The suspect in a fast-food restaurant robbery managed to get inside the business by climbing through the drive-thru window.

Employees ran into the freezer for cover when the robbery suspect entered the Rally’s Hamburgers on Jamacha Road in Spring Valley Thursday.

The man had a gun when he held up the restaurant around 1:30 a.m. and he managed to get away with some cash San Diego County sheriff’s deputies said.

Employees followed Rally’s safety protocol by hiding in the freezer deputies said.

Officials described the suspect as an African-American man, approximately 5-feet 8-inches, in his 20s or 30s, with a full beard and wearing a beanie.
 

Officials are investigating why a driver crashed into a duplex in University City, nearly tearing off the entire corner of the house.

The crash happened around 10:30 p.m. Wednesday east of Genesee Avenue and the campus of UC San Diego.

San Diego police told NBC 7 San Diego two vehicles were involved when one drove off the road and landed overturned on the front yard of a home in the 9500-block of Easter Way.

The car struck the corner of the home, tearing away a large section of stucco.

No one was inside the home at the time of the crash.

Everyone inside the overturned car was able to make it out on their own. The driver was treated on the scene for minor injuries officials said.

San Diego Fire Rescue requested a structural engineer to ensure the building was not seriously damaged.
 

At least three people were killed in a car-to-car shooting, crash and explosion early Thursday on the Las Vegas Strip that has prompted a manhunt for one of the drivers.

Five vehicles were involved in the crash, including a taxi that burned after the collision at Flamingo and Las Vegas boulevards, Las Vegas police told KSNV-TV.

The incident occurred at about 4:30 a.m. and followed an exchange of gunfire between two vehicles, Sgt. John Sheahan told the station.

Police said a black SUV pulled up next to a silver Maserati and opened fire on the luxury sports car at a red light.

The driver of the Maserati sped up -- ostensibly to escape the gunfire -- traveling through the still-red light. The Maserati then crashed into the taxi, causing an explosion that turned into a large fireball, according to witnesses.

Six other vehcicles were involved in the collision, which occurred at the heart of the Strip, police said.

The sport utility vehicle -- described as a black Range Rover Sport with tinted windows, black rims and dealership plates -- left the scene, traveling northbound. It was not known how many occupants were in the SUV.

"Finding those involved is a top priority for my agency and law enforcement here in southern Nevada," said Sheriff Douglas Gillespie of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department. "We believe the occupants of the range rover are armed and dangerous."

The California Highway Patrol confirmed it was looking for the Range Rover.

The Maserati's driver, the taxi driver and taxi passenger were killed, the station reported. A passenger in the Maserati was also injured and was cooperating with police, KSNV reported.

Several other victims who were nearby were also injured. At least three were hospitalized, police said.

It was not immediately clear whether the deceased victims were struck by gunfire or killed in the crash.

Las Vegas Boulevard north of Tropicana and south of Harmon was closed for the investigation. 

Burger King sold to McDonald's! Jeep sold to Cadillac! With a few swift strokes of the hacker's keyboard, jaw-dropping messages can be broadcast on Twitter, setting off a chain of rumors and reaction than can leave a company sifting through the ashes of its reputation.

After the two high-profile companies were hacked earlier this week -- and two others, MTV and BET, fake-hacked themselves as a publicity stunt -- there's a renewed focus on social media security. And it's not just major brands that need to be concerned.

For most people, the real danger isn't that a hacker will post something embarrassing, but that he will  use your social media feed to dupe others.

"Most of the reason people want to take over Twitter accounts is spam advertising, for things like online pharmacies," said Seth Schoen, senior staff technologist at the Electronic Frontier Foundation. "For a run-of-the-mill Twitter account compromise, someone might hope to tweet a few spam links to one of these online pharmacies that's paying a commission to the spammer for the number of people who visit the site."

But other hackers go after Twitter feeds with much more malice, Schoen warned. Once a hacker has access to one of your accounts, he can send a message to your friends suggesting they install software. The software, Schoen said, can be malicious, such as a key logger that records everything you type.

"And one thing you can do with that is get someone's password for Gmail or Twitter or Facebook, because they type it in and the key logger records that," Schoen said

And once a hacker has your Twitter password, there's a good chance they've got your password to a number of sites, notes Schoen, who says password reuse is a subtle but very real security issue.

"Someone breaks into a more obscure site, not necessarily Facebook or Google or Microsoft, but maybe an e-commerce site, or a doctor's office or a web forum," Schoen said. "And maybe they're using out-of-date software or it wasn't configured properly, there's some kind of vulnerability, and someone was able to compromise that site. The problem is the attacker then gets a database of usernames and passwords… then goes to Twitter and Gmail and Facebook, and tries those same names and passwords there."

Schoen has protected himself from such attacks for more than 6 years by using a password manager, a piece of software that remembers more than 100 passwords for him. In fact, it even generated the passwords and enters them when he wants to log onto a website--Schoen himself doesn’t know his passwords, except for the one to his password manager.

"It's quite likely that some of those sites may have been compromised during that time. So it's a nice thought for me that none of those passwords are going to work on any of those other sites."

Schoen's password manager is installed locally on his computer, which means he can only access certain sites from that single machine, though there are password managers that are web-based. While he confesses to being "paranoid," he's amazed by people who use computers other than their own.

"The thing that makes me especially anxious, since I know about key loggers, is thinking about machines that I don’t really control," Schoen said. "If I were visiting a relative's home, I would actually not want to log into my email from a relative's PC."

