The man accused of "swinging a knife" and assaulting officers at the Groton submarine base Thursday evening will remain in federal custody until a detention hearing scheduled for noon Wednesday.

According to a spokesperson for the Navy, Gary Ray Brunache, 35, of Norwich, showed up to the base armed with a knife Thursday evening, prompting an officer to open fire. One Navy civilian officer was caught in the crossfire and a second was stabbed in the leg.

Brunache, who said he went to the base to see his brother, walked from Norwich to the Navy base around 7 p.m. Thursday. He became frustrated when officers at the main gate on Crystal Lake Road wouldn't let him in and began "swinging a knife" at Officer Brian McCarthy, according to the NCIS officer who filed a complaint against him.

Officer William Kephart fired pepper spray at Brunache, who stabbed Kephart in the leg, NCIS officials said. McCarthy fired three rounds and missed, but officers "eventually subdued" Brunache.

Kephart suffered a stab wound to the leg and McCarthy, who was caught in a spray of bullets, were taken to the hospital for treatment of non-life threatening injuries. Both officers were released around 10:30 p.m., according to the Navy.

Groton Town Police apprehended Brunache, who was not injured, and brought him to a local hospital for a medical evaluation.

He has been charged with assault on a federal officer and assault with a dangerous weapon on a Navy base. Brunache remains in the custody of the Naval Criminal Investigative Service.

Brunache worked at the Mohegan Sun Casino in Uncasville in 2002, according to a casino spokesperson.

The main gate to the submarine base, which was closed to traffic through the night, reopened Friday morning.

#groton police assisting naval investigation at sub base. State troopers are here as well @NBCConnecticut pic.twitter.com/f9aKd5OcyO

— Josh Chapin (@joshchapin1) November 14, 2014

A tipster led FBI agents to a man suspected for robbing a bank in San Diego County – the suspect in the surveillance video was wearing the same shirt he had on when he was released from jail that morning.

Christopher Andrew Gibson, 26, of Vista, California was arrested on Monday on suspicion of robbing a Wells Fargo Bank almost a month earlier.

FBI agents said an anonymous tip led them to Gibson after seeing the surveillance images taken during the robbery.

When Gibson was released from the George Bailey Detention Center on Oct. 7, he was given his personal clothes, which included a shirt that matched the one worn in the robbery, agents said in a news release.

He was also described as having a full beard and unkempt hair when he was released, officials said.

The Wells Fargo involved in the robbery is 14 miles west of the jail and across Interstate 5 from a trolley station.

A man entered the bank and handed the teller a demand note. Even though he told the teller he had a weapon, no weapon was seen, agents said.

The man got away on foot with an undisclosed amount of cash.

He’s in custody, accused of bank robbery. He is next scheduled court hearing will be Friday.

Some citizens in a Massachusetts town considering enacting the nation's first ban on tobacco sales want Board of Health officials out after a heated hearing on the proposal, according to the Worcester Telegram.

Local store owners in Westminster who strongly oppose the proposal are calling for a recall election.

Board chairman Andrea Crete can not be removed since she's within six months of her term expiring, but the other two board members can be.

A recent meeting hosted by the board came to an abrupt end just moments after it started when critics of the proposed ban started cheering and speaking out of turn.

In order to hold a recall, supporters need 25 registered voters to submit an affidavit, then collect 800 signatures on a petition. The town is home to about 7,700 residents.

As for the proposal to ban tobacco sales, the board isn't expected to discuss it again until next month.

A published report gives new details into why the U.S. Navy removed the commander of the San Diego-based USS Boxer.

Capt. Wayne R. Brown was relieved of his role as commanding officer, just three months after assuming command, according to the U.S. Navy.

At the time, the Navy did not explain why Brown was fired, but cited “equal opportunity concerns…not tied to a specific event.”

However, a report in the San Diego Union-Tribune details complaints against Brown that ranged from cursing and bullying officers to advising female members of the crew on birth control and marital problems.

Brown was found guilty of disobeying an order in connection with sexual harassment of a female officer, the paper reports. He was also found guilty of conduct unbecoming of an officer for abrasive and abusive behavior, according to the U-T.

The article states that more complaints of Brown's behavior surfaced once the Navy began its investigation into the sexual harassment incident.

