Mom's Bible was replaced, with a new cover. The older sister opened brand-new Nike cleats. And the younger sister slung on her backpack, in the shape of Olaf, from the movie "Frozen."

But this Manassas, Virginia, family was most grateful for the first gift they received: No one was hurt when a fire tore through their rented home Sunday, destroying everything inside, including gifts that had been purchased for the girls.

The Valladeres family was at church Sunday when the fire erupted, sparked by lights on the family Christmas tree.

The family did not have renter's insurance, and is being sheltered in a Best Western hotel by the Red Cross.

Their loss so touched the City of Manassas firefighters who responded to their fire that the firefighters surprised the family on Christmas Eve, bringing gifts to the hotel to replace some of what the family had lost.

The family was overwhelmed. After encouraging 6-year-old Kimberly to open her gifts, 18-year-old Lisbeth could not hold back tears when she unwrapped the cleats.

"This is where family really is at," Lisbeth translated for her mother, Mercedes. "Today it could be us, tomorrow it could be another family, but thanks to you guys we are all together."

The members of the Manassas firefighters and paramedics union didn't have time for a fund-raiser. So they reached into their own pockets to buy the gifts.

"It brings home why we choose to do this, to help people," said firefighter Michael Nazionale.

The firefighters did save one thing from the home: Lisbeth's prized Virginia Tech blanket, from the school she dreams of attending one day. The firefighters said she could keep it if she washed it two or three times to get rid of the smoke.

Manchester Police are on a mission this Christmas Day--delivering toys to needy children.

Police cruised through town this morning in an armored vehicle, decked out in lights and tinsel, to hand out toys to needy children.

The families who needed the gifts were identified through the Salvation Army and the Blue Angels Foundation that is run by Sgt Hughes at the Manchester Police Department.

Toys are donated by the local Elks Club. They collected enough toys to donate to 44 children.

The officers' sleigh is the department's armored Bearcat, a $250,000 vehicle that is designed for tactical emergency response.

Unsuspecting children are having an even merrier Christmas thanks to a group of "elves."

In an effort to adopt out as many animals as possible before Christmas, the New Hampshire SPCA made a very special offer to local families. Employees dressed up at Santa's elves and delivered six kittens to five different families.

The SPCA elves hit the road by 7:30 Christmas morning.

Their first stop was the Fernandes home in Stratham, to make a wish come true for 8-year-old twins Georgia and Quinn. The girls have been asking for a new kitten for months and when their mom learned about the SPCA elves, she enlisted their help right away.

"What a fun way to do it and they'll never forget it, you know, the day their kitten came home." said Christian Fernandes.

As the twins started thinking of a name for their first pet, the elves hopped in their sleigh and hurried away to the next delivery in North Hampton. This time a Siamese kitten in a pink case arrived at the Fuller home.

"I was really surprised," Jaeda Fuller said through teary eyes.

Jaeda's mom, Melinda, is in the military and is deploying in a couple of days.

"So we have a new little addition to keep everybody company while I am gone," Melinda Fuller said.

Jaeda tells us the kitten will help her get through when she really misses her mom.

"I wanted it really, really bad," she said.

Jaeda first saw the tiny kitten last month when she dropped off a donation at the adoption center. She had asked for donations instead of birthday gifts and raised $500 for the SPCA.

Her mom has been working on getting her the kitten ever since.

"It all aligned, I don't know how it came together, but it did," Fuller said.

And just like that, Santa's helpers granted another wish. Once they left the Fuller's, they had three more stops to go.

"No matter how young they are, now they're going to remember it and we are excited to be a part of that," Catherine Tobia, a SPCA employee and temporary elf, said.

"the kids are just so overwhelmed and surprised, it's amazing to be a part of," Jen Frey, another "elf," said.

The special deliveries were so successful the SPCA elves are convinced they've started a new Christmas tradition and promise to offer the same service to families next year. 

After 20 years apart, a North Texas woman and her homeless brother finally reconnected at the airport on Christmas morning.

Her brother had become addicted to hard drugs and alcohol and was living under a bridge in Hawaii the last few years, until he made a phone call that he hopes will change his life.

