A man and a woman were arrested Thursday in connection with an Egger Highlands shooting that left one man dead and three others injured.

Witnesses reported hearing nine shots ring out on June 27 near 600 Thermal Avenue – just east of Imperial Beach. When San Diego Police arrived in the area, they found four men suffering from gunshot wounds.

Ismael Moreno, 31, died from injuries to his upper torso and at least one shot to the head before medics could help. The three other victims in their 20s were taken to the hospital for non-life threatening injuries. 

One of the men was found about two blocks away. Police believe he was shot at the same site as the others and stumbled to where he was eventually found.

On Thursday, homicide investigators zeroed in on their suspects in the Otay Mesa West area. With the help of U.S. Marshals, they served a search warrant and arrested Cesar Lopez, 23, and Karla Olmos, 22, in the shooting.

Both face murder charges after they are booked into county jail.

Investigators say witnesses heard several people arguing before the gunshots sounded. However, police have not released a motive in the homicide.

There could be much more to the Governator’s official portrait than meets the eye, according to multiple reports.

An obvious blotch on former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s recently unveiled portrait might be the result of a hurried cover-up job to scrub his ex-wife Maria Shriver out of the picture, the San Francisco Chronicle reports.

Sources told the Chronicle that Shriver’s face originally appeared on a small lapel pin in the painting. But it's now apparently covered with a sloppy blue smudge.

Schwarzenegger’s former assistant Clay Russell told the Chronicle he first saw the portrait with the pin on an easel in the then-governor's Santa Monica office.

The only thing that struck out to Russell at that time: “It was unusual for a portrait to be done so soon — a couple of years into the administration," he told the Chronicle.

Russell said he didn't blame Schwarzenegger for hanging the portrait in the Capitol without Shriver's lapel pin. “Considering everything, it’s not that odd,” he said. “It would have been weirder if it was already up and he had removed it.”

The portrait was done by Austrian artist Gottfried Helnwein. Schwarzenegger revealed the portrait Monday, nearly four years after he left office.

Schwarzenegger and Shriver separated when it was revealed in 2010 that he fathered a child out of wedlock with their longtime housekeeper.

A massive five-alarm fire at a Bridgeport, Connecticut, factory triggered 400 evacuations on Thursday night, and state officials are testing the water to determine the environmental impact of the chemicals stored in the building.

No shellfishing is allowed from Fairfield to the Housatonic River as local officials work to determine whether the fish are OK. There will also be no fishing in the harbor for the time-being.

The fire started around 6:30 p.m. on Thursday at at 2102 Seaview Ave., a factory that houses the Rowayton Trading Company, which stores recycled industrial perfume products, and L.A. Barnaby and Sons, officials said on Friday morning. It was so intense that United Illuminating had to cut power to around 1,400 homes.

The facility held around 1,000 50-gallon drums of chemicals and there were several "tremendous" explosions, fire officials said.

"The fire continued to rage throughout the evening and had tremendous explosions. It seemed every five minues we were getting plumes coming into the air. Huge heatwaves were coming toward the firefighters who held their ground," Fire Chief Brian Rooney said.

As crews battled the factory blaze, roofs of around nine neighboring houses were lighting up with fire, so they had to work to contain them. 

The fire posed many challenges, Deputy Fire Chief Dominick Carfi said. The street is narrow, they had to juggle resources to keep the homes from igniting and it a miracle no one lost a home, he said.

Officials from the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection said samples of the Yellow Mill River and the harbor were taken and show minute levels of material from the warehouse where the drums were stored.

Air quality tests indicate there is no immediate public health threat to the community, but environmental tests continue.

The drinking water is safe, said Carfi, who mentioned that a private company provides the water supply and there is no well water in the area.

More samples and air quality tests will be done today.

Material Safety Data Sheets identifying materials in the building were inside when the fire started and it was raging too intensely to send crews in to get it.

Instead, they reached out to the Fairfield County hazmat team, as well as the Coast Guard and EPA, because of the Yellow Mill River.

The Coast Guard flew a helicopter over the harbor at low tide on Friday morning and along the shoreline this morning and noticed "heavy product" in the Yellow Mill Channel as well as some at the head of the Pequonnock River. It appears none of the product has extended beyond the jettys, Commander Jonathan Theel, of the Coast Guard, said.

The Coast Guard will also be checking Pleasure Beach.