Brown has been reassigned to Commander Naval Surface Force, U.S. Pacific Fleet, according to the release.

The Boxer returned from her last deployment in April.
 

Parents in the Scripps Ranch area are on high alert after receiving an alert from a neighborhood watch group about a possible attempted child kidnapping.

Two men in a gray pickup truck approached a young girl walking on Roxboro Road to Dingeman Elementary School on Wednesday morning and asked her to get inside the truck, according to the alert. The girl ran back home and called for help and the suspects drove off.

The suspects are described as having brown hair and being in their early 30s.

San Diego police confirmed that its northeast juvenile services department received a report of the incident.

Police do not have a license plate number, nor have they released a sketch of the suspects.

Parents who live in the area said the report was a huge wakeup call to stranger danger.

“It’s just so close to home and how much worse it could’ve ended up if she hadn’t run away,” said Dingeman Elementary School parent Morgan Daversa.

“Something like this (happening) just worries me,” echoed Hooban Forsman, another Dingeman parent. “How awful it could’ve been and it’s just – it’s worrisome.”

When reached for comment, a San Diego Unified School District spokeswoman said the report should serve as a reminder for the community to be vigilant.

“We encourage our families and neighbors to help us be watchful and vigilant and to report any suspicious activity to police immediately, as was done in this incident, as a way of working together to keep our communities (and schools) safe,” said district spokeswoman Ursula Kroemer.

Editor's note: An earlier version of this story reported Jane Byrne's age as 80, reflecting city reports that she was born in 1934. Her birth certificate, according to the Cook County Clerk's Office, states she was born in 1933.

Jane Byrne, who shocked the Chicago political establishment when she was elected mayor in 1979, died today, according to Chicago Sun-Times columnist Michael Sneed, who once served as Byrne's press secretary. She was 81.

Byrne was the city’s first and only female elected mayor.

“With the passing of Mayor Jane Byrne, the City of Chicago has lost a great trailblazer," Mayor Rahm Emanuel said in a statement.

"Mayor Byrne was a Chicago icon who lived a remarkable life of service to our city," Emanuel said. "From signing the first ordinance to get handguns off of our streets, to bringing more transparency to the City’s budget, to creating the Taste of Chicago, Mayor Byrne leaves a large and lasting legacy. And as the first woman to serve as Mayor, she will always have a special place in our history."

Gov. Pat Quinn said Byrne "leaves a legacy of tireless service to Chicago that will never be forgotten."

Byrne was born Jane Margaret Burke and married William Byrne, a Marine who died in plane crash in 1959. Together they had a daughter, Kathy.

Byrne’s remarkable one and only political victory, over the vaunted Cook County Democratic Machine, came thanks in large part to a frustrated electorate, which had been pummeled by snow storm after snow storm.

As the snow banks grew, so did voters' frustration with Mayor Michael Bilandic, the former Bridgeport alderman who became mayor upon the death of Richard J. Daley. 

Byrne’s love affair with politics blossomed in 1960 when she worked on the presidential campaign of John F. Kennedy. That’s where she met Daley.

Kennedy charmed her. But Daley hired her and promoted her, first in 1964 to run the city’s Head Start program. One appointment followed another and Byrne’s city hall profile increased.

So did her power.

But it all came crashing down in December 1976, with the death of the legendary mayor.

11th Ward Alderman Michael Bilandic became mayor of Chicago and George Dunne took over as head of the Cook County Democratic Party.

Suddenly Byrne was out at City Hall.

With virtually no money and little political backing, Jane Byrne, in her first run for public office, announced her candidacy for mayor in 1979 taking on the party bosses.

The “evil cabal” she called them, the entrenched, the influential, including young and increasingly powerful pols like the two Eddie’s, Vrdolyak and Burke.

Byrne cast herself as a reformer, ready to roust the rascals from The Hall.

The big boys just scoffed. But not those in the neighborhoods, who saw in Byrne a scrappy outsider.

And who believed they witnessed in Bilandic a tepid response to the Blizzard of ’79. Voters were outraged.

And on Election Day: Incredibly, unbelievably, astonishingly Jane Byrne won the Democratic Primary.

As the perfunctory general election proceeded old enemies became allies.

Political hatchets, if only tentatively, were buried.

