that he and Farrar got into an argument in Carderock's parking lot, and that when he later encountered Farrar at the bottom of a cliff, Farrar began choking him.

DiPaolo said the two fell to the ground, and that he reached for a claw hammer, striking Farrar in the head until he let go of his neck, according to a police document.

Witnesses reported seeing DiPaolo running up a trail and leaving in a minivan shortly before they found Farrar's body.

Police say DiPaolo drove to upstate New York, where he made a phone call at a gas station to his father's nearby home.

The following day, an autopsy showed that Farrar's injuries were inconsistent with a fall. He had "numerous open fractures to the skull," according to a police document.

DiPaolo was arrested in Glen Falls, N.Y., last week and charged with manslaughter.

Acquaintances say the two men knew each other for years.

"They were different generations, but one common place that they loved, which was Carderock," said Dave Giacomin, a rock climbing club official.

After his arrest, DiPaolo told police, "I'm sorry this happened. I didn't want this to happen."

The family of the Dallas woman who fell to her death from a Six Flags roller coaster says the theme park is dragging its feet in court and wants it sanctioned amid a legal battle in the case over photographs of the woman's body.

In new court documents, the family of Rosa Esparza asked the court to sanction Six Flags Over Texas, arguing it is intentionally slowing depositions and delaying the discovery process in the case.

Esparza, 52, was killed when she was cut in half after falling from the New Texas Giant during the coaster's first steep descent on July 19, 2013. According to the Tarrant County medical examiner, Esparza was ejected from her seat and fell about 75 feet to the ground below. The autopsy revealed she died from multiple traumatic injuries from the fall.

The family is seeking at least $1 million in a lawsuit filed last fall that alleges the park ignored dangers. Six Flags has denied liability in the case and said it did not design or manufacture the ride.

According to the motion filed this week, lawyers for the theme park halted depositions and moved for a protective order to keep the family's lawyers from showing photographs of Esparza's remains to teenage park employees.

Bryan Pope, a lawyer representing the park, contended the photos were "upsetting" and weren't necessary to obtain testimony from the teenagers. He argued that the photos were shown as a ploy to unnerve the witness and to try to break his focus. Pope told opposing counsel that if the graphic photos were to be shown, he would seek a protective order to keep them from being shown to the teens.

Chip Brooker, a lawyer with the Branson law firm that represents the Esparza family, said the photos were "reasonable and necessary" in the deposition because the person being deposed was one of the employees who discovered Esparza's remains. Lawyer Frank Branson added that the protective order Six Flags was seeking was baseless and was "an effort to unreasonably delay these depositions," which they had been seeking for months.

Included in the motion filed Monday was the Dec. 12 deposition with the ride attendant, who said he was confident he had secured Esparza's lap restraint. The ride's operator is mentioned in the deposition as saying that she believed the restraint bar was not properly in place but that she let the ride proceed anyway — a violation of the company's "If-In-Doubt" policy.

After several rounds of questioning, the deposition with the ride attendant turned contentious when Branson asked the teen to comment on photos of Esparza's remains. Pope objected.

"I am going to object because these photos are so horrific that we are not contending that there's any dispute about her death or where she was located, and these are very graphic, and I would request, Counsel, please not dwell on these," Pope said. "We are not going to certainly argue that that was where she was found or the condition she was in. There's really nothing to be gained by this."

"These are what you did to Ms. Esparza," Branson replied, according to the deposition. Branson added that he wanted to know what the teen had seen when he was sent to look for a body.

The deposition, which can be read here along with the motion to compel, ended a short time later.

In an email sent to the Branson firm on Jan. 6, Pope said he would not produce employees for a deposition unless opposing counsel agreed to not display the photos of Esparza's remains. From there, more emails were exchanged between the lawyers.

That exchange led to a Motion for Protective Order being filed on behalf of Six Flags and a Motion to Compel being filed on behalf of the Esparza family.