Even more vulnerable than a friend's computer is one you might encounter at an Internet café, where the security is only as strong as the least tech savvy customer who came before you.

"That situation is one of the reasons that Google created that two-step authentication, which is that your password alone is not sufficient to get into your account on a new machine," notes Schoen.

Google lets users opt for two-step authentication, which requires you to enter both your password and then a six-digit passcode that's been sent to your mobile device any time you try to access your account from a new machine or browser. Schoen suspects the folks at Twitter are contemplating a two-step log-in process.

"I think in Google's case it's been very helpful, it's a major security advantage relative to other web mail providers that don’t offer that," Schoen said

Computer users should also try to keep their own devices safe, and probably the most significant thing there is to be cautious about software you install. In general, whether you're confronted with questionable tweets, dubious pop-ups or strange computers, Schoen says one of the best tools for protecting yourself "is a lot of skepticism."

Four keys to cyber-security

• Use strong passwords -- a mix of letters, numbers, symbols and upper- and lower-case characters -- and don't reuse passwords for multiple sites. You can use a password manager to make this more manageable.
   
• Use two-step authentication whenever possible. Many password-protected services now support this, including Google and Facebook.
   
• Check the approved applications in your social accounts on a regular basis. Remove anything you don't use on a regular basis.
   
• Be skeptical of any links you receive -- if it looks suspicious, don't click on it.

Two men sustained burns after a small explosion and fire broke out inside a bathroom at a Spring Valley apartment complex Wednesday night.

The incident happened at a two-story apartment complex in the 9000 block of Campo Road just before 10 p.m.

According to fire officials, firefighters responded to reports of a blaze inside an apartment unit. By the time crews arrived, the small fire had already been extinguished.

Officials say it appears someone was filling a butane lighter inside a bathroom when the person spilled lighter fluid, which then ignited and caused a small explosion.

Two men suffered burns and were transported to UCSD Medical Center, officials said.

The incident is under investigation. The Sheriff’s Bomb and Arson unit also responded to the scene to help in the investigation.
 

A hero has emerged in the tragic death of a San Diego police officer.

Grand jury transcripts obtained by NBC 7 News reveal new details about the murder of Officer Christopher Wilson and the efforts of a colleague who rushed to Wilson’s side after the fatal shooting.

Wilson was killed in an October 2010 gun battle with two suspected drug dealers at an apartment building in the Skyline neighborhood.

The grand jury transcripts, which were made public after NBC 7 fought a legal battle to ensure their release, reveal that a rookie female officer, Marisela Hernandez, ran back into the apartment building after Wilson was shot.

The sergeant on the scene had “forcefully” pulled Hernandez out of the apartment by her belt, to protect her safety.

Other officers were also ordered to leave the line of fire.

According to the transcripts, it was Officer Hernandez’s first experience at a “live fire” scene.

Shots were still being fired by officers who remained in the hallway and were trying to subdue the suspects, who were hiding in a bedroom.

Hernandez was barely five feet tall and weighed 120 pounds.

Deputy District Attorney Michael Runyon told the grand jurors, “Officer Hernandez, the only female of the group of San Diego Police Officers, the smallest by far of all the San Diego Police Officers on scene that night. She's the first one who realizes as they're retreating, that officer Wilson, 6'4", 240, big guy, is down; and that she's being ordered to retreat outside. She disobeys an order and runs back in and starts grabbing on somebody literally almost twice her size weight-wise and is trying to drag him out of the location."

Hernandez also testified about what happened that terrible night.

“I holstered my firearm, I returned into the apartment, and I started lifting Officer Wilson up so that I could pull him out,” she told the 19 jurors.

Prosecutor Runyon asked her what she did next.

“I lifted Officer Wilson’s head, and I could see the gunshot on his head. I started lifting him up into a seated position, so I could hook my arms underneath him. And I actually managed to drag him back about a foot or so. After that, I saw Sergeant Mitchell come in with me, and he told me, ‘Take his hand.’ And he – I took his left hand, and we pulled him out.”

It was too late to save Wilson’s life.

He had suffered a fatal gunshot wound to the head.

The transcripts also reveal the efforts of a Deputy U.S. Marshal who tried to keep Wilson alive.

“I was trying to communicate with him, Michael Banez told the jurors. “Trying to just, you know, ‘Stay with me. Stay with me. You are going to be okay. Fight. Fight. You have something to live for. Fight for it. Stay with me.’”

But Banez told the jurors, “I saw an officer die in my hands.”

The two suspects who police say fired the shots that killed Officer Wilson also died that night.

Police say they shot themselves while holed up in that bedroom.

The three other suspects who were in the house are now charged with murder and other felonies.

Prosecutors say they are responsible for Wilson’s death because their illegal actions that night created a dangerous situation that led to the officer’s murder.
 

Two San Diego city officials took a disagreement on how to spend a special tax and aired the dispute in a hostile and awkward exchange in front of news cameras at City Hall.

Mayor Bob Filner and City Attorney Jan Goldsmith didn’t mince words at a news conference Wednesday as the two described their differences of opinion over how to spend a special tax to promote the region as a vacation destination.

Hotels in San Diego collect about $30 million per year from guests by way of a special surcharge on rooms. It's a special 2-percent surtax on the city's basic room tax created by the industry in a private election.

Filner has problems with the agreement and has called for a shorter contract, living wages for downtown hotel workers and more money for the city's general fund.

NBC 7 San Diego reported Tuesday how the hotel industry was taking the mayor to court.