Asked how, as mayor-elect, she felt after dispatching Republican Wallace Johnson, Byrne replied, “I feel like it was worth the battle. I’m glad that we did it and like I said before I really think we are in a renaissance period in Chicago.”

But Byrne’s four years in office would be chaotic and controversial.

Mass transit workers struck. So did firemen.  At city hall there was a revolving door of police superintendents and department heads.

Former newspaperman Jay McMullen, who became her second husband, also became her chief political confidant.

She battled with the press.

And angry citizens at city hall.

When security became an issue at the Cabrini Green public housing complex, Byrne moved in.  CHA residents had seen 11 murders there in just three months.

“People are afraid of Cabrini Green? I’m not,” Byrne said at the time.

Almost as quickly as she moved in, she moved out.

The summer of 1982 brought protests from blacks and progressives over the lack of contracts and jobs for minorities at Chicagofest, the city’s lakefront extravaganza.

Jane Byrne was losing the backing of her core political constituency. But as 1983 drew near, Byrne made it clear she would run for re-election.

The race for mayor in 1983 pitted Byrne against then State’s Attorney Richard M. Daley and Congressman Harold Washington.

It was a contest that electrified and polarized Chicago.

The first woman mayor of Chicago gave way to the first African-American chief executive.

Initially gracious in defeat, Byrne briefly mounted and then discarded a write-in campaign.

She ran three more times, for Mayor in 1987 and 1991 and for Clerk of the Court in 1988.

But times had changed.  And Jane Byrne faded from public sight.

“One of my greatest difficulties personally”, she wrote in a 1992 memoir, “was how people perceived me. Some of the misperception was my fault, but not all of it. “

“It was a privilege to be Mayor of Chicago,” she added. 

In the town where for four unforgettable years, she had the time of her life.

Clouds of mosquitoes that recently moved in near the Sorrento Valley COASTER Station are causing concern among helpless commuters, victims of their itchy bites.

Kevin Anderson noticed the unwelcome neighbors as he waited for the train last week.

“There weren’t any problems and then all of the sudden, there’s just swarms of them,” said Anderson.

“There’s just clouds of them. Like millions of them,” he added.

Gathering at dusk, the swarms prey on commuters, who have turned to huddling at the north corner of the five-car-length platform in an effort to escape.

Anderson told NBC 7 on Wednesday, a mosquito flew into his co-worker’s eye and bit the inside of it. Another fellow commuter was bitten near her left eye, which caused her eyelid to swell up.

The North County Transit District learned of the problem Wednesday as the result of a customer complaint and sent a staff member immediately to check out the station, according to spokesperson Katie Whichard.

She said the pests appear to be coming from a flood control channel that's on city property.

Anderson said North County Transit District (NCTD) crews have been doing construction near his station, so they cleared overgrown trees, bushes and grasses along a drainage canal that runs along the Sorrento Valley tracks.

During that process, Anderson believes a dirt berm may have built up, causing water to pool and stagnate. And there’s no place mosquitoes love to breed more than in stagnant water.

The concerned commuter called the San Diego County Vector Control Program to report the infestation.

County Communications Specialist Gig Conaughton told NBC 7 Anderson and three others reported the Sorrento Valley swarm on Wednesday.

The same day, inspectors were sent to the area and found two mosquito breeding areas nearby, according to Conaughton. On one of them, employees scattered larvicide, a granular material that kills mosquito larvae and stops the insect population from growing.

The second breeding site is close to the train tracks, so Conaughton said the county will have to work with the NCTD to take care of it at a later time.

He said it will be up to whoever owns the property to make sure the stagnant water is cleared.

A solution is in the works, according to the NCTD.

"We’re trying to figure out whose jurisdiction the problem is in," Whichard said. "We’ll be coordinating with the city and county to make sure vector control will come out and take care of It."

The pests are not only a nuisance, but a health issue as well, Anderson believes.

“The health concern of West Nile, you always hear about it and people that are waiting on the platform, many of them have been bit,” he said.

The San Diego County's Vector Control Program recently warned residents they've found yellow fever mosquitoes around the county, a breed that could become dangerous if established in the region.

After her return from Liberia, the vice president of a San Diego-based nonprofit became one of four people in the county monitored for symptoms of Ebola.

Holding a thermometer given to her in a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention packet, Peg Ross walked through her daily ritual.