Bridgeport Public Safety spokesman Bill Kaempffer described the fire as a "major industrial blaze," which burned throughout the night. He said barrels of recycled perfume ignited, sending fireballs into the sky.

Two firefighters suffered minor injuries, but no one was seriously hurt, officials said. One had an injured ankle and the other was taken to the hospital to be treated for heat exhaustion. The Red Cross provided first responders with food and water.

• More Footage From the Scene

Around 400 residents who live in the area were evacuated to St. Ambrose Church on Boston Avenue, according to Red Cross spokesman Paul Shipman. People who live in the evacuation area will eventually be able to return home, officials said. The Red Cross continued to help 13 people affected by the fire as of Friday morning.

Power is being tested and will eventually be restored to the streets.

Firefighters from surrounding towns provided mutual aid.

Authorities are investigating to determine the cause of the blaze, but have not been allowed inside because of building collapses.

People are sometimes fooled into signing online contracts. When you click "I Agree" with your mouse, you could be signing up for more than you bargained for -- including promising not to be critical in a review of a restaurant or hotel.

Some hotels have actually taken customers to court for writing negative reviews on popular websites like Yelp. The "non-disparagement" clause is often ignored yet still enforced because the customer clicked in agreement to an online contract they never read.

"You're agreeing to not say anything negative about a company," said California Western law processor Nancy Kim. "A lot of these clauses actually say that if you do post a negative review that you'll be subject to a fine."

But that has now changed in California. Governor Jerry Brown signed a bill protecting consumers' online reviews. The law prevents companies from including "non-disparagement" clauses into their contracts with customers.

"It infringes the ability for a consumer to express themselves online," Kim said. "So it does hinder free speech."

The law only applies to contracts for sale or lease of "consumer goods or services" and does not apply to negotiated agreements that don't involve consumer goods. It also does not allow a reviewer to tell lies about a business.

A woman is in custody after three infants' bodies were found in a filthy, infested Massachusetts home Thursday, two weeks after four other children living there were taken into state custody.

Thirty-one-year-old Erika Murray will be arraigned on intimidation of a witness and other charges Friday morning in Uxbridge District Court, police in Blackstone say.

The chief medical examiner will determine the cause and circumstances surrounding the three infants' deaths, whose ages and genders are not yet known, and their bodies are being removed from the home immediately, Worcester District Attorney Joseph Early said.

A 6-month-old, a 3-year-old, a 10-year-old and a 13-year-old were taken out of the home by DCF two weeks ago, Early said. The child welfare agency said that someone reported the conditions, and it is working with investigators.

A neighbor contacted police after one of the children approached the neighbor saying that the 6-month-old child was crying, authorities said. Early said the child was filthy.

Detectives were investigating a case of reckless endangerment when the infants' remains were found, Early said.

Hazmat crews were on the scene at the 23 St. Paul St. home Thursday. Early said that there were flies, bugs and feces in the home. Used diapers were piled over a foot and a half high in some places.

Crews blocked the road off during their investigation.

Chief Atstupenas of the Blackstone Police Department said there is no danger to the public associated with the case.

According to the town assessor, the home is owned by Kristina Rivera, who currently lives in Woonsocket, Rhode Island.

The Blackstone Police Department, Massachusetts State Police detectives, and the Worcester County District Attorney's office continue to investigate.

Stay with NECN as this story develops.

A medical student faces felony charges for the theft of an iPad that belonged to a cancer patient at the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center.

The case represents a tragic intersection of the lives of two young women in their early 30s. 

Hospitalized with an aggressive form of breast cancer, keeping her iPad at bedside, Natalie Packer went into cardiac arrest. It was during the Code Blue response to try to revive her that the iPad disappeared, according to her family.

Months later, authorities found the iPad in the possession of Virginia Nguyen, 32, identified as a third-year student at UCLA's Geffen School of Medicine. She has pleaded not guilty to charges of petty theft, grand theft of lost property, and also of computer access and fraud.

She is in court Friday morning.

Recovering the iPad was important for Packer's family, her uncle Sam Heller said, because in her final days she had been entering personal messages and information for her sister Nicole.

A few days after Natalie Packer's death, she activated Apple's finder app, and it discovered the iPad at the Medical Center.  It also revealed that "Natalie's iPad" had been re-registered with Apple as "Virginia's iPad," Heller said.