Hotel owners are seeking an emergency order to release the money immediately. They claim without it, the region would lose visitors to Los Angeles and Orange County.

Goldsmith called the media Thursday to address the mayor's four requests regarding the tax.

“I hope in the future we'll know about these issues and get consulted in advance but if I read them in the newspaper and they are wrong, I have to comment on them,” he said.

The mayor countered, “ I have no obligation to inform you of any policy decisions I make. You have the obligation as my attorney to give me private and privileged communication.”

Things got really heated when Mayor Filner took the podium and took over the news conference.

“You not only have been unprofessional but unethical in this press conference. I resent it greatly that you’re giving your advice through the press. This advice is to me. This advice is to the City Council and besides it’s wrong,” he said.

At one point Filner identified a member of Goldsmith’s staff and pestered her asking “Are you an attorney?”

Watch: Filner "Are You an Attorney?"

Goldsmith arguing he had not been consulted. Filner arguing he had not been advised.

Goldsmith spoke with NBC 7 San Diego after the news conference and said he is the attorney for the City of San Diego, not for the mayor. 

Rev. Jesse Jackson is standing by his son.

A day after former Illinois Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. admitted in federal court to spending $750,000 of campaign funds for personal use, Rev. Jackson told MSNBC he's proud of the ex-congressman for accepting responsibility.

"I was so proud of him being forthright and truthful," Jackson said, "accepting responsibility for his actions and willing to accept the consequences of those actions. That is the dignity he embraces, and I support him in those efforts."

He described his son's struggle with bipolar disorder as a "long ordeal" and said hearing guilty pleas from his son and daughter-in-law made for "a very sad day."

Jesse Jackson Jr. pleaded guilty to charges of wire fraud, mail fraud and making false statements. His wife, Sandi Jackson, pleaded guilty to a charge of failing to claim about $600,000 on her income tax returns between 2005 and 2011.

Prosecutors said the couple's expenditures ran the gamut from a $4,000 cruise and $16,058.91 in gym expenses to a $4,000 Michael Jackson and Eddie Van Halen guitar and $14,513.42 in dry cleaning expenses.

Rev. Jackson said his son is still dealing with the effects of bipolar disorder and admitted his supporters and family missed the signs.

"We missed that. He kept serving his constituency well in Congress and kept relating to his family  very well," he said.

Jesse Jackson Jr. and Sandi Jackson are scheduled to be sentenced this summer. They could receive up to five years and three years, respectively, for the admitted misconduct.

New York Jets quarterback Tim Tebow has canceled a scheduled appearance at a Dallas megachurch whose pastor has drawn fire for his comments about homosexuality and other religious faiths.

Tebow was to speak twice on April 28 at First Baptist Dallas, the 11,000-strong congregation in Downtown Dallas led by the controversial Rev. Dr. Robert Jeffress.

Jeffress has ignited controversy in the past for calling Mormonism a "cult," Catholicism "the genius of Satan," Islam "heresy from the pit of hell" and homosexuality "a degradation of a person’s mind."

Tebow was one of a number of guest speakers scheuled in April to help First Dallas Baptist celebrate the grand opening of its new downtown campus.

Tebow tweeted his regret Thursday morning.

"While I was looking forward to sharing a message of hope and Christ's unconditional love with the faithful members of the historic First Baptist Church of Dallas in April, due to new information that has been brought to my attention, I have decided to cancel my upcoming appearance. I will continue to use the platform God has blessed me with to bring Faith, Hope and Love to all those needing a brighter day. Thank you for all of your love and support. God Bless!"

The quarterback didn't elaborate on what the "new information" was that caused him to change his mind. 

First Dallas released the following statement on Tebow's cancellation Thursday morning:

The leaders and congregation of First Baptist Church Dallas are disappointed that New York Jets’ Quarterback Tim Tebow has announced he will no longer speak at First Baptist Church Dallas on April 28, 2013, as part of the month-long celebration events surrounding the grand opening of our new $130 million, state-of-the-art campus on Easter Sunday.

Mr. Tebow called Dr. Jeffress Wednesday evening saying that for personal and professional reasons he needed to avoid controversy at this time but would like to come to First Baptist Dallas to speak at a future date. We are saddened that Mr. Tebow felt pressure to back out of his long-planned commitment from numerous New York and national sports and news media who grossly misrepresented past comments made by our pastor, Dr. Robert Jeffress, specifically related to issues of homosexuality and AIDS, as well as Judaism.

As a Christian pastor, Dr. Jeffress takes a biblical approach to moral and social issues, closely following his duty to preach ‘the whole counsel of God,’ and not just address issues that are politically correct. First Baptist is a church built on the truth of Scripture, even though at times that approach can be perceived as controversial or counter to the prevailing winds of culture.

The reason for the recent media firestorm is not because the Word of God has changed, but because society has changed. More important, contrary to editorializing in the media, Dr. Jeffress shares a message of hope, not hate; salvation, not judgment; and a Gospel of God’s love, grace and new beginnings available to all.

Whatever Tebow's motivation for the schedule change, it's likely not stagefright. Tebow, who is well known for his strong religous beliefts, is no stranger to speaking at churches and just last Easter spoke to approximately 20,000 people at Celebration Church near Austin.

An earthquake struck just west of the Salton Sea Thursday afternoon according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

The quake, with a preliminary measurement of 3.7, was recorded at 12:57 p.m. PT.

The epicenter was located just 7 miles northeast of Ocotillo Wells and 42 miles northwest of El Centro.