“I need to keep track of my temperature twice a day for 21 days, per the CDC,” she explained.

She tracks her temperature and writes down the names of everyone she sees on a log sheet.

“I’m not required to keep track of where I go and who I see, but I was used to that in Liberia,” Ross said.

Ross is one of two people the San Diego County Health Department is currently monitoring for Ebola after returning from West Africa. Active monitoring means Ross is showing no symptoms of Ebola and is at low risk for contracting it, so she can go about her normal activities without any travel or movement restrictions.

So far this year, health officials say they’ve kept watch on four people in all.

Ross, the vice president of human resources for Project Concern International (PCI), returned Saturday from Liberia, where she worked on the front lines of the fight against Ebola.

“We reached 140,000 people with the message of how to prevent Ebola, what to do if you suspect someone in your family has Ebola,” said Ross of her time there.

But she herself did not visit any clinical settings and lived with a fellow American from Florida, which helped limit her exposure to the disease. That’s why the health department put her on monitoring, not quarantine.

Part of her daily routine during her two weeks in Liberia included taking staff’s and visitors’ temperatures as they entered or exited the office.

They were also required to wash their hands with a chlorine solution. “My hands have never been so clean," Ross said.

PCI team members educate Liberians about curbing the spread of Ebola. They've also been providing cleaning and medical supplies to the area.

On Monday, PCI is scheduled to break ground on 10 clinics in the Ebola-ravaged region. They are also raising funds to buy protective gear for aid workers.

A main thoroughfare in Coronado was turned into what looked like a demolition derby after a recreational vehicle slid into eight vehicles Thursday evening.

The cars were parked along the 1100 and 900 block of Orange Avenue when a 25-foot Winnebago began its path of destruction at about 8:30 p.m.

The RV bounced off one vehicle and into the next. It scraped, dented and even spun an SUV onto the sidewalk.

Over two blocks, a debris field of broken glass, metal and mirrors showed the aftermath. The suspect, identified as 52-year-old George Stanley, did not stop until Coronado police pulled him over about a mile down the road, in front of the police station.

Investigators asked him to perform several sobriety tests to determine if he was impaired. The suspect, who wasn't wearing shoes, appeared to have difficulty with his coordination.

"Nobody drinking has any business driving," said victim Jeff Hames, whose car was one of the worst off. "Could have been a lot worse. My reaction at first was anger, but there are people walking by my [SUV]. I'm just glad nobody got hit." 

Hames moved here just a week ago for a new Navy assignment.

No one was injured in the string of crashes, but officials estimate the damage was more than $50,000.

Stanley is being held by police, pending DUI and hit-and-run charges.

A nightclub located near San Diego International Airport suffered thousands of dollars in damage not from fire but from the water that was activated to put out that fire, officials said.

A refrigerator in the roof area of Spin on Hancock Street caught fire around 3:30 a.m., set off the alarm and the building’s sprinkler system.

The water sprinklers contained the fire from the rest of the three-story building, fire officials said.

San Diego Fire-Rescue crews said they had trouble turning off the sprinklers because of a stripped valve so water was shooting out for several more minutes after crews got there.

Those officials estimated that most of the $20,000 in damage is due to water and not smoke or fire.
 

A knife-wielding attacker posed as a law enforcement officer to get inside a Virginia home, stabbed the residents multiple times then told them he'd be back to finish the job as his wife waited outside, prosecutors said.

The suspect, 31-year-old Andrew Schmuhl, was wearing nothing but a diaper when he was apprehended after a car chase, authorities said Friday.

These and other disturbing details emerged during a bond hearing for Schmuhl's wife, 30-year-old Alecia Schmuhl, Friday morning. The Schmuhls, both lawyers, are accused in the attack of a couple in their 60s.

Police have said the attack apparently stemmed from a workplace dispute. Alecia Schmuhl had worked with the male victim at the Bean, Kinney & Korman law firm in Arlington, but a law enforcement source said she had been fired recently.

The Schmuhls, of Springfield, both face two counts of abduction, two counts of malicious wounding, and other charges.

During Alecia Schmuhl's bond hearing Friday morning, prosecutors said her husband, armed with a gun and a Taser, knocked on the door of the victims' home in the 900 block of Spencer Road in McLean, while posing as an officer.