It was at that point that the family contacted University Police. Ultimately, a detective obtained a search warrant for the re-registration information recorded wih Apple, revealing Nguyen's last name.

She was arrested on campus last March, and the District Attorney filed criminal charges at the end of July.

Nguyen told a detective she picked up the iPad by mistake because it looked like hers, according to Heller's account of what Det. Ethan Shear told him.

"If you analyze it, it's a pretty lame defense," Heller said.

When a medical school graduate seeks licensing to practice medicine in California, a felony conviction would be a negative factor taken into consideration, said Cassandra Hockenson, spokesperson for the California Medical Board.

Efforts by NBC4News to contact Nguyen and an attorney who has represented her were unsuccessful.

"I am committed to providing social justice and healthcare for diverse populations," reads the summary line on Nguyen's page on the LinkedIn networking site. It also states she works as a Research Fellow at the Medical School.  However, she is "not currently employed at UCLA," according to a statement issued by the University.

Citing privacy considerations, UCLA declined to comment on Nguyen's student status, but its statement noted the Medical School enforces an honor code.

"In those instances when a student's conduct does not meet those standards, we have administrative procedures that ensure appropriate due process is afforded to the student while also moving swiftly yet fairly to ensure accountability to these standards," according to the UCLA statement.

Packer's family is baffled by the notion that a medical student would jeopardize a career for which she has worked so hard.

Packer, who worked in the front office of the NFL, was the kind of person who would have offered the iPad as a gift, Heller said, had she only known it was wanted so much.

The teenage accused accomplice in a violent crime spree across San Diego County will likely spend 10 years in prison.

Cindy Garcia, 19, accepted a plea deal on Thursday. Garcia pleaded guilty to carjacking, use of a firearm and assault on a peace officer with a semiautomatic weapon, according to the San Diego County District Attorney’s Office.

She will spend 10 years in prison under the plea bargain, the DA’s office said.

Garcia and her companion Philip Hernandez were accused in a series of violent crimes including two shootings, three robberies and the burning of three vehicles. One of the shooting victims was an off-duty San Diego police officer.

Hernandez, a former firefighter, was killed in a shootout with police on Oct. 31, 2012, in Barrio Logan.

In a jail interview with NBC 7 in 2012, Garcia said she went with Hernandez because they were in love.

The rest of the case was dismissed. Garcia will be sentenced on Nov. 7.
 

A San Diego father’s playtime session with his 6-year-old son – which involved serious ingenuity and toilet paper – has gone viral.

On Sunday morning, Hillcrest resident Eric Chase spent the day playing with his son, Remy, and plotting a fun prank on his wife.

The father-son team took a couple of rolls of toilet paper and rigged a leaf blower with a paint roller duct-taped to the end of it to shoot out the toilet paper as his wife walked through the front door.

Chase videotaped the prank and uploaded the short clip to YouTube and Reddit. The internet rolled with it, and the video went viral within hours.

As of Thursday morning, it had more than 413,000 views on YouTube and counting.

“It’s been fun to see it take off like that,” Chase told NBC 7.

Chase said the TP ambush took a few hours to plan and set up. Part of the set-up included decorating their “firing station” with hand-painted cardboard signs and dressing Remy up in a pirate hat and eye patch.

In the video clip, Chase gives clear directions before his wife walks through the door: “Prepare to attack. Don’t fire until you see the whites of their eyes!”

Chase’s 3-year-old daughter walks in the house first, so she too gets a little TP to the face as Remy screams with glee.

Because Chase works from home, he said he and Remy often find creative ways to play and keep themselves entertained.

This particular activity, Chase said, came after reading some books to Remy from “The Sisters Grimm” novel series. His son liked a character from one of the books who is a bit of a trickster and had been asking Chase to come up with a fun, harmless way to prank mom for a while.

Thus, the toilet paper blower was born.

“We come up with a lot of fun stuff to do,” said Chase, adding that Remy is now looking forward to their next prank.

“I keep telling him we have to wait a few days until the next one. We have to gain trust again,” he joked.

Since posting the video to his old, dormant YouTube account, Chase said he’s gotten several calls from companies looking to license the clip.

The attorney for a U.S. Marine jailed in Mexico is switching strategies in hopes that his client will be released in matter of weeks.

Defense lawyer Fernando Benitez filed a motion this week that he says could help free Sgt. Andrew Tahmooressi from a Baja jail.