The USGS shake map suggests residents as far north as Indio and as far south as El Centro may have felt the jolt.
 

Hand sanitizer is coming under new scrutiny after a young Oregon girl was burned in a hospital and the clear germ-killer is being investigated as a cause of the flames.

The early February incident left 11-year-old Ireland Lane injured after a fire ignited while the young cancer patient was in her hospital bed. The combination of static electricity and flammable hand sanitizer are a possible cause, NBC News reported.

The incident occurred at Doernbecher Children’s Hospital in Portland. Lane was burned over 12 percent of her body and had to have reconstructive skin grafts.

"I was horrified," said Dr. Stacy Nicholson of the hospital. "That this would happen anywhere, much less our own hospital was just awful. Our hearts go out to the child and her family."

Some hand sanitizers have a large portion of alcohol in them.

"It's something that millions of people use every day, but I think it's pretty rare that you have an issue with it," said Brian Riley of the Los Angeles County Fire Department. "It all depends on the amount of the product you're using, and how you're using it."

If it really was static electricity that caused the fire in Oregon, the conditions had to have been just right.

Firefighters say that accidental fires with something as common as hand sanitizer are extremely rare. Local firefighters warn to keep anything with alcohol away from children.

"Use it in a well ventilated area, and be careful around ignition sources," Riley said.

Ireland's mom, meanwhile, calls her daughter a fighter. Ireland beat cancer, and her mom she'll beat this too.

Former Illinois police sergeant Drew Peterson was sentenced Thursday to 38 years in prison for the 2004 drowning death of his third wife, Kathleen Savio.

The ruling came just a couple hours after Judge Edward Burmila denied a motion by defense attorneys to give the former cop a new trial and essentially means Peterson, 59, will spend the rest of his life in custody.

"I pray that during the last minutes of his life, he is able to clearly see her and she is watching his descension into hell," Savio's brother, Henry, told the judge.

Peterson was found guilty in September of murdering Savio. He is also a suspect in the 2007 disappearance of his fourth wife, Stacy Peterson, but has not been charged in that case.

His attorneys vowed to wage an appeal.

"We all have some very viable issues. We're putting our big boy pants on, we're going to go with these issues, and we're going to be back here. We're confident of that,' said attorney John Heiderscheidt.

In reading his statement prior to being sentenced, Peterson told the court he was forced to sit silent during his entire trial. He then screamed into a courtroom microphone: "I did not kill Kathleen."

He took issue with a law passed by the Illinois General Assembly in in July 2009 that allowed hearsay to be admitted as evidence in cases where prosecutors believe the victim was killed specifically to prevent them from testifying. The law was dubbed the "Drew Peterson Law."

"Hearsay is a scary thing," Peterson told the court. "It requires no proof of truth. Anything can be said and no one is accountable."

He said the statements made against him were from "women trying to better position themselves in a divorce. ... Everybody lies in a divorce."

In two days of testimony, Peterson's current legal team argued for a new trial alleging the former lead attorney, Joel Brodsky, botched the first trial by calling divorce attorney Harry Smith to the stand.

Smith testified that Peterson's fourth wife, Stacy Peterson, told him her husband killed Savio and that he warned Stacy she had to tell someone. Several jurors said that bombshell testimony led them to convict Peterson.

During the sentencing hearing Savio's sister, Anna Marie Savio-Doman, asked the judge to give her sister "justice, once and for all." 

"One of the hardest things for me is knowing the pain and fear that Kathleen must have suffered at the time of her murder," Doman said. "The horror and betrayal she must have felt when she realized that someone she had trusted and loved more than anything was actually killing her. "

Henry Savio said Peterson terrorized his sister, brutalized her and drowned her.

"I will be mending my family, including my family's relationship with Kitty's children, while he is rotting in jail for the rest of his life," he said. "While he is in jail, I hope that Kitty is what he sees every night before he sleeps and I hope that she is haunting him in his dreams."

"He took Kathleen's future and now she has taken his."

NBC Chicago's Kim Vatis, Lauren Jiggetts, Lauren Petty, Courtney Copenhagen, Lisa Balde and BJ Lutz contributed to this reported. Additional reporting by The Associated Press.

Smoking isn't allowed at concerts in the Bay Area. And yes, that means THAT kind of smoking, too.

A pair of Bay Area residents learned this the hard way when they purchased tickets to see The Who at Oracle Arena, according to SF Weekly.

The couple, responsible 40-somethings, were one of many to light up marijuana joints was the rockers began a rendition of "Quadrophenia," their 1973 rock opera.

And they weren't more than a few seconds into the show's first song when security descended and escorted them from the venue, the newspaper reported. No refunds, no ifs, ands, or buts.

The couple are medical marijuana users, and legal card holders, but the police responded to that with a "cold promise of a citation in the mail."

Most club managers and venue owners won't say this on the record, but they told the paper they prefer to have marijuana users in their audiences. "Pot smokers don't start fights," one said.

As it turns out, it's more about the security for the particular performers in question, some of whom -- like The Who's Roger Daltrey -- are very sensitive to smoke. If the police officers in Oakland were acting on instruction from the band, it might explain the venue's no-pot policy, the newspaper reported.
 

The former San Diego mayor whose compulsive gambling turned her into a criminal court defendant is now sharing more of her shocking, tragic story.

After years of keeping a low profile, Maureen O'Connor’s life exploded last week in a maelstrom of worldwide notoriety.

She drew widespread sympathy — and some scorn — for a spiraling, video-poker addiction that depleted her fortune and put her in shame.
           