Sarah Blanks was at the airport hours before sunrise on Christmas Day, waiting for the brother she hasn't seen in 20 years. The two haven't even spoken on the phone in about a year. But now he's on his way home.

"It means a lot. It's hard to explain. It's a comfort. It's a peace. It's knowing that your family is together. It's a good feeling. Especially on Christmas," Blanks said. "He'll be with his family on a day that's so special."

Roger Thompson tried to make a better life for himself in Hawaii decades ago. He worked in lighting on movie sets, helping create classic films like Jurassic Park and Godzilla.

But then he became addicted to hard drugs and alcohol.

"I worked in the film industry. And in Hawaii it went flat for quite a while. And unfortunately that's how I dealt with it. My fault, totally, no one else's but mine," Thompson said. "I found myself living on the streets in Waikiki, under the Ala Bridge, and simply just living day to day."

Thompson was living under that bridge when social workers found him this Thanksgiving. They gave him a bed at Hawaii's emergency shelter and offered to help him reconnect with family through a phone call.

Thompson decided it was finally time to sober up and start a new chapter, and he called his sister in Plano.

"We didn't know where he was or even if he was safe. We didn't know until just before Thanksgiving. That's when we got a call. And from that point on it's been our endeavor to try and get him home, to the best place he could be, as quickly as possible," Blanks said.

After an all-night flight back, Thompson gave his sister a Christmas hug for the first time in decades.

"It's like the best Christmas present ever. It's very special. And it's just special to be back," said 64-year-old Roger Thompson at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport. "It's been a long time since I've been around family."

With some help from Hawaii’s emergency shelter — called the Institute for Human Services — Blanks will work to find her brother a steady job early next year.

Thompson said he's an Army veteran, and he hopes to contact the VA and see if his expertise in lighting and his union membership from Hawaii can land him a job in North Texas.

"There's a lot I want to catch up on, and I just want to hit the ground running," he said.

And he hopes that after life on the streets, he can start a new chapter here in Texas — this time clean, sober, and happy.

"When in a situation like mine, you will most likely avoid speaking with members of your family because of embarrassment and wanting to avoid them having a burden on this homeless situation," Thompson said in an interview last week with Hawaii's Institute for Human Services.

"But it just takes one phone call to discover that this is not the case. I think that's important for others to know."

The California Highway Patrol issued a Sig Alert after a serious accident in Chollas View on Christmas Eve.

The crash happened just before 8 p.m. Wednesday on the southbound Interstate 805 transition to eastbound State Route 94.

Get up-to-the-minute traffic

According to CHP, a car crashed into another car that had stopped in the middle of the freeway. Major injuries have been reported.

The accident brought traffic to a virtual standstill in the area. CHP officers were on scene directing traffic.

The Christmas spirit was alive and well this year from coast to coast, with strangers paying off the layaway accounts of struggling families and police and firefighters stepping in with replacement gifts after a fire and burglary. Here are some of this season's most heartwarming stories. 

A 64-year-old homeless man who had been living under a bridge in Hawaii reunited with his family in Texas after being separated from them for 20 years.

Police in Manchester, Connecticut delivered toys to needy children using an armored Bearcat vehicle as a sleigh.

In New Hampshire it was "elves" who were doing the delivering. Members of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) dressed up as Santa's helpers to deliver pet kittens to families.

After a fire destroyed a Virginia family's home, including all the Christmas gifts inside, firefighters who responded to the fire brought replacement presents to the family.

A father was brought to tears in North Miami Beach when police officers replaced hundreds of dollars' worth of gifts for his children after his family's home was burglarized.

A Marine helped a Southern California woman dig her home out from under a 6-feet-tall pile of mud and rocks. The homeowner had been sending the Marine care packages through the Adopt A Soldier program, and the latter wanted to return the favor. 

A 12-year-old Texas boy who has been suffering from cancer since the age of three only wanted cards for Christmas. He's gotten that ten times over. So far he's received more than 7,000 cards from all over the world. 

An anonymous "layaway angel" paid the layaway accounts of about 150 people at a Toys "R" Us in Bellingham, Massachusetts, covering about $20,000 in holiday merchandise.

A YouTube star with more than 711,000 subscribers gave a homeless man $100 to see what he would do with the money. To his surprise, the man came out of a liquor store with food for his fellow homeless. 