Tahmooressi, a Florida resident, has been in Mexican custody since April, when he crossed the San Ysidro Port of Entry with three U.S.-registered guns in his vehicle.

Benitez claims under Mexican sentencing laws, prisoners are placed in custody in order to receive rehabilitation to become productive members of society when they are released.

However, according to Benitez, the Mexican government cannot rehabilitate Tahmooressi because they do not have the means to provide treatment for his post-traumatic stress disorder.

The attorney hopes the judge will agree and throw out the case.

As a backup, Benitez filed a motion with a higher court to see if it will take Tahmooressi’s case up.

The strategy is the latest in a number of attempts to free Tahmooressi, who faces weapons charges from his spring border crossing.

His family says on April 1, Tahmooressi accidentally made a wrong turn into Mexico while three firearms sat in his truck: a 12-gauge loaded shotgun, a 5.56-caliber loaded rifle and a .45-caliber loaded pistol.

Mexican officials claim the Marine knew the crossing well, citing information from U.S. authorities that shows he entered the San Ysidro Port on three prior occasions.

On Tuesday, the Mexican court reviewed surveillance footage taken during Tahmooressi’s detainment at the border.

The defense wants to prove that Tahmooressi was not given an interpreter or legal representation while in custody for the eight hours before he was presented to a Mexican federal prosecutor.

Benitez alleges the evidence will show how the suspect’s rights were violated by the customs agents who arrested him.

Copyright Associated Press / NBC 7 San Diego

Prosecutors say they are confident David Angelo Drake - a San Diego man with no criminal history - is the right suspect in the series of attacks on women in North Park, while his defense attorney says there are "identity issues."

A judge raised bail to $5 million for Drake, the 23-year-old suspect accused of a string of assaults this summer on women in North Park.

He pleaded not guilty Thursday to 18 charges related to the alleged attacks on seven women, which prosecutors now say began April 30.

The April case as well as another August incident not yet reported in the media were added to the multiple charges against Drake. Still, prosecutors have not ruled out the possibility of more assailants still at large.

"The investigation is absolutely ongoing," Deputy District Attorney Jennifer Golovato said.

Following the arraignment, Drake's defense attorney, Dan Greene, presented concerns over the charges, saying that none of the women have identified his client in a lineup.

"No one person has identified Mr. Drake as the assailant," Greene said. "I don't want to say that's because they're picking out someone else. In some instances, there have been different descriptions that don't match Mr. Drake."

The prosecutor on the case, however, said she's confident.

"Our office has an ethical burden to only file charges on cases we believe we can prove beyond a reasonable doubt," Golovato said. "We believe we can prove beyond a reasonable doubt that David Angelo Drake committed these offenses."

In arguing for high bail, Golovato cited the seriousness of the charges and the number of victims.

"As everyone knows, this was an individual who was terrorizing North Park for approximately four months," she said.

When asked about Drake's state of mind, Greene said he was "very scared."

"He's never been in trouble before," he said. "He's never been in a jail cell before."

After a months-long search for a suspect in the assaults, police arrested Drake on Tuesday. His bail initially was set at $855,000.

The charges are connected to a series of attacks on women  all in the residential area of San Diego west of Interstate 805 and south of El Cajon Boulevard.

Initially believed to begin on June 11, prosecutors on Thursday also accused Drake of an April 30 attack. Golovato said she couldn't comment on the evidence, but did say that attack occurred in the same area as the other attacks.

Here are the charges against Drake:

• April 30 incident: Drake is charged with assault with intent to commit a specific felony and assault by means to likely produce great bodily injury.

• June 11 incident: A woman told police she was thrown to the ground by one attacker on 33rd Street. Drake is charged with sexual penetration (use of force), assault with intent to commit a specific felony and assault by means likely to produce great bodily injury.

• June 21 incident: A woman was walking along Lincoln Avenue at 9:20 p.m. when she said two men attempted to attack her. Drake is charged with assault to commit a specific felony and assault by means likely to produce great bodily injury.

• June 24 incident: A woman was walking along Lincoln Avenue near Oregon Street and was knocked unconscious in an attack from behind, police said. Drake is charged with sexual penetration (use of force), assault with intent to commit a specific felony and assault with intent to commit a specific felony.