O’Connor says family members and friends tried to intercede, but that she wasn't cooperating.

“A lot of times while I was doing it, it was real grief because I lost my parents, my husband, siblings, best friends,” O’Connor recalled in an interview Wednesday with NBC 7. “So I rationalized by saying I could get into what I called 'The Blue Nowhere', and my problems would go away.  But they didn't.  It just compounded it."
           
The 66-year-old O'Connor is in now brittle health, two years after the removal of a brain tumor — and what she says was her last wager.
           
By all accounts, she blew through an estimated $50 million estate left by her late husband and $2 million in un-repaid loans from his charitable foundation.
           
She’s said to have lost $13 million on a total betting volume of a couple billion in Las Vegas, Atlantic City and, mainly, local tribal casinos.

"Would I have liked NOT to have done it?  Yes.  But … money was never my priority in life," O’Connor said. "And so maybe that was a problem, because at a time in my life where I was having a lot of stress, then that relieved it."
           
O'Connor is concerned about her legacy beyond her public service career that included six years as mayor, two terms as a City Council member and stints on the Port Commission and Metro Transit board.
           
She says she's still got more to offer society.

"I would like to help those that have a gambling problem like myself; I would like to help the families who have to deal with a brain tumor of a loved one," O’Connor said.

"I think I have the ability to work with both those groups, to share what I've gone through in a very public way … so maybe I was put here in a very public way to discuss it and say: 'What are we going to do about it?’ … It’s just a different kind of service."

Eugene Iredale, O'Connor's attorney, says she's about to execute a promissory note assigning — to her late husband's charity foundation — her half-share of potential proceeds from a $7 million lawsuit over a Mendocino hotel she sold years ago.
           
Repayment of the outstanding debts was a condition that federal prosecutors required of her, in an agreement offering not to press a money laundering case against her for two years – at which time her case will be re-evaluated.

A man was found bleeding on the side of Interstate 5 in Chula Vista Wednesday.

A passing driver called 911 when he spotted a man lying on the rocks along the E Street on-ramp to southbound I-5 around 10 p.m.

California Highway Patrol officers arrived and found a man with a cut to his forehead.

He was unable to tell officers what had happened to him.

The man carries identification suggesting he lives in Long Beach but CHP officers say they are still investigating the man’s identity.

Emergency personnel took the man to a nearby hospital for treatment.
 

Colleagues and family members remembered San Bernardino County Sheriff's detective Jeremiah MacKay Thursday as a devoted father and friend who "stood for good, against evil" and believed it was his duty to track down the subject of a manhunt in the moutains east of Los Angeles.  

They spoke at a memorial service for 35-year-old Jeremiah MacKay, killed Feb. 12 during the Southern California search that ended with a shootout at a cabin near Big Bear. The service began after a 20-mile procession to the San Manuel Amphitheater during which MacKay was saluted by firefighters on freeway overpasses and mourners lining the route.

Images: Honoring Detective MacKay | Read: MacKay Funeral Poem | Timeline of Events | Article: Sheriff Describes Shootout
 
Patrol vehicles from throughout California parked in a lot at the amphitheater -- located in the hills of Glen Helen Regional Park in Devore -- and a line of law enforcement officers on horseback formed near the parking lot to honor their colleague. Mourners held signs, one of which read, "Det. MacKay: Hero," along the procession route and at the entrance to the amphitheater.

Pipe band members and sheep dogs -- MacKay was known as the "Sheep Dog Warrior" -- accompanied his casket. More than 100 pipe band members performed in front of a large flag of the United States after the casket arrived at the stage.

Near the end of the two-hour ceremony, just after doves were released into the air, the voice of a radio dispatcher came over the speakers.

"This is the last call for Detective Jeremiah Alan MacKay," the dispatcher said. "He gave of himself while serving his community with courage and valor. The men and women of the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department are forever grateful and proud to have served with Detective MacKay and will never forget his ultimate sacrifice."

San Bernardino County Sheriff's Deputy Roger Loftis, the best man at MacKay's wedding, spoke about MacKay's appreciation of fine whisky, cigars and life before explaining MacKay's "Sheep Dog Warrior" approach to law enforcement.

"He was the funniest guy I ever met," said Loftis, accompanied by two dogs on stage. "Everything he did, he did at volume 12 -- everyone else goes to 10.

"He believe the good, caring people were sheep that needed to be protected. There are evil people in the world, and they will feed on the flock without mercy. And, then there are the sheep dogs who live to protect the flock," Loftis said.

Video: Dispatcher's Final Call | MacKay's Father Speaks | Best Man on "Sheep Dog Warrior" | Sheriff Praises MacKay

Sheriff John McMahon, friends and family members also shared memories of MacKay, who is survived by his wife, 7-year-old daughter and 4-month-old son.

At the end of the ceremony, McMahon gave the folded flag that was draped over MacKay's casket to his widow Lynette, exchanging private words with her and the couple's daughter.

MacKay grew up wanting to become a sheriff's deputy, McMahon said. He usually was not assigned to work weekends, but insisted on volunteering to search the Big Bear-area every day during the February manhunt, McMahon said.

"Jeremiah MacKay stood for good, against evil," McMahon said. "He made his uniform, his uniform did not make him. Many of (his wife's) best friends did not know Jeremiah was a deputy sheriff, unless you told them.

"He had the courage, tenacity and resolve to face anything. He remained because it was his duty of the citizens of San Bernardino County to stop an evil man."