A San Diego motorcycle club showed its softer side as members pumped air into children’s bicycle wheels instead of motorcycle tires Christmas morning.

The local chapter of the Boozefighters Motorcycle Club (BFMC) gave up the holiday with their family to roll out dozens of shiny new bikes for National City children.

“Hey, we’re busy, I’m always busy, but this is fun, and these kids, you can just see it in their eyes. They really are happy to get a bicycle on Christmas morning,” said the motorcycle-enthusiast Santa Claus on scene.

Hundreds of kids anxiously waited in line for their turn to sit in Santa’s lap, get a toy and pick out their new bicycle and a helmet.

One boy Edward told NBC 7 he had his eye on a black and green one all morning.

“I wanna ride this all day,” said Edward when he got on it. “I am thankful I got blessed today by the bikers.”

It’s a blessing the club has been giving the neighborhood for decades.

The Christmas With Kids giveaway started about 50 years ago with a man named Frank King.

“He said every child deserved at least a toy at Christmastime. And he loved children,” said his wife Charlene King.

So Frank fixed up just a few bikes a year, loaded them in a truck and gave them to underprivileged children in National City, becoming the area’s personal Santa. Before long, the BFMC joined in and kicked the project into high gear.

Though Frank died in 2008, his legacy lives on through the motorcycle club, which holds toy drives throughout the year so they can give away balls, dolls and other treats on the big day. Christmas With Kids is now a public charity, so it can accept tax-deductible donations.

“I think it’s a godly program because we never have run out of a toy for a child,” said Charlene. “If they’re in line, they get a toy.”

A new audit highlights wrongdoing and errors by California state employees and agencies that have cost taxpayers tens of thousands of dollars.

The audit released this week by state Auditor Elaine Howle details 10 cases of what it calls "improper activities." They include moonlighting by an unnamed state employee who received permission to work at home in 2010 by saying he had to care for an ailing parent, according to the Sacramento Bee.

The audit says the employee had actually taken a second paid job without following department rules that require permission from a division chief to work a second position. It estimates the Department of Industrial Relations paid the employee at least $12,200 for time when he was not available for his state duties.

In still another case, an unnamed State Water Resources Control Board employee sent surplus office furniture to a recycler and pocketed $3,500 from the deal. And in a third case, more than $33,000 of government property went missing at Camp Roberts in Monterey and San Luis Obispo counties. The audit blames poor inventory controls.

The cases are based on whistle-blower complaints.

The moonlighting employee at the Department of Industrial Relations resigned after management discovered his second job. The department said in response to the audit it put a memo in the employee's personnel file should he attempt to return to state employment. It also put stronger telecommuting policies in place.

The employee accused of taking proceeds from the surplus furniture said she didn't have time to turn in the money and took it home for safekeeping, according to the audit. It recommends the case be handed over to the local district attorney.

The Military Department, which was responsible for the missing government property, has made "considerable progress" in fixing its shortcomings, but it still needs a bar-code system for all expendable inventory, according to the audit.
 

A Christmas burglar who tried to break into two homes was peppered by shotgun pellets fired by one of the homeowners before he was arrested by police who surrounded the Anaheim Hills neighborhood.

The burglar suffered minor, nonlife threatening injuries from the shotgun blast, said Anaheim police Lt. Bob Dunn.

Officers initially responded to a report of an attempted break-in near the 830 block of Quiet Canyon Way just before midnight. The subject was described as a man with a black ski mask who ran from the property before police arrived. 

Then at 3:30 a.m. Thursday, police received a call about a half-mile away regarding a man with a black ski mask inside a home in the 900 block of Country Glen Way. The homeowner had returned home a few hours earlier from dinner with his family, put his 3-year-old daughter to bed and gone out to the garage to get some holiday gifts from his car.

Nathaniel Blair said he might have left the house door open at that time, explaining how the intruder entered his house. Blair went back inside, then remembered about two hours after retrieving the gifts that he needed to move his truck into the garage.

"I came downstairs to this door right here behind me, opened it up and there was a guy standing right behind the door with a pipe wrench, one of the big pipe wrenches," said Blair. "I opened the door and was like, is this happening right now?

"At that point in time, I'm like, you know what man, you came to the wrong home if you think you're going to come into my house and do that."