• July 20 incident: A woman was knocked out while walking near the corner of Lincoln Avenue and Kansas Street around 1:20 a.m. Drake is charged with assault with intent to commit a specific felony and assault by means likely to produce great bodily injury.

• Aug. 12 incident: Drake is charged with sexual penetration (use of force), robbery and assault with intent to commit a specific felony.

• Aug. 28 incident: The victim was attacked from behind, punched in the face and knocked out. She screamed for help and the suspect ran away, avoiding capture. Drake is charged with assault with intent to commit a specific felony and assault by means to produce great bodily injury.

If convicted on all the charges against him, Drake could face 114 years to life in prison.

President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama visited an elementary school in northeast Washington, D.C., for a charity event on Thursday, but one sixth grader wasn't impressed with their guest appearance.

The young girl working next to the president told him she was glad he and the first lady paid a surprise visit but that she was really hoping to meet someone else.

"I really wanted to see Beyonce," Madison told the president as they stuffed gift backpacks for homeless children.

"I understand," Obama replied. "Malia and Sasha would feel the same way."

Madison quickly recovered and tried to backtrack. “But then I realized it was going to be you and that’s even better,” she said.

“I appreciate you saying that in front of the press,” Obama told her. “I know it’s not really true.”

The first lady told Madison she had a valid point.

“I’d rather see Beyonce,” she said.

For the first time, four little African lion cubs ventured onto the turf that is to be their home inside the San Diego Zoo Safari Park.

The tiny fur balls – one male and three females – timidly followed their mother Oshana into the new exhibit on Thursday.

Born on June 22 at a cuddly 3 ½ pounds each, the young lions named Ernest, Evelyn, Marion and Miss Ellen have been bonding with their mother in her den, out of the public eye.

They were named in honor of longtime zoo supporters Ernest and Evelyn Rady, Marion Wilson and the zoo’s first benefactor Miss Ellen Browning Scripps.

Oshana has been very protective of her cubs, zookeepers say, and she just started taking them to an outdoor area where they could jump around in the sun.

This week, staff said the cubs were strong enough to sniff out the larger exhibit at Lion Camp.

Though they first stuck close to their mom, the little lions slowly began exploring the tall grass and rocks reminiscent of the savanna.They showed off their fiercest growling faces to Thursday's visitors -- the first to get a taste of the cubs’ behaviors.

While it may be hard for us to tell them apart, keepers say each has his or her own distinctive personality. But the staff has another cheat: they’ve shaved a small patch of hair in a different spot on each cub.

At nearly 3 months old, the cute animals are weighing in at 22 pounds each, showing they are growing up healthy, the zoo says.

By the time they are fully grown – which is around 3 years old in lion time – Ernest could weigh around 500 pounds, while Miss Ellen, Evelyn and Marion could weigh roughly 300 pounds.

The cubs have been visually introduced to their father Izu and will physically meet him in the near future, zoo officials say.

The lion pride at the Safari Park now has nine members with the addition of the new cubs. Along with the little lion family, the group includes an adult female named Mina and Oshana’s older offspring Ken and Dixie.

San Diego police are looking for suspects in the death of a man found shot in a Logan Heights alley.

Several people called 911 around 10:23 p.m. Thursday, reporting shots fired near National Avenue and South 29th Street just east of Interstate 5.

Police officers said they found the shooting victim, described as a man in his 30s, lying in the alley.

Investigators say they believe there was a fight between the victim and the shooting suspect or suspects.

After the victim was shot, the suspect fled the area.

The victim was rushed to UCSD where he was later pronounced dead. His identification is being withheld pending notification of next of kin.

Anyone with information related to this incident is encouraged to call the San Diego Police Department’s Homicide Unit or Crime Stoppers at 888-580-8477.
 

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved a weight-loss drug developed by La Jolla-based Orexigen Therapeutics Inc.

Orexigen is partnered with Japanese pharmaceutical giant, Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Ltd., to manage marketing and sales of the new drug, Contrave. Takeda has assigned 900 sales representatives to the launch.

Wells Fargo analyst Matthew Andrews expects Contrave’s U.S. sales to eclipse that of competing weight-loss drugs, Belviq and Qsymia,

Belviq was developed by San Diego-based Arena Pharmaceuticals Inc. and Qsymia was made by Vivus Inc. based in Mountain View. Both competing drugs were approved in 2012.