A date for the hearing on the motion and sanctions could be set for later this month.

A week after advocates for religious freedom said a teacher refused to let a allow a student to bring candy canes with a religious message to his school, a second Southern California school is under fire for refusing to allow a first grader to share her family’s Christmas tradition because “she's not allowed to talk about the Bible in school," a lawyer for the girl's family said.

First grader Brynn Williams wanted to present her family's Christmas tradition of a star of Bethlehem at her school in the Temecula Valley Unified School District in Riverside County on Dec. 19 but was told she could not present it, according to lawyers for the Advocates for Faith & Freedom, which works to preserve religious liberty in the legal system.

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"The disapproval and hostility that Christian students have come to experience in our nation's public schools has become epidemic,” Robert Tyler, the general counsel for Advocates for Faith & Freedom said. ”I hope that (the school district ) will take the lead role in adopting a model policy to prohibit this abuse that has become all too common place for religious-minded students."

"The Temecula Valley Unified School District respects all students' rights under the Constitution and takes very seriously any allegation of discrimination. Due to the fact that District officials are currently investigating the allegations, it would be inappropriate to provide further comment at this time," the district said in a statement.

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Brynn's father, Shane, said he didn't think his daughter bringing the star to school "would be an issue of any kind."

"When this took place she was hurt," he said. "She felt that she had done something wrong and she was going to be punished."

Brynn's case comes on the heels of a case involving a first grader at a school in the West Covina Unified School District who was told, "Jesus is not allowed in school” when he brought a candy cane to school with a religious message.

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The school assignment was for each student to bring to class something that represents a family Christmas tradition and do a 1-minute presentation on it.

Instead, Taylor said, Brynn's teacher interrupted her when she was going to recite a Bible verse and told her to, ”Go take your seat!"

She was the only student who was not allowed to finish her presentation, Taylor said.

For some San Diego firefighters, a big upgrade in working and on-the-job living conditions is now in sight.

The City Council approved major funding Tuesday to rebuild three deteriorating fire stations and to get a start on temporary facilities for two others – all in older neighborhoods south of Interstate 8.

The bottom line: $25 million out of a $120 million "megabond" whose proceeds will go toward fixing San Diego's crumbling infrastructure.

San Diego has too few fire stations, and all too many are substandard.

"Firefighters shouldn't have to live in quarters that have asbestos, water leaking, mold, mildew, the bedbugs that we've had,” says Frank De Clercq, president of San Diego Firefighters Local 145.

“We've fought it all. We've done it all the try to mitigate it and work with it,” De Clercq told NBC 7. "We've got a footprint now to make bigger stations, to house all of the equipment that has grown up over the years, and to accommodate the firefighters so they have a safe environment."

An $11.2 million re-building project is planned for Fire Station 17 in City Heights, whose crews answer the highest call volume among all 47 fire stations in the city.

Hillcrest's Fire Station 5 was built in the late 1940s as a replacement for the original firehouse constructed in 1913.

It’s due to be replaced by an $8.2 million project.

"If you want to keep it as a landmark -- well, you could do that too,” said Hillcrest resident John Van Schaick, as he surveyed Station 5 from across University Avenue Tuesday. ” But the truth of the matter is, it isn't going to do you any good. It's either they build it up or they tear it down. Last year they gave us all tours in there to show us what it looks like. And it's not too promising. "

The other rebuilding project involves Point Loma Fire Station 22, to be funded by $2.6 million from the megabond, added to $4.2 million in earlier funding.

The bond proceeds also will fund land buys and temporary new fire facilities targeted for Skyline Hills and Home Avenue.

The modernized facilities are expected to cut maintenance costs and response times -- and provide a morale boost to firefighters who routinely work overtime shifts that are especially busy in densely populated, longstanding neighborhoods.