The homeowner and burglar grappled, and Blair was hit by the wrench. Blair then ran upstairs, armed himself with a shotgun and fired at the subject, who ran away, Dunn said.

"There was one shot fired by the resident," Dunn said.

Blair did not suffer significant injuries.

Police set up a perimeter and the bloodied assailant was located by K9 units shortly before 5 a.m. in a garage in the 1000 block of Country Glen Street, according to police. The man, who was expected to be booked on suspicion of residential burglary, was found in a resident's garage, Dunn said.
 

A man died in the custody of U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents after crossing into the U.S. on Christmas Eve, officials said Thursday.

The man, identified only as a 40-year-old, used the pedestrian crossing at the San Ysidro Port of Entry before 7 p.m. Wednesday. A records check revealed the man should be considered armed and dangerous, according to the CBP, so they escorted him to a security office. 

During the secondary inspection, agents say they gave the man a pat down, seized heroin from him and realized he was wanted on a felony warrant.

As the man was left in front of the security desk, he allegedly jumped over a counter and attacked two officers.

Federal officials say they used a Taser to control the man.

When the man became unresponsive and stopped breathing just after 7 p.m., agents say they began CPR and called for paramedics.

Paramedics performed CPR on the patient and took him to Sharp Chula Vista where he was pronounced dead at 7:57 p.m., agents said.

Four CBP agents were injured and treated at a nearby hospital, according to officials.

Attorney Gene Iredale told NBC 7 Thursday that he believes video footage of the incident should ultimately be released to the public.

"That entire area should be covered, should be blanketed with video cameras which will allow government investigators or anyone else who is involved in an investigation to review exactly what happened anywhere in the point of entry," he said.

Iredale represents the family of Anastasio Hernandez-Rojas, whose case garnered national media attention when cellphone video surfaced showing border agents tasing Rojas five times while he was handcuffed, pleading for help. He died shortly after in 2010.

"It's very important when something tragic happens that there be transparency, and that's in the interest of everyone," said Iredale. "That's in the interest of the government." 

Homicide detectives with the San Diego Police Department will investigate the circumstances of the man’s death, as will the CBP's Office of Internal Affairs and the DHS Office of Inspector General. A San Diego County Medical Examiner’s investigation will determine his cause of death.

The man’s name has not been released pending notification of next of kin. The names of the agents involved will not be released at this time, officials said.

Some came for the comedy, others came for the controversy. Whatever the reason, many San Diegans switched up their Christmas Day plans to visit a small theater in North Park, drawn by the hype surrounding Sony Picture’s “The Interview.”

Moviegoer Christian Cullen considered it his patriotic duty to see the film at the Digital Gym on El Cajon Boulevard.

"Whether those hackers are from North Korea or not, we win,” he said of the rescheduled release. He was among sold-out crowds, though the theater only seats 40 people.

Earlier this month, Sony pulled the release of the James Franco-Seth Rogen collaboration after hackers threatened violence against theaters that show the film. One scene depicts the assassination of dictator Kim Jong Un, and the FBI later confirmed North Korea was behind the cyber attack.

But after President Barack Obama chastised the cancellation and independent movie houses vied for the chance to show it, the motion picture company agreed to a limited release through on-demand, online streaming and select theaters.

The Digital Gym is the only theater in San Diego showing the film. Artistic Director Lisa Franek said they have had no credible threats to their venue, though San Diego police have ramped up patrols of the area. They also gave the managers instructions on blocking potential hackers.

"Part of our mission is to show films that are independent. They have independent voices,” said Franek. “Very often the films we show have a controversial viewpoint. And this definitely falls into that."

The consensus from those who saw “The Interview” Thursday?

“It was a lot funnier than I thought it would be,” said Lance Anthony. “My cousin actually saw it earlier like last night. He said, ‘Uh it was all right.’ But I thought it was pretty good."

He told NBC 7 he decided to see it because of the hype.

But Teddy Jaramillo has had the movie on his watch list for some time.

“The movie was amazing and I waited so long to see this,” he said. “It was so worth it. I would see it again.”

The Digital Cinema plans to show the film over the next two weeks. It has added extra staff and volunteers to handle the expected crowds.
 