Andrew Schmuhl allegedly tased the male victim and forced his way into the house, ordering the female resident into the bedroom. He bound both the husband and wife with flexible cuffs and told them he was investigating the husband's law firm, according to prosecutors.

Prosecutors said Schmuhl fired a shot at the female victim, who was not struck; tased both and stabbed both repeatedly.

The female victim managed to trigger a panic alarm in the house, but before leaving, the assailant told them he'd be back to finish the job.

Andrew Schmuhl brought two disaposable cellphones into the house with him, and talked on the phones throughout the crime, prosecutors said. The phones were left behind after the attack.

When police arrived, the male victim gave them the identity of the suspect.

Alecia Schmuhl stayed outside during the attack, prosecutors said, but video footage allegedly shows her buying a Taser at a Northern Virginia gun store on the Friday prior to the attack.

The suspects were arrested about an hour after the crime, following a police chase that went on for three to four miles. When they finally succeeded in pulling them over, officers discovered Andrew Schmuel was just a diaper.

Both victims remained in the hospital Friday. The female victim is expected to be released soon.

The male victim remains in grave condition. Unable to speak after the attack, he has communicated with authorities by writing notes, including one that said the attacker had threatened to return and kill them.

Alecia Schmuhl was ordered held without bond. Prosecutors said other lawyers at the firm were fearful about the case. Some attended the hearing.

A bond hearing for Andrew Schmuhl is yet to come.

The couple is being held at the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center.

A poignant video of a father singing to his newborn child hours before the baby's death spread across the Internet Thursday.

In a video posted by a family friend Wednesday, Chris Picco sings the Beatles' song "Blackbird" to his son Lennon James Picco, who was born at 24 weeks — three months early. A day after the video was filmed, Lennon died in Chris’ arms.

The death of Picco's child followed the death of his wife Ashley just a few days before. Ashley Picco, 30, died of as-yet unknown causes on Saturday.

The couple recently celebrated their seventh wedding anniversary, and were expecting their child in February. A photo overlaid with the words "Coming Soon" on Ashley's Facebook page shows the couple with a pair of tiny boots in between them for their expectant child.

Picco said his wife Ashley often felt Lennon moving to music when she was pregnant. Chris played his guitar and sung to Lennon in the baby's last few hours of life.

Chris Picco posted the following statement on Facebook Wednesday:
"Dear friends, family, and supporters; it is with an unbelievably heavy heart that I write this. My little fighter, Lennon James Picco went to sleep in his daddy's arms late last night. He was surrounded by family, friends, and the best doctors, nurses and hospital staff in the world. He was dressed in an outfit that Ashley bought for him, with little guitars on it, and wrapped in a blanket made by a dear friend. I am so thankful for the four unforgettable days I got to spend with him. His mommy would have been so beyond joy to see him and to hold him, touch him, bathe him, sing to him — as I have had the privilege of doing. I have been so blessed and honored to love him before he was formed, to cherish him while mommy carried him, meet him face to precious face, and hold his perfect little body while we said 'goodbye for now.' There are no words, but I wanted to keep you updated, as your love and support has meant more than anything in the world. All you need is love."

Lennon Picco was born "fighting for his life" after an emergency C-section, according to Picco's Facebook.

Friends of Picco, as well as strangers who saw the video on YouTube, showed their support for the family in posts to Picco’s Facebook page, saying his story has inspired them and offering their prayers.

Chris and family friends also dedicated a memorial website and YouCaring fundraising page to Ashley and Lennon.

The page has raised $78,000 for their memorial fund so far, surpassing the initial goal of $50,000.

"I can't begin to express the gratitude that I have for each and every one of you for your thoughts, prayers, and heartfelt condolences," Picco stated in an update to the page on Thursday.

The Piccos attended Loma Linda University Church in San Bernardino County. A memorial service at the church will take place at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, and can be viewed live online here.

A Long Beach man will be arrested Friday after a fatal accident shut down a section of Interstate 5 north of San Diego overnight, officials said.

California Highway Patrol officers closed the northbound lanes of I-5 near the Lomas Santa Fe exit after the crash happened around 2 a.m.

The driver was in the slow lane, lost control and drove up an embankment, CHP officers said. At that time, the vehicle flipped onto its roof, killing the passenger.

The passenger was identified as a 41-year-old man from Delaware.