MacKay -- one of two law enforcement officers killed during the nearly weeklong manhunt -- stayed home on the day before the deadly shootout near Big Bear. He spent the day with his daughter and son, McMahon said.

MacKay was born in San Bernardino and grew up in Lake Arrowhead, about 20 miles west of Big Bear Lake in the San Bernardino Mountains. His father was an engineer for the San Bernardino County Fire Department, and his mother volunteered at schools.

MacKay's father recalled the time he found his 4-year-old son on the peak of the family's roof.

"He was quite a character when he was a kid," Alan MacKay said. "He was fun-loving, and a kind, gentle soul. But we found out rather fast he was an adrenaline junkie. ... He wasn't bothered by heights. He wasn't bothered by anything."

MacKay continued the family's tradition of public service when he joined the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department as a member of Academy Class 131 after attending Rim of the World High School. MacKay graduated from trainee to deputy on his 21st birthday.

Colleagues said he was proud of his Scottish heritage and played a key role in the Honor Guard's bagpipe events. The department's Honor Guard selected MacKay to play bagpipes during funeral ceremonies for slain law enforcement officials, parades and other events.

MacKay was most recently assigned to the Yucaipa Sheriff's Station.

A member of the Irish Emerald Society, an association of U.S. police officers and firefighters, MacKay organized an annual fundraiser for slain officers. MacKay and Riverside Officer Michael Crain were celebrated at the most recent event, which had been organized before their manhunt shooting deaths, on Feb. 15.

"He was very much in touch with his Scottish heritage, and loved playing the bagpipes," McMahon said. "He had a distinctive laugh that came from deep inside him -- the laugh of someone who enjoyed life."

MacKay earned several promotions in the department, but his family was the most important part of his life, family members said. He met his wife, Lynette, on Thanksgiving Day in 2010 and the two were married one year later.

MacKay helped his step-daughter Kaitlyn with her karate techniques. His son, Cayden James, was born in October.

MacKay was shot and killed Feb. 12 as the search for fired LAPD officer Christopher Dorner, who outlined a revenge plot involving law enforcement officials and their families in a manifesto, led to a cabin in the mountains east of Los Angeles. MacKay was outside the cabin when he and another member of the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department were struck by gunfire coming from inside the cabin.

Other deputies arrived and engaged Dorner in a shootout. The cabin burned and Dorner's charred remains were found inside. He died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head, according to investigators, bringing to an end a shooting rampage that began Feb. 3 with the slaying of an Irvine couple.
 

Detectives are searching for two unknown men who stole a jukebox from the lobby of a Hooters restaurant in Rancho Bernardo.

According to police, the bizarre burglary happened on Tuesday just after 4 a.m. at the Hooters located at 16911 W. Bernardo Dr.

The restaurant was closed at the time when two men in a white or silver-colored pickup truck drove to the front of the business.

The passenger of the truck got out and broke the glass door of the restaurant with an unknown object. Police say the driver remained inside the truck and attempted to back the vehicle into the restaurant, but the door opening wasn’t wide enough.

The passenger then took a tow strap from the bed of the truck and wrapped it around a free-standing jukebox that was in the lobby of the Hooters restaurant.

The man pushed the jukebox out of the building and the driver then helped lift it into the bed of the truck.

Once that was done, the suspects drove away in an unknown direction.

Detectives believe the men mistook the jukebox for an ATM.

The entire burglary was caught on surveillance tape, and investigators are now using the video to assist in tracking down the suspects,

Police say the men are both in their late teens or early 20s. They wore dark, baggy clothing – including hooded sweatshirts with the hoods pulled over their heads – during the robbery.

Their pickup truck is a late 1990s model Nissan or Dodge with a crew or extended crab. The truck hit the building when the men tried to back up into the lobby, causing damage to the rear sides of the vehicle and the tail lights.

Detectives found pieces of the broken tail lights at the scene.

Police say the stolen jukebox is around five feet tall and has the Hooters logo on it.

Anyone with information about this case is asked to contact the San Diego Police Department at (858) 538-8000 or Crime Stoppers at (888) 580-8477.
 

With a month to go before the U.S. Supreme Court issues rulings on same-sex marriage, several related announcements grabbed headlines this week over the heated national controversy.

• The Associated Press reported that the Obama administration is considering urging the Supreme Court  overturn California's ban on gay marriage — a move that could have a far-reaching impact on same-sex couples across the country. The administration has one week to file a friend-of-the-court brief with the justices outlining its opinion on the California ban, known as Proposition 8. While an administration brief alone is unlikely to sway the high court, the government's opinion does carry weight with the justices. An administration official told the Associated Press that Obama — a former constitutional law professor — was not foreshadowing any legal action in his remarks during his state of the union and was simply restating his personal belief in the right of gays and lesbians to marry, though the official said the administration was considering filing a brief.
•  In San Francisco, city attorney Dennis Herrera filed his last brief in the U.S. Supreme court advocating for equal marriage rights for lesbian and gay couples. The 62-page pleading addresses whether the 2008 ballot measure that eliminated marriage rights for same-sex couples in California violates the U.S. Constitution’s Equal Protection Clause, and whether the measure’s proponents had legal standing to pursue their appeals through the federal courts.  
• Lawyers for a lesbian Berkeley couple and a Burbank couple at the center of the Supreme Court fight filed a 54-page brief on Thursday challenging the constitutionality of Prop. 8. Lyle Denniston, who writes for the SCOTUS blog, called it a "bold attempt to portray the constitutional idea of marriage equality as a victim of homophobia, and to persuade the Court not to settle for a California-only decision."
• The Associated Press on Thursday added a new stylebook item, declaring that the terms "husband and wife" are  acceptable in any legally recognized marriage "regardless of sexual orientation."