A Long Island man enjoyed his first walk on a Manhattan sidewalk in nearly five years with the help of a biometric exoskeleton.

Tom Ball, of Farmingdale, took a short walk on 38th Street earlier this month with the help of a motorized exoskeleton being tested by New York University’s Langone Medical Center. The prosthetic is still in the testing phases, but Ball said he hopes that one day the device will allow him to walk his daughter down the aisle -- a dream he thought he would have to give up when he was paralyzed in a work accident in 2009.

“I hope I can walk my daughter down the aisle when she gets married,” he said. “And that's what I want to do.”

Ball, a third-generation iron worker whose grandfather was featured in a famous photograph atop the then-under construction RCA Building (now named the GE Building) in 1932, was paralyzed in 2009 while working on a project in the Bronx. He said he was pulling a steel beam when another fell, severing his spine and paralyzing him at the waist. 

“I knew there was something wrong because I didn't feel anything,” he said.

Doctors told Ball he’d never walk again after the accident. He put on a rubber bracelet that reads “Never give up” two days after he was hospitalized, and worked hard to maintain his old routine, going to the gym daily, playing basketball and staying active -- even riding waves on a modified surf board.

"You can give yourself 10 minutes of self-pity in the morning, then I just get up and get my day going," he said.

Still, he said, it’s the mundane things he used to do every day that he misses the most.

“I can't mow the lawn, I can't take care of the pool, I can't be the handyman,” he said. “I gotta rely on my wife and kids to do everything.”

Recently, Ball joined a medical trial for the exoskeleton, which is called the Indego. The device, which is motorized and partially encases a user's legs in metal support beams, allows Ball to stand up straight. If he leans forward just a bit, the prosthetic begins to take steps for him. 

"What else do I have to lose? Let me give it a shot," Ball said, remembering his decision to volunteer for the trial.

Ball said that when he began the trial, he could only walk about 13 steps. But after months of practice, he can take thousands. And on Dec. 11, he did something he hasn’t done since before the accident -- he took a walk on the busy streets of New York City.

NYU officials say that the device hasn’t been approved by the FDA yet, and it’s not clear if or when it will be available to the public. But, for at least this holiday, it gives Ball some hope that he can give his daughter away at her wedding.

“I have a good shot at doing it,” he said. “A real good shot.”

Most children get showered with toys and clothes on their first birthday, but for Khristian -- whose first birthday falls on Christmas -- it's the gift of being able to live life at home, and not in a hospital bed, that matters most.

Khristian was born December 25 last year -- three months premature. Since then, it's been a battle.

“He was born extremely premature, and as a consequence of that, has chronic lung disease,” said Dr. Michael Hobaugh, Chief Medical Officer at La Rabida Children’s Hospital.

That means Khristian's on a ventilator 16 hours per day, and had to spend his first birthday at La Rabida Children's Hospital. But, mid-morning he got a special surprise: a visit from Santa himself.

“Your first birthday and you have to spend it in the hospital,” said Santa (aka Paul Mesirow). “That's not fair.”

Fortunately, along with some wrapped presents, Santa's real gift came in the form of some amazing news.

“We just heard yesterday that everything's all set for him to go home in two weeks. So he got a special Christmas present, which is that he gets to go home,” said Dr. Hobaugh.

Mesirow has stopped at La Rabida every Christmas for the last 44 years, lighting up the faces of children who couldn't be home. Another patient, 1-year old Kevin Davis, was also born three months early and suffers from upper respiratory problems

“He's not old enough to really know who Santa is, but he just couldn't believe it, his eyes lit up!” said his mother, Kayla.

A few rooms away, we met 3-month old Malleah, who was born with a rare abdominal condition.

“She may not understand it, but it's her first Christmas, so it was nice and she smiled at [Santa],” said her mother, Brianna Morris.

All of the children are hoping to be home in a matter of weeks.

“Let's do this at home next year, OK?” Mesirow said to Khristian. “I'll look forward to seeing you at home.”

Mesirow has been visiting La Rabida Hospital every Christmas Day since 1970. He says the reason he started is the medical director of the hospital at the time told him that Santa’s visits gave the young patients a boost that no medicine could match.