"Our officers, our firefighters, our paramedics need good working facilities. And for too long, just like every other type of infrastructure that we won, we've neglected those public safety facilities," says Councilman Mark Kersey, who chairs the Council’s Infrastructure Committee.

"Not only does the city of San Diego not have a multi-year infrastructure investment plan,” Kersey said, “we can't find evidence we've ever had one. And that explains the situation we're in today."

Said Asst. Fire Chief Ken Barnes, who oversees the department’s facilities planning: "We have quite a few stations that have been run down. They have a lot of years in service, and they need a lot of work. And this bond's going to go a long way to improving those stations."

City officials know they can't stop there. They're now looking to put a public safety bond issue on the November, 2016 ballot.

"This is something we want to take to the public because we want the public to understand how the money is being spent and have some assurances that the city really is watching out for them," says Councilwoman Marti Emerald, who chairs the council’s Public Services & Safety Committee. "We can build out our fire-rescue facilities to the point where we can cut the time for response and have a better opportunity at saving lives and averting all kinds of problems."

But outside consultants say at least 10 more stations – probably double that number -- are needed to catch up with the city's growth over the past two decades.

Next week, the city breaks ground on a permanent station in Mission Valley, financed by earlier funding sources.

Funding for a station in Little Italy is almost completed – but it’s still lacking for another downtown site across Broadway from Police Headquarters.

The Los Angeles District Attorney announced that no criminal charges will be filed against the Torrance police officers who shot at a man during a weeklong Southern California manhunt for an ex-LAPD officer, lawyers for the man said on Tuesday.

David Perdue is the surfer who was on his way to catch some morning waves last Feb. 7 when he was stopped by Torrance police on the lookout for Christopher Dorner.

Read: Teacher Tells Student Not to Talk About Bible in School: Lawyer

After he was cleared by the first set of officers, a second set of officers drove up the street, rammed Perdue's vehicle and began shooting at his head. He was not hit.

"It was only the poor marksmanship of Torrance officer Brian McGee that led to Mr. Perdue being alive today," said Perdue's attorney Robert Sheahen.

In the report, the district attorney found that because McGee and his partner, Erin Sooper, were "anxious" and in a state of "panic," their attempt to kill Mr. Perdue was justified, Sheahen said, adding that investigators never contacted Perdue nor his wife for their accounts about what happened.

"The accounts of McGee and Sooper, while riddled with factual fantasy, were accepted at face value," Sheahen said. "Panic and anxiety have no place in a police force. This report piles prosecutorial gibberish on top of police lawlessness."

The report does not affect the Perdue family lawsuit which is pending in federal court in Los Angeles. Trial is set for Aug. 12.

Perdue, who is white, was driving his black Honda pickup on his way to pick up a friend to go surfing when he was stopped by officers looking for Dorner, a black ex-Los Angeles police officer who had promised to bring "warfare" to his former department's officers and their families.

The Perdue shooting was not the only case of mistaken identity that morning.

Two women delivering newspapers in Torrance were also shot at by Los Angeles police officers; the city reached a $4.2 million settlement with the women in April in addition to the $40,000 settlement for the loss of their pickup truck.

Authorities say Dorner killed four people, including two law enforcement officers, during a weeklong rampage that involved a massive manhunt and ended with his apparent suicide in a mountain cabin following a gunbattle with police.

At the time officers stopped Perdue, Dorner had already killed two people, and officers throughout the area were protecting people he named as targets. Authorities believed he was driving a pickup, although it was a different make and color than Perdue's truck.

The news comes a day after another high-profile case involving a Southern California police department ended with a bombshell verdict that stunned a community in Orange County. Two ex-Fullerton police officers were acquitted in the beating death of Kelly Thomas, a 37-year-old homeless man they confronted during a patrol call at a transit station.

A man suspected of driving drunk in a horrific crash that killed three of his passengers and injured several others on Interstate 805 was booked into San Diego County Jail Tuesday, the California High Patrol confirmed.

