Police, search crews and the FBI have expanded a search for a 29-year-old physical therapist who was reportedly abducted Monday morning from a Vallejo, California, home and is being held for ransom. 

Denise Huskins' boyfriend claims an intruder broke into his Mare Island home early Monday morning and took her by force while demanding a ransom. But for some reason, her boyfriend waited 11 hours to report it to police. Police originally said Huskins was 30.

On Tuesday evening, over 100 trained search and resue personnel, including a dive team, were searching the waterfront and other areas near the 500 block of Kirkland Avenue on Mare Island, from where Huskins' was reportedly kidnapped.

Police on Tuesday did not elaborate on what the ransom demand might be. “All I can tell you is that there was a ransom demand,” said Lt. Kenny Park of the Vallejo Police Department.

Huskins who is a physical therapist at Kaiser Vallejo Hospital, was reported missing on Monday about 2 p.m. by her boyfriend. The event, however, took place earlier in the morning and it’s unclear why he waited to alert authorities. Park said police are interviewing him but don’t consider him a “person of interest.”

Huskins' car was also reportedly taken from the residence, however the 2000 Toyota Camry was later found at an unnamed location in Vallejo, officers said.

Huskins also lists on her Facebook page indicates that she's a physical therapist at Southern California Orthopedic Institute. Her Facebook page states she is from Huntington Beach and that she moved to Vallejo in June 2014.

KNBC reporters went to Huskins' Huntington Beach family home and spoke with her brother Devin Huskins, who said the family is waiting to get more details about what's going on before saying anything to the media. Huskins' dad flew up to Vallejo to talk with investigators, despite their suggestion not to, her brother said. Her father told NBC Bay Area he is praying for his daughter's safe return.

"She's my little girl  — when she was young she would say 'daddy I'll be your best friend,'" Huskins' father said. "I know she didn't just let somebody take her. She would've put up a fight. She ran marathons, she was physically fit."

Huskins father says the story just doesn't add up. While he's never met his daugter's boyfriend, he says his daughter seemed happy with him. He added that they worked together as physical therapists at Kaiser.

Devin Huskins said his sister lives right across the street from the Kaiser Permanante Hospital where she is finishing up a physical therapy clinical course. He said her sister and her boyfriend don't live together, Huskins was just hanging out there when the incident took place.

Neighbors in Vallejo were surprised.

“We’ve seen her, she's beautiful,” Matea Rolovic said, adding that Huskins lives with two male roommates.

“It’s bizarre,” added Patrick Van Deweg. “It’s a really bizarre story.”

"What year are we in, do people still take ransom?" Rolovic asked.

Anyone with information on this case is asked to contact the Vallejo Police Department at 707-648-4524.

NBC Bay Area's Bob Redell and Gonzo Rojas contributed to this report.

Denise Huskins's father praying for her safe return.He says kidnapping is nightmare he wishes he could wake up from pic.twitter.com/LAtN3vPB58

— Jodi Hernandez (@JodiHernandez01) March 24, 2015

A couple claiming to be sunbathing inside a parked car were sitting on $33,000 worth of concentrated cannabis and marijuana, deputies discovered Tuesday.

According to the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department, a Fallbrook deputy saw the couple hanging out inside a car that was awkwardly parked in the 2700 block of Pala Road at around 8:15 a.m.

When the deputy approached the couple, the man and woman told the deputy they were “sunning themselves because it improves their serotonin.”

Officials said the deputy immediately smelled marijuana coming from the vehicle. When he looked inside, the deputy discovered a large haul that included 13 ounces of concentrated cannabis, 8.87 pounds of processed marijuana and 20 grams of pot that had been rolled into joints.

The concentrated cannabis had an estimated street value of $15,000 while the processed pot was worth $18,000, officials said.

The man inside the vehicle, 24-year-old Humboldt County resident Adam Mathison, admitted the marijuana was his. He told the deputy he brought the pot from Humboldt County to San Diego to allegedly use at a gathering taking place on the Pauma Indian Reservation.

Mathison was arrested and charged with several counts, including transportation and possession of marijuana for sale. He was booked into the Vista Detention Facility and is scheduled to appear in court Thursday.
 

San Diego's deteriorating public facilities will soon get an infusion of long-awaited repair money, but it's just a small down payment on a huge backlog of badly needed fixes.

On Tuesday, after a year of legal delays, the San Diego City Council authorized a $120 million infrastructure bond measure that had been challenged in court on grounds that it required voter approval.

The case recently was dismissed, and while it's now on appeal, San Diego's bond lawyers gave the green light to let work begin.

Nearly $50 million from the borrowing measure will be spent on upgrading 100 miles of sub-standard streets.

San Diego's thoroughfares consistently have ranked among the worst of the nation's municipalities.

At one point years ago, when the region really got rain, the backlog of unfilled potholes reached 40,000.

Even as a four-year drought persists, storm drain system improvements will get an investment of $22 million; the area’s landscape has become so dry that the next major rainfall could produce severe flash runoff.

Meantime, $26 million is earmarked for five fire station projects -- three are due for rebuilding and expansion, with the rest of the allocation going for design work on two new stations.

Several library branches will share in $11 million worth of new funding.

But as Mark Kersey, chairman of the council's Infrastructure Committee points out, all this money is just a trickle compared to a fast-flowing citywide repair deficit of $1.7 billion dollars -- which the city will tackle with a follow-up "mega-bond" issue next year.

"I think we're going to be able to spend it wisely and reasonably quickly,” Kersey said in an interview Tuesday. “We're really trying to focus on streamlining the city's own bureaucracy, so that we’re not in the way of getting projects done.”

Kersey said the mega-bond will involve low-cost state loans and a special “infrastructure district” approach: "It's kind of like redevelopment, where you're utilizing the future increase in property tax growth -- so it's not a tax increase. But you're able to bond against that growth. And it does require a vote of the people, but it's not a two-thirds vote. So there's some things we're going to be able to do that are not tax increases, but definitely part of this equation."

The city's legal experts told the council that in the unexpected event of an adverse ruling in the courts, the bond investors would suffer the downside risk, not the taxpayers.

The annual interest payment on the borrowing measure comes to $7 million.

A man who cared for the disabled was convicted of assault against a man with Down Syndrome living in an adult care facility in Santee.

Michael Carter faces four years in state prison for breaking the victim’s jaw. Carter, who was one of the victim’s caregivers, is also barred for life from caring for dependent adults and children, following a separate trial in the state’s administrative law court.

The incident happened Dec. 18, 2013, at the Wind River Family Care Center, an assisted living home for the 36-year-old victim and five other developmentally disabled adults.

Carter was a live-in caretaker at the home, and according to his testimony, has known the victim since they were children.

But on that December day, something happened.

Prosecutors still don’t have a motive, but they say Carter hit the victim and fractured his jaw.

The owner of the facility had installed a surveillance camera in the common areas of the home to protect himself, his employees, and his clients.

In response to a Public Records Request filed by NBC 7 Investigates, the state Department of Social Services released an edited version of the video recorded that day. It shows