Cellphone video captured the harrowing moments when neighbors helped Los Angeles motel guests escape a fast-moving fire that left five people hospitalized and dozens more displaced on Christmas Day.

Footage shows a group of people screaming and working together to help guests jump from a second-story window as flames spread through several units at the J.J. Park Motel at 1906 W. 3rd Street in the city’s Westlake neighborhood.

"All of everybody worked together to get people out the window," said motel resident Monica Nixon. "I was crying, I was praying.

"I could less about presents, I'm just happy we're all here in the flesh."

The blaze was reported about 6:15 p.m. Thursday, Los Angeles Fire Department officials said. It took about 100 firefighters 21 minutes to knock down the flames at the three-story motel.

Five people were injured, including two with severe burns, officials said.

"This is a very humble community, they don't have very muchy to begin with," said LAFD spokesman David Ortiz.

Several families were evacuated and left stranded in the cold on Christmas.

“The kids were just opening their presents, they were having a good time. We were all eating," said one guest.

Arson investigators were trying to determine the cause of the fire.

A guest said she left on a portable stove because it was cold.

The motel’s property managers planned to offer other units to the people who were displaced.

Police in Massachusetts are contacting the FBI after a baby Jesus statue was stolen from a Nativity scene and replaced with a pig's head, saying the vandalism could be a hate crime.

A priest at the Sacred Heart Church on Haverhill's South Main Street made the gruesome discovery Christmas morning, according to police.

Police believe the head was placed there between 1:30 and 6:30 a.m. Thursday.

Area farms and local butcher shops are being asked to step forward if they have any information.

Community and parish leaders say the vandalism is shocking.

"People slowly understand what happened, and they're heartbroken, they're horrified, they're outraged by this act. [It] really speaks to us on the most solemn day of great sadness and hurt," Sacred Heart Church's Father John Delaney said.

Bill Lapierre, 77, has attended the Sacred Heart Parish for as long as he can remember. But one thing he can't remember is something as disturbing as this.

"We had just finished doing 400 meals to help the poor and about 1,000 gifts to help the poor and to coming to that was really, really bad," said Lapierre.

The crèche is easily seen from Main Street. It's only about 50 feet off the street, making this brazen crime even more bizarre.

"It really hurts when they do that to any religion because that's our soul, that's where people go when they want to find God and be at peace, especially Christmas morning," Lapierre said.

The public is also asked to contact police at 978-373-1212 if they have any information on this vandalism.

A baby Jesus statue was also stolen from a Nativity scene in Greenfield on Christmas Eve.

A group of retired and current NYPD officers say they flew a banner along the Hudson River Friday that said "de Blasio, our backs have turned to you" in protest of the mayor's policies toward the department.

The small banner, which traveled up and down the Hudson River Friday morning, was paid for by officers upset over what they called "the mayor’s incendiary rhetoric, and for facilitating the current hostile climate towards the NYPD."

The plane made several passes between Battery Park and the George Washington Bridge at about 9 a.m.

In a statement released Friday morning, the group of officers condemned the mayor for his comments about worrying about the safety of his interracial son at the hands of police following a Staten Island grand jury's decision not to indict an officer in the chokehold death of Eric Garner. They said de Blasio's comments fanned flames of civil unrest following the grand jury decision
"potentially to the deaths of PO Wenjian Liu and PO Rafael Ramos, as well as the continued threats against NYPD personnel."

"We no longer have confidence in Mayor de Blasio, nor in his ability to lead New York City and promote the values that both the NYPD and the good law abiding citizens of the city hold dear," the officers said. "Mayor de Blasio turned his back on us long before we turned our backs on him."

The flight of the banner comes six days after Ramos and Liu were gunned down in their patrol car in Brooklyn by Ismaaiyl Brinsley, who posted his intent to kill police on Instagram and committed suicide in a nearby subway station after he ambushed the officers.

Police unions were fiercely critical of the mayor in the days leading up to and following the officers’ deaths. The president of the city’s largest police union, Patrick Lynch, said after the shootings "there’s blood on many hands" and explicitly blamed de Blasio for the violence.

Some police officers turned their backs to the mayor when he arrived at the hospital where their two colleagues were taken after they were shot.

Asked about the banner flown Friday, de Blasio Deputy Press Secretary Wiley Norvell called for unity.