The driver suffered major injuries officials said as they transported him to Scripps La Jolla Hospital.

At one point, three lanes of the 5-North near Lomas Santa Fe were closed for officers to complete their investigation.

While there were no witnesses to the cause of the accident, CHP officers said the driver was under the influence at the time of the crash. They anticipate that he will be facing charges as a result.
 

A driver who hit a woman and her child on foot got out of his vehicle, assessed the scene and the drove off without helping them, San Diego Police say.

 The mother had a bag of groceries in hand as she and her 4-year-old daughter crossed Paradise Valley Road at Briarwood at 6:15 p.m., said SDPD Lt. Steve Shaw.

Although they were in the Bay Terraces crosswalk, they were walking against a red light, so vehicles on the busy road had the right of way.

As the driver entered the intersection, he struck the two people.

“The minivan just hit her,” witness Diego Arroyo said of the woman in her 30s. “She kind of got airborne and rolled and just landed on the ground.”

He said when the dust settled, he saw the child clutching her mother’s side, bawling.

The 16-year-old immediately jumped into action to help the girl.

“She was crying. She had blood coming from her head right here,” he said, pointing to his temple.

He said the mother was screaming but moved very little. Others rushed to the scene to try to comfort her, but she started going in and out, according to Arroyo.

In the chaos, as he called 911, Arroyo said he spoke to a man in a beige suit who was also on the phone.

“He said, ‘Are you on the phone with police?’ And I said ‘Yes. I’m on hold.’ He hung up his phone and then turned around and left,” said Arroyo.

Police later told him that man was the driver, who got out to look at the scene before driving off. He was last seen driving westbound on Paradise Valley Road.

Meanwhile, emergency crews decided to land a helicopter on the road to airlift the child.

The 4-year-old had a head injury, but it was not life threatening, Lt. Shaw said. Her mother, who was taken away by ambulance, also suffered non-life threating injuries.

“It makes me feel a lot better, like relieved because they lifeflighted the baby,” said Arroyo.

The SDPD is now looking for the suspect, who is described as a tall, dark-skinned man with a thin build, wearing glasses and a suit.

Witnesses say his vehicle was a dark-colored minivan or SUV with rounded corners, front end damage and damage to the driver’s side.

A pickup truck crossed several lanes of traffic, jumped a curb and crashed into the front door of a home in Rancho Penasquitos Friday morning, police said.

The rear of a black pickup truck was sticking out from the home's front door and foyer just before 9 a.m.

Officials said the truck drove into rocks and was catapulted over a wall and into the two-story home on Ragweed Street at Park Village Road.

Shattered glass is on the ground around the truck along with debris from the building.

The driver, described as 32 years old, suffered minor injuries.

Officials say there was no one in the house at the time of the crash.

Traffic was being diverted around the intersection.

Check back for updates on this developing story. 

An off-duty San Diego police officer was involved in a deadly fight with his brother, officials in Chula Vista confirmed.

Parents of the two men called 911 for help when the argument broke out at 8:22 a.m. at the Parkwoods Condominium Association on Center Street, just next door to the police headquarters.

Homicide investigators say the off-duty officer was stabbed four times. He was found bleeding in the complex parking lot and rushed to UC San Diego Medical Center where he was said to be conscious and talking.

The officer's brother was found inside the family's home suffering from gunshot wounds.

Witnesses said the there has been a mental health history with the man who was killed, Lt. Fritz Reber said.

Reber said it's believed the off-duty officer shot his brother in self-defense.

No word if the off-duty officer's service gun used in the shooting.

A fugitive wanted for murder on the lam for more than a decade was captured in Riverside, California, after police recognized photos of him on Facebook, federal authorities said Friday.

Eduardo Rodriguez, 35, was taken into custody about 6:30 p.m. Thursday at his home in the 3500 block of Farnham Place, Laura Vega of the U.S. Marshals Service said. He had been living under an assumed identity for at least five years and was working as a carpenter in Riverside.

Rodriguez, also known as Juan Carlos Campos Gamino, disappeared soon after he was indicted in 2003 on four counts of homicide and two counts of attempted homicide. The Los Angeles Police Department listed him as one of its most wanted fugitives.