Contrave sales are expected to be about $200 million in 2016, slightly higher than Belviq’s $180 million and well ahead of Qsymia’s $150 million, said Andrews, who covers all three companies.

Arena reported Belviq sales of $5.7 million in 2013, with $5.3 million of that attributable to its partner Eisai Co. Qsymia’s sales were$23.7 million.

Orexigen’s new drug is a combination of bupropion, the active ingredient in the antidepressant Wellbutrin, and naltrexone, an opioid blocker used to help stop alcohol and opioid addiction.

In June, the FDA had delayed its decision on the drug by three months due to concerns about possibly inadequate warnings on the packaging. Orexigen responded with a 47 page long label topped by a black-box warning alerting doctors about the risk of suicidal thought and other psychiatric adverse events related to the antidepressant bupropion component of the combination therapy.

After the announcement of FDA approval was made Wednesday night, Orexigen shares fell 8 percent to $5.43. Shares closed Sept. 11 at $5.28 on the Nasdaq under the ticker symbol OREX.

The Business Journal is the premier business publication in San Diego. Every day online and each Monday in print, the Business Journal reports on how local business operate and why businesses leaders make the decisions they do. Every story is a dose of insight into how to run a better, more efficient, more profitable business.

A former daycare worker has been found guilty of abducting a 5-year-old girl from her Philadelphia elementary school and then brutally sexually assaulting her with a sharp object.

The jury's verdict marked the culmination of a nearly two-year ordeal that has horrified city leaders and residents.

Christina Regusters was convicted of all six charges, including kidnapping and sexual assault of a child. The 21-year-old sat emotionless Friday morning as the jury of seven women and five men threw the book at her inside a packed courtroom at Philadelphia Criminal Justice Center.

Her mother, sitting behind her, sobbed into a washcloth. Tears also streamed down the faces of the victim's family.

"She's an amazing and courageous little girl," lead prosecutor Erin O'Brien said of the young victim following the ruling. The girl, now 7, had testified in court before the accused.

A guilty verdict on only two of the charges would carry a sentence that amounts to life in prison. Regusters' sentencing was set for Dec. 15, and Common Pleas Judge Jeffrey Minehart ordered a mental health evaluation.

"It was a fair verdict," W. Fred Harrison, Jr., Regusters' attorney, said after leaving court. He said Regusters is planning to appeal.

Prosecutors said Regusters, dressed in Muslim garb, posed as the 5-year-old’s mother as she signed the child out of Bryant Elementary School in the Cobbs Creek section of the city on Jan. 14, 2013.

She was accused of leading the girl to a nearby home, putting her in a laundry bag and carrying her up into her bedroom. There, prosecutors say, Regusters blindfolded and stripped the girl, put her under a bed and sexually abused her with a sharp object. The entire ordeal lasted 19 hours, prosecutors say.

The girl was then dumped in an Upper Darby, Pennsylvania, playground wearing only a T-shirt. She was later found by a passer-by.

The girl had been severely injured in the attack, and doctors had to give her a temporary colostomy to let her body heal.

Regusters was arrested a month later and after a lengthy grand jury investigation was indicted on six counts: aggravated assault; involuntary deviant intercourse of a child involving serious bodily injury; kidnap to facilitate a felony; unlawful contact with a minor involving sexual offenses; unlawful restraint of a minor with a risk of a bodily injury; and concealment of the whereabouts of a child.

She remains the only person charged in the heinous crime.

Over the course of the 12-day trial, lead prosecutor Erin O’Brien painted the woman as a delusional monster who lied about her involvement in the kidnapping and rape.

Regusters and her attorney argued that she may have been involved in the kidnapping, but did not sexually assault the girl.

Extreme emotions filled the courtroom throughout the trial, with a number of people, including jurors, shedding tears.

The jury and media were shown graphic photos of the girl's injuries immediately after her attack, imagery so disturbing that members of the public were removed from the courtroom.

Also during the trial, testimony by Regusters' cousin that the defendant had also sexually abused her daughter prompted an outburst by Regusters. Regusters yelled out and tried to run from the room, halting the trial briefly.

Regusters never took the stand before the jury but did speak to the judge when Harrison sought and won a suppression of her statement to police. The reason: She was never read Miranda rights following her arrest, the judge found.