CHP officials said San Diego resident William Cady, 25, was booked around 3:30 p.m. for his involvement in the fatal collision that happened Friday night along northbound I-805 at westbound State Route 52.

Cady is currently facing six charges, including three counts of gross vehicular manslaughter plus charges of driving under the influence causing great bodily injury. Cady is slated to appear in court Wednesday.

According to the CHP, the deadly crash happened at around 11:15 p.m. Friday when Cady – driving a 2000 Cadillac Escalade carrying five passengers – lost control along I-805 while merging onto SR-52.

The SUV, believed to have been speeding at the time, veered off the road and careened up an embankment, where the car then plowed into a cement pillar and rolled over multiple times, ultimately
coming to a halt in traffic lanes.

From there, a chain reaction-style collision followed, with a silver Acura crashing into the SUV, CHP officials said. Moments later, another vehicle slammed into the Acura then traveled down the embankment across both directions of traffic on eastbound SR-52, eventually landing on the south side of the road. A third vehicle was also involved in the chain reaction collisions.

CHP officials said five of the occupants of the Escalade were not wearing their seatbelts, and four of them were ejected from the vehicle. Two of the men ejected died at the scene.

The San Diego County Medical Examiner has identified those victims as Taylor Bednarski, 29, and Shon Gilliam, 23, both of San Diego.

Another occupant, Jeffrey Becker, 35, who was wearing his seatbelt, was also pronounced dead at the scene of the suspected DUI crash.

Cady was injured and was taken to a local hospital. He remained hospitalized until the time of his
booking on Tuesday.

The other passengers ejected from Cady’s vehicle – a 23-year-old man and 25-year-old man –sustained serious injuries and were also transported to local hospitals.

Two occupants inside the other cars involved in the chain reaction collision suffered minor injuries but are expected to make a full recovery.

CHP officials issued a SigAlert following the accident, shutting down I-805 at westbound SR-52 for hours as investigators worked to help the injured, collect evidence and clear the scene.

Politicians are used to constituent backlash and constant zingers on social media.

Some of the tweets are outright insulting and nasty, but that didn't stop some lawmakers from having fun with them by participating in a new segment, “DC Mean Tweets,” where they read these comments aloud in front of the camera.

“Paul Ryan has such pretty blue eyes, sometimes it’s easy to forget he’s Satan incarnate,” Paul Ryan said while reading a tweet from @RagBagUSA.

Produced by NBC News partner Now This News, the segment was inspired by Jimmy Kimmel’s “Mean Tweets” series, in which celebrities read scathing tweets about themselves.

“We decided to try the concept on a different kind of celebrity,” the video says in an introduction.

The first three examples, featuring Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.), Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.), ran on Now This News on Tuesday and quickly went viral.

Swalwell clearly had fun with one tweet, carrying on an imaginary conversation about playing quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers after a tweeter accused him of hearing voices.

Rep. Jim Himes (D-Conn) also appears in one of the segments. He cheerfully reads a tweet from @libertyreeman: “I can’t decide whether you are stupid or willfully deceitful. Can you help me out?"

Ryan didn't want voters to think their comments, however harsh they may be, aren't valued. Afer “DC Mean Tweets" began making its rounds, he tweeted: "Your feedback is always appreciated!"
 

Your feedback is always appreciated! MT @nowthisnews: #MeanTweets Watch @PRyan read a brutal tweet about himself: http://t.co/wLOJGhw4er

— Paul Ryan (@PRyan) January 14, 2014

San Diego firefighters battled a brush fire in Kearny Mesa Tuesday night.

The fire started around 6:30 p.m. on Kearny Villa Road near the Park and Ride.

Crews quickly had the fire surrounded. The fire burned five acres total, according to fire officials. Firefighters stayed on scene to douse hot spots.

The cause of the fire is under investigation.

For the second day in a row, San Diego County is under a red flag warning. That means the hot, dry, windy weather is favorable for fires.

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