Last year, after the LAPD case went cold, a Glendale police detective on light duty because of an injury began monitoring the Facebook pages of Rodriguez's family members and friends, Vega said. The detective recognized him in photos with a woman.

Glendale police tracked down the identity of the woman, who turned out to be Rodriguez's fiancee, and U.S. marshals began surveilling the woman's home. He was taken into custody Thursday evening, Vega said.

"Everyone was pointing at him and told him to put his hands up," neighbor Nancy Vallejo said. "That's when we noticed, oh my gosh that's our neighbor."

Rodriguez's fiancee told NBC4 on Friday she had no idea he was wanted for multiple homicides, and the couple's neighbors said he seemed like a normal father of three children. Additional details about the children were not immediately available.

"He looks like a really nice person," neighbor Francisca Garivay said. "He is really nice to us."

"He didn't seem like that type of guy," another neighbor said. "He seemed like a hard working guy."

His fiancee also told NBC4 Rodriguez would sometimes go to Mexico, which investigators also suspected.

At the time Rodriguez was charged with the crimes, he was second in command of the Toonerville criminal street gang under Timothy McGhee, Vega said.

Officials said the gang, previously led by McGhee, claimed an area of narcotics distribution around Los Feliz Boulevard between San Fernando Road and the Los Angeles River in Atwater Village and Glendale.

McGhee, who is now behind bars, is suspected of committing at least 12 murders in the years between 1997 and 2001, and was convicted in 2007 of three murders, Vega said. McGhee was sentenced to death and multiple, consecutive life sentences in January 2009.

Rodriguez was taken to Los Angeles for booking, and will be scheduled for arraignment later, officials said. Details of Rodriguez's alleged crimes were not immediately available.

As California continues to experience a stifling drought, water use in San Diego County rose 6 percent in October compared to a year ago.

The increase came as the month saw higher-than-normal temperatures, especially over the first week when temperatures were 14 degrees above average, according to a San Diego County Water Authority news release.

Even with the surge in water use in October, August and September actually were months of lower use, compared to the same time last year.

“As a region, we must return to the kind of water savings we saw in August and September – and even improve on those numbers,” Ken Weinberg, director of water resources for the Water Authority, said in a news release. “If high temperatures persist, we will have to let our yards show some water stress to actually save water.”

Despite the increase in water use, San Diego County’s water saving efforts have saved about 1.1 billion gallons of water, enough to serve about 18,800 residents for a year, the Water Authority said.

Water agencies throughout the county have adopted mandatory water-use restrictions in case next year is the fourth consecutive dry year.

For information on water-use rules and current drought conditions, visit this site.

Two women convicted of voluntary manslaughter were sentenced to six years in prison Friday for what a judge called a senseless brawl that left a 23-year-old woman dead outside a Santa Ana nightclub.

Vanesa Tapia Zavala, 26, and Candace Marie Brito, 27, both apologized at their sentencing hearing in Superior Court in Santa Ana.

The women had been found guilty in July of assault with force to produce great bodily injury in Annie Hung "Kim" Pham's fatal beating, but were acquitted of felony second-degree murder. They each faced up to 11 years in prison.

Zavala and Brito were accused of killing Pham, a Chapman University student, by kicking her in the head as she was on the ground fighting their friend outside the Crosby Restaurant and Nightclub on Jan. 19, officials said.

Both women addressed the court and Pham's family members.

"My heart goes out to all of you. Again, I am deeply sorry," Zavala said. "As a parent, I can only imagine your loss."

The judge told the defendants he watched cell phone video of the confrontation about 40 times. He described the violence as a real-time nightmare, noting that onlookers pulled out cell phone cameras to record instead of stopping the fight. The judge also questioned why the victim stayed in the fight even as her friends were pulling her away.

"I am so sorry for your loss," Brito told Pham's family in court. "In no way did I intend for this to happen.

"I will live with this for the rest of my life."

Friends of Pham told police that three women attacked her without provocation after the two groups bumped into each other outside the nightclub. Another witness said Pham instigated the fight by shouting obscenities and throwing the first punch after she and her friends bumped into another group exiting the bar.

Portions of the attack were captured on cellphone video as the victim's friends and a security guard unsuccessfully tried to intervene, officials said. Emergency 911 recordings also provided descriptions of the beating and aftermath.

One caller said the attackers "just ran off" and described Pham as having difficulty breathing.