During her testimony, the victim recounted the attack and talked about how she was told that a bad man hurt her. The girl said she was shown a cell phone image of the man, who she was told assaulted her. But prosecutors say it was all an act, made up to confuse the girl.

Regusters’ DNA was found on the girl’s shirt, and images of child porn were found on the computer in the woman’s bedroom, detectives testified. Harrison argued such evidence was circumstantial, but,  after the trial, conceded that the evidence was too damning.

"The DNA was difficult to overcome as well as the internet searches which I believe led to her undoing," Harrison said.

Before the trial began, prosecutors offered Regusters a plea deal that would have earned her 40-years in prison.

As for the victim, she continues to recover from the injuries sustained in the assault. Her attorney, Tom Kline, has filed a civil lawsuit against the School District of Philadelphia seeking damages for the child.

Contact Sarah Glover at 610-668-5580, sarah.glover@nbcuni.com or follow @skyphoto on Twitter.

This alleged burglar was apparently in desperate need of a face lift.

Chula Vista Police say a suspect nabbed about $900 worth of face cream from a CVS on E. H Street.

The man was caught on surveillance video during the Aug. 27 incident, showing him grabbing the goods and a store clerk chasing after him.

Detectives later shared the video with other law enforcement agencies, and a senior probation officer recognized the suspect as Julian Vera, 25, police say.

Vera was already wanted on an outstanding felony warrant for violating the terms of his probation.

On Thursday, detectives carried out a probation search on Vera's Moss Street apartment. When police entered, they say Vera ran out a back door to his patio, jumped to his neighbor's patio and hid inside the adjoining apartment.

Witnesses told police where he was, and they took him into custody around 6:50 a.m.

Detectives say a search of Vera's apartment turned up a shirt matching the suspect's in the video, which had the word "Carhartt" across the chest in white over the black fabric.

They also spotted a white vehicle, belonging to the Vera's mother, in the apartment parking lot. It matched the description that witnesses gave of the getaway vehicle on Aug. 27.

No stolen property was found.

Vera was booked into jail for commercial burglary and for the outstanding warrant.

Ready or not, a major heat wave is rolling into San Diego County this weekend.

A heat advisory has been issued from 10 a.m. Saturday through 7 p.m. Monday. Temperatures in the inland valleys will be in the 100s Saturday through Tuesday.

“By Saturday, we hit triple digits, and we stay there for four days,” NBC 7 forecaster Whitney Southwick said.

“This is the longest hot stretch we’ve seen all summer long.”

The Division of Occupational Safety and Health (Cal/OSHA) has issued a high heat advisory. Employers of outdoor workers are required to provide employees with plenty of water and a shaded place to take breaks, according to Cal/OSHA.

People, especially the elderly, are encouraged to stay indoors during scorching heat. There are more than 100 designated “cool zones” across San Diego County for those without air conditioning. See a complete list of cool zone locations and hours here

If you do venture outside, it’s important to recognize the signs of heat exhaustion and heat stroke. Muscle cramping can be the first symptom of heat-related illness, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC.)

Signs of Heat Exhaustion

• Heavy sweating
• Weakness
• Cold, pale, clammy skin
• Fast, weak pulse
• Nausea or vomiting
• Fainting

What to Do

• Move to a cooler location.
• Lie down and loosen your clothing.
• Apply cool, wet cloths to your body.
• Sip water.
• If vomiting continues, seek medical attention immediately.

Signs of Heat Stroke

• Body temperature above 103°F
• Hot, red, dry or moist skin
• Rapid, strong pulse
• Unconsciousness

What to Do

• Call 911 immediately.
• Move the person to a cooler environment.
• Reduce the person’s body temperature with cool cloths or a cool bath.
• Do NOT give fluids.

(Source: CDC)

A fuel tanker drove off a San Diego area highway, knocked out a power pole and landed on a hillside.

The tanker drove off the eastbound State Route 905 in Otay Mesa near the U.S.- Mexico border around 10 p.m. Thursday.

The fact that the tanker is carrying 8700 gallons of fuel and was in such a precarious position created a challenge for emergency crews.

“It would have overturned. Everybody that’s been out here on the scene has been surprised that it hasn’t overturned,” said CHP Sgt. Sofia Mosqueda. “It’s pretty amazing.

The tanker drove off the highway and into a ditch before resting on the embankment near Caliente Avenue.

The first step was to bring in another fuel tanker and offload most of the combustible fuel inside the damaged truck.