In San Francisco, the city attorney has been vigilant and vociferous about arging in favor of same-sex marriage equality. Herrera’s brief  rebuts legal arguments in defense of Prop. 8’s legitimacy, concluding that the measure’s actual justification—“asserting the inferiority of same-sex couples”—was discriminatory and plainly unconstitutional when it was enacted. The two California couples at the center of the case are Kris Perry and Sandy Stier of Berkeley, and Paul Katami and Jeff Zarillo from Burbank.

“It is implausible that more opposite-sex couples will marry, and have children in wedlock, if same-sex couples cannot marry as well,” Herrera's brief contends.  “Nor can Proposition 8 be justified as an exercise in promoting the well-being of children or families. It has no effect on gay couples’ ability to raise children, and in fact it denies tens of thousands of children who have same-sex parents the security and esteem of living in a marital family.”

Meanwhile, Prop. 8 backers are trying to persuade the Supreme Court to leave the same-sex marriage ban intact, saying the state's voters had a right to restrict marriage to heterosexual couples.

The Proposition 8 ballot initiative was approved by California voters in 2008 in response to a state Supreme Court decision that had allowed gay marriage. Twenty-nine other states have constitutional amendments banning gay marriage, while nine states and Washington, D.C., recognize same-sex marriage.

The White House administration could also file a narrower brief that would ask the court to issue a decision applying only to California. Or it could decide not to weigh in on the case at all.

The Supreme Court, which will take up the case on March 26, has several options for its eventual ruling. Among them:

•  Uphold the state ban on gay marriage and say citizens of a state have the right to make that call.
• Endorse an appeals court ruling that would make same-sex marriage legal in California but apply only to that state.
• Issue a broader ruling that would apply to California and seven other states: Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Nevada, New Jersey, Oregon and Rhode Island. In those states, gay couples may join in civil unions that have all the benefits of marriage but may not be married.
• Rule that the Constitution forbids states from banning same-sex unions.

Ahead of next week's deadline, nearly two dozen states have filed briefs with the court asking the justices to uphold the California measure.

Public opinion has shifted in support of gay marriage in recent years. In May 2008, Gallup found that 56 percent of Americans felt same-sex marriages should not be recognized by the law as valid. By November 2012, 53 percent felt they should be legally recognized.

One day after the court hears the California case, the justices will hear arguments on another gay marriage case, this one involving provisions of the federal Defense of Marriage Act. The act defines marriage as between a man and a woman for the purpose of deciding who can receive a range of federal benefits.

The Obama administration abandoned its defense of the law in 2011 but continues to enforce it.
___
Associated Press writers Julie Pace, Mark Sherman and News Survey Specialist Dennis Junius contributed to this report.

As two San Diego County sheriff’s deputies recover from Wednesday’s shooting in Encinitas, court documents shed new light on the suspect who officials say took his own life.

"He's better off in jail than in a grave, please, please help me help him," Michelle Kwik wrote in her application for a temporary restraining order against son Evan.

The 22-year-old violated the order Wednesday when he entered his mother’s home on Del Rio Avenue in Encinitas.

When deputies entered the home just after 1 p.m., they tried to talk out the son who was believed to be hiding in a crawl space in the attic.

Based on statements the son made, deputies launched a non-lethal tear gas.

“Unfortunately the male returned fire, striking two deputies,” said Capt. Duncan Frasier from the San Diego County Sheriff’s Dept.

A standoff continued through the night until around 1:30 a.m. when robots were employed into the home. Shortly after, the suspect was found dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head officials said.

The restraining order application detailed several years of trouble for Evan Kwik. His mother told authorities her son had been addicted to black tar heroin for the last three years and would steal from family members to get the drug.

Watch Video: Encinitas Suspect Had Drug Problem

In the documents, Michelle Kwik said her son couldn’t hold a job for more than a week and described him as having extreme anxiety that caused him to drop out of junior high school and high school.

“We have been in contact with this young man in the past on some issues,” said Capt. Frasier.

While the restraining order application listed potential weapons as bear spray and knives, it does not list a gun.

Officials recovered a 12 gauge shotgun from the scene along with 30 shells in close proximity of the suspect's body.

Approximately 6 rounds were fired. Five of those rounds were fired at deputies officials said.

One pellet was found lodged in the couch of a neighbor.

“That just exemplifies just how dangerous the situation was,” Frasier said.

Deputy Colin Snodgrass, 27, was wounded in the right knee. Snodgrass underwent surgery Wednesday night and again Thursday afternoon at Scripps La Jolla.

"He had extensive damage to his knee area, the bone, the knee cap, the veins, artieries," said Sheriff Bill Gore.

Doctors won't know for sure what type of nerve damage was done for several days Gore said.

Deputy James Steinmeyer, 31, was wounded in the face and was treated and released last night. He is a three year veteran assigned to Encinitas substation.

The deputies did not return fire because they did not have a clear view of the subject and they were not sure that there weren’t other people in the home officials said.

Deputies had been called to the home three different times over the last four years including at least one call for vandalism.

There was no record of an arrest Frasier said.

Deputies were cautious about responding to the home on Del Rio Avenue because Evan had threatened to protect himself against them if needed according to the court document.