Orange County Superior Court Thomas Goethals decried the senselessness of the crime and wondered why all of the combatants did not just "walk away" from the scrum.

"These were all funny, smart, bright young women," Goethals said of the victim and defendants. "Why didn't they walk away?"

Pham was hospitalized after the attack and taken off life support Jan. 21. A coroner's report said she died from blunt force trauma to the head.

Editor's Note: Audio recordings were not allowed in the courtroom during sentencing.

The parents of 49ers football player Ray McDonald spoke publicly for the first time since prosecutors decided not to charge the defensive end with felony domestic violence, criticizing the police for the information they released, saying it caused their 30-year-old son to get "slaughtered by the lynch mob."

Speaking to NBC Bay Area by phone on Friday, LaBrina McDonald said she and her husband, Ray McDonald Sr., were tired of keeping quiet. McDonald Sr. said the police released information in "bits and pieces" to make everyone think that his son "attacked" his pregnant girlfriend when "that was totally wrong." He chastised the police, saying they didn't have the "full facts."

"We are a very close family and we come from a close knit community," added LaBrina McDonald. "And we know our son. To hear and read all those things that folks are saying and prejudging — it's heart-breaking. We had to grit our teeth and bite our tongues until this was all done and over."

The San Jose police responded to media requests for a response to the criticism Friday by issuing a three-paragraph statement citing the mandatory disclosure of the California Public Records Act, which include police reports.

"Based on the overwhelming request by various media outlets for police records regarding the Ray McDonald case, the San Jose Police Department complied with state law," police said.

The statement also added that police are "very cautious and sensitive about the information we provide to the media and the public because we do not want to interfere with an active and ongoing investigation. Many times we are precluded from sharing very intimate details about an investigation because we must allow the investigators to conduct their followup investigations."

The McDonalds decided to speak out after the Santa Clara County district attorney's office announced Monday that it wouldn't prosecute the 49er, who was arrested Aug. 31 after a birthday party he threw himself at his San Jose home.

The police news release at the time cited "visible injuries" to a woman officers accused McDonald of harming, but an internal DA memo released this week showed there was "insufficient evidence" and conflicting testimony to charge him with any crime.

There was indeed a fight, the prosecutors noted, where McDonald told his then 10-weeks-pregnant girlfriend she was an "unfit mother." But when the punch flew, both McDonald and the woman said she threw it, according to the document.

McDonald "grabbed her neck" to remove her from the house, which "resulted in a visible injury," the memo says. The action was used to restrain her, according to the documents. She told police that she was "fighting back." The prosecutor's memo describes the injuries as "seemingly minor" and characterizes the fight as a scuffle, "rather than an attack."

"He only restrained her," Ray McDonald Sr. said. "That was it."

Neither parent would not comment on their son's relationship with the woman at the center of the fight. They would not identify her, and would not answer whether she and their son still intended to get married. "You'll have to ask Ray," LaBrina McDonald said.

Ray McDonald told CSNBayArea that he was "doing stuff to try to better our relationship... because we do care about each other, love each other."

It was the "visible injuries" line that irks the McDonald parents, who own an insurance company in Florida and have one other child, a 32-year-old daughter.

"This basically led the public to believe that he hit or attacked her," the family said in a statement first issued to the Mercury News. "The fact that no additional information was given in this press release, in our opinion was very irresponsible and leads us to question the integrity of the ranking individuals that approved this press release."

READ: Ray McDonald Parents Statement on San Jose Police

NBC Bay Area was the second news outlet to obtain that statement and also an exclusive video interview with both parents from the airport on Friday as the couple was heading to Jamaica to celebrate their 33rd wedding anniversary.

LaBrina McDonald said that it was hard as a mother to watch her son's name be tarnished — a son she described as laidback, a "big teddy bear," a "Mama's boy," and a talented piano player. 

Since she's a "big talker," LaBrina McDonald said it was especially hard for her not to tell her friends what happened from her son's point of view that night. Ray McDonald Sr. said it was his son who counseled them "to be patient," saying that soon, "the truth will come out."

For the McDonald parents, they are only too happy that there were no charges filed against their son.

"He's a loving person," LaBrina McDonald said. "Just because he makes a lot of money and is a defensive lineman doesn't mean he's a bad person."