"This is a time to think about the families and honor our fallen officers," Norvell said in a statement. "Dividing people won't help our city heal. We'll continue to stand with responsible New Yorkers who are doing the right thing in a time of pain."  

San Diego American Red Cross will receive a $2,000 donation in Chargers quarterback Phillip Rivers' name after he was chosen for FedEx NFL Air Player of the Week for the third time this season.

FedEx NFL said Rivers won for his "outstanding performance" in last week's game against the San Francisco 49ers, where he threw for 356 yards and four touchdowns in the team's 38-35 overtime win.

Each week, FedEx NFL opens the poll for viewers to choose the top players: one for air and one for ground. Once the votes are tallied and the winners are chosen, FedEx makes a $2,000 donation to the American Red Cross in each of the players' names.

The Ground Player of the Week was Seattle Seahawk's Marshawn Lynch in their winning game against the Arizona Cardinals.

Rivers also took the win for his Week 2 and Week 4 performances, according to FedEx NFL. In Week 2, he threw for 284 yards and three touchdowns, and 377 yards and three touchdowns in Week 4.

A Massachusetts woman is accused of throwing raw bacon and sausage at a police station on Friday, saying she was there to "feed the pigs," but her parents tell NECN their daughter's behavior is "not her" and she needs help.

Framingham police say 24-year-old Lindsey McNamara of Ashland walked into the police department with a large Dunkin' Donuts box, and when an officer asked if he could help her, she told him she was there to "feed the pigs" and smeared a handful of raw meat on the dispatcher's window. She threw the meat all over the counter as well. As she tried to to do it a second time, she was arrested, police said.

Her arraignment on charges of malicious destruction of property and disorderly conduct at Framingham District Court was postponed until Feb. 9, and a judge placed her under a psychiatric hold at a hospital for a few days after McNamara told the court God instructed her to throw the meat and insisted on representing herself, adding that someone was "out to get" her.

Her parents, who were in court, told NECN that this behavior is "not her" and that their daughter needs help.

Her father said McNamara is a student at Salem State University and works at a nursing home, which her parents say they believe is affecting her mental health.

Salem State University was unable to confirm McNamara is a student.

Stay with NECN as this story develops. 

A pedestrian died Christmas evening after a car collided with him in the Midway District. 

San Diego police say at about 5:40 p.m., the man was crossing Camino del Rio W. near Moore Street when a vehicle heading his way slowed down to let him run across the street.

However, another car sped around the first and hit the pedestrian. The man died from his injuries.

Camino del Rio W. was shut down for hours. Witnesses stayed behind, describing the collision as investigators documented every inch of the scene. They examined the victim's belongings and the driver's smashed windshield.

The driver, who police did not identify, is not being accused of any crime at this point -- a fact that surprised Miss Stewart, a visitor from out of town.

"I would think they would take him to jail," said Miss Stewart. "He killed somebody. What are you going to do? You're just going to let somebody kill somebody and walk on home?"

The driver burst into tears as his mother soon arrived on scene. They were both escorted from the area by police.

The traffic division will continue investigating.

Four people were killed and two others suffered major injuries in a head-on collision on Christmas near Sacramento.

The two cars collided near the intersection of San Juan and Palm avenues in Fair Oaks, northeast of Sacramento, around 1:30 a.m. Friday, according to the California Highway Patrol.

California Highway Patrol officer Chad Hertzell said a Buick LeSabre, carrying five passengers, caught fire, and three of the people inside were burned to death. It was fully engulfed in flames when authorities arrived on the scene. A fourth person was found dead on the road.

"It looks like it was fairly high speed due to damage of the vehicles," Hertzell told reporters.

A fifth person from the Buick was taken to the hospital with major injuries, according to officers.

The driver of the second vehicle, a Subaru, was also taken to the hospital with major injuries.

NBC affiliate KCRA reported that the cause of the crash was still under investigation, but officers said speed appeared to be a factor in the severity of the injuries.

"Everything was just tossed around. It's very difficult for us to investigate,'' Hertzell told the Sacramento Bee.

Officers also noted that some of the passengers in the Buick were not wearing seat belts.

It was not known if drugs or alcohol played a role in the deadly crash. None of the identities has been released.