Michelle Kwik also stated, "the sheriffs have said he wants suicide by cop or they believe his reactions to their presence being so irrational and unpredictable, places them at risk."

“We do know that when he arrived back at the house today he was extremely upset and agitated about the fact that she had obtained a restraining order against him,” Frasier said.

Michelle Kwik is one of two nurses for the Encinitas Union School District.

The Deputy Sheriffs' Association of San Diego County has set up an account for Deputy Colin Snodgrass and his family through the San Diego County Credit Union, under "Deputy Colin Snodgrass Support Fund."

Contributions can be made at SDCCU branches or to the DSA Office in Poway.

The county’s hotline is available for anyone with mental health issues and operates 24/7 at 888-724-7240.
 

Every day that passes without a deficit-cutting deal makes it more likely that the federal government will be forced into its first "sequester" in nearly 30 years, a problem of politicians' own making that could suck billions of dollars out of the economy.

The sequester is Washington jargon for using the threat of automatic spending cuts to force action on reducing the debt. The term doesn't mean much to most people outside the capital, and you could be forgiven for assuming that the president and lawmakers will scramble at the last minute to dodge their deadline and set up a new one. That is, after all, how the current predicament came to be.

But politicians are cutting it awfully close, making the risk very real, scholars and analysts say.

And the stakes have arguably never been higher: the sequester is just one of three looming fiscal deadlines, each with its own potentially calamitous impact on the tenuous economic recovery.

"This is unprecedented," said Steve Bell, senior director of economic policy at the Washington D.C.-based Bipartisan Policy Center, who served as staff director of the Senate Budget Committee in the early 1980s, when the last sequester showdown occurred. "I'm a historian of this stuff, and this has never happened together, these things. I don't know what the technical term is down here, but where I'm from, New Mexico and Colorado, we call it 'a goat rope'…chaos and confusion, where nobody knows what's going on."

For full politics coverage, visit NBCNews.com.

The sequester is scheduled to go into effect March 1, triggering the opening phase of cuts that will total more than $1 trillion between now and 2021. Most of the reductions would be divided evenly between the defense budget and non-defense spending that isn't already mandated by law (those mandates include Medicaid, Social Security and food stamps). It is up to the president to decide how to apply cuts to those so-called discretionary spending items.

Then, on March 27, comes a temporary appropriations measure that is keeping the federal government running. Without a renewal there will be a shutdown of all non-essential functions.

Finally, in mid-May, a statutory limit on the federal debt, which has been temporarily lifted, will go back into effect and make it difficult for the country to pay its bills.

The chances of all three of those threats becoming reality remain distant. But given the state of partisan discord, it appears "extremely likely" that the sequester will happen, Bell said.

The last time Congress imposed a sequester was 1986 when Ronald Reagan was president -- with limited results.

The current sequester threat has been driven by a darkening crisis surrounding the federal deficit, which is projected to skyrocket in coming decades, primarily because of the rising cost of health care. A couple years ago, Congress settled a fight over raising the country's debt limit by passing the Budget Control Act, which set a Jan. 2, 2013 deadline to find ways to cut $1.5 trillion from the deficit. A bipartisan committee was assigned to come up with a plan, but it failed. Faced with the combination of the sequester, the expiration of Bush-era tax cuts and a scheduled reduction in payroll taxes—a confluence of events known as the "fiscal cliff"—President Barack Obama struck a deal with Congress. It included letting the payroll tax lapse, raising tax rates for households making more than $450,000 and delaying the sequester to the beginning of March. The fiscal cliff deal also allowed taxes on capital gains and dividends to go up and extended jobless benefits.

The new sequester deadline has prompted another showdown between Obama, who has called for a more "balanced" reduction plan that includes eliminating tax breaks for the wealthy, and Congressional Republicans, who say the president already got tax increases out of the fiscal cliff negotiations and should take full responsibility for the sequester. A GOP alternative plan would spare defense cuts and focus on domestic spending.

For 2013, the sequester means more than $85 billion in cuts, including $42 billion from defense, $28 billion from domestic discretionary spending, and nearly $10 billion from Medicare.

With no deal in sight, the White House has prepared a list of deep, wide cuts that it says could costs thousands of jobs, hurt small businesses, damage the government's ability to ensure food safety, diminish the ranks of law enforcement, and reduce school aid and housing assistance—not to mention the massive impact on the military and defense contractors.

Most of the cuts likely won't effect ordinary Americans for weeks, or months, Bell said, because government agencies will first look for ways to cut costs internally, like canceling training and conferences and repairs and slowing down payments on contracts. Furloughing federal workers is always the last resort.

But eventually, the impact will spread across the country, as payments to government contractors and subcontractors and social service agencies dry up. Those employers will have to contemplate cutting their payrolls. The Bipartisan Policy Center estimates that a million or so jobs will be lost under a full-scale sequester in 2013 and 2014. The economy could lose billions of dollars.

"Instead of the lights going out, think about it as a bulb that gets dimmer, bit by bit, as the light gets less and less," Bell said.

The lights-out scenario could come on March 27, the deadline for a government shutdown. If Congress can't avert that crisis, the country could be in for a huge economic blow, Bell said.

But he doesn't see that happening. A more realistic outcome, he said, is after a few weeks of the sequester, the economic turmoil will cause enough blowback in Washington to spur lawmakers to pass another stopgap spending bill and find another temporary fix to the sequester.

"The pain felt by private employers and workers will be made loud and clear to members of the House and Senate, and it's interesting how quickly they react when that happens," Bell said.