Then, crews worked to remove fencing at the top of the embankment. By 8 a.m., the tanker had been removed from the hillside.

Two lanes were reopened to traffic heading eastbound along the highway that runs just north of San Ysidro High School.

An incident during Dehesa Elementary's Pajama Day was the first time officials learned of allegations against a former teacher now accused of child molestation, the former school superintendent told NBC 7 in an exclusive intervierw.

Robert Noel Anderson, 58, was arrested Wednesday at his home in Allied Gardens on allegations he molested five children dating back to 2003, officials said. 

San Diego County Sheriff's Department spokesperson Jan Caldwell told NBC 7 there were eight alleged incidents involving five minors. Most of the alleged victims are now adults, Caldwell said.

Retired Dehesa Superintendent Barbara P. Rohrer was first alerted of a possible problem regarding the highly-respected teacher in the 2004-2005 school year.

After Dehesa Elementary's Pajama Day, a female student in the sixth grade lodged a complaint.

“That’s when this young lady told her parents that something had occurred,” Rohrer said without going into details of what happened.

Rohrer said the staff and administration all met and discussed the allegation.

“We all tried to figure out what was real,” Rohrer said. “Mr. Anderson did not admit to doing anything inappropriate and we could not prove that he did.”

She added that other students who were present could not validate what was alleged.

Even so, Rohrer said the unproven allegations were a good part of the reason she decided to transfer Anderson to the fourth grade for the following school year.

“Young ladies in the sixth grade versus young ladies in the fourth grade are kind of different,” she explained. “So I thought the fourth grade would be a healthy environment for him.”

She described Anderson as friendly, competent and highly-respected by students, parents and other teachers.

Then in May 2006, there was another incident involving a child in the fourth grade.

After that, Rohrer said Anderson was put on administrative leave.

“I was willing to accept the fact there could be a problem but I couldn’t prove anything here so i didn’t have a basis for dismissing him at that point in time,” she said.

Rohrer was superintendent from 2001 to 2006 and does not recall any incidents occurring in 2003.

She said after the Pajama Day incident, the school did contact the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department.

However, detectives told NBC 7 they could not make a case because of lack of evidence.

"We investigated this all along but it did not always meet the threshold when we worked with the district attorney's office," explained San Diego County Sheriff’s Department spokesperson Jan Caldwell.

"We didn't close these cases down. We forged ahead and worked them until it culminated in this morning's arrest."

Anderson was booked into the San Diego County Jail and is scheduled to be arraigned on Monday, September 15 in El Cajon.

In a letter sent home to parents late Thursday afternoon, the superintendent wrote that none of the children currently enrolled had any contact with Anderson in the classroom.

Anyone with information about this case is asked to call the Child Abuse Unit at (858) 974-2310/after hours at (858) 565-5200 or you may Call Crime Stoppers at (888) 580-8477.
 

A pilot is missing after two U.S. fighter jets collided and crashed into the west Pacific Ocean, the Navy said.

One pilot was rescued soon after the crash Thursday night about 250 miles west of the Marshall Islands. A search was underway for the the second pilot, the Navy said.

The rescued pilot was returned to USS Carl Vinson and was said to be in fair condition and receiving medical attention. The jets, both F/A-18 Hornets, had not been recovered.

Both jets were assigned to Carrier Air Wing 17 and assigned to the San Diego-based Carl Vinson.

The public affairs officer for Navy Regional SW said the jets involved in the crash are based out of Lemoore Naval Air Station near Fresno.

The Navy said the aircraft carrier is on a security and stability mission in the Asia-Pacific region, NBC News reported.

The jets collided at 5:40 p.m. local time, or 10:40 p.m. PT, in the Pacific Ocean between Hawaii and Guam.

The carrier group deployed from San Diego Naval Air Station on Coronado three weeks ago.

Helping in the search are USS Bunker Hill, USS Gridley and helicopters assigned to Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron 15 and Helicopter Maritime Strike Squadron 73.

An F/A-18E Super Hornet crashed in June as it prepared to make a late-night landing on the Carl Vinson off the Southern California coast. The pilot ejected safely.

#BREAKING MT @US7thFleet: #USNavy F/A-18 Hornets crash in Pacific Ocean. We will continue to release updates. http://t.co/hOarswxHHJ

— U.S. Navy (@USNavy) September 12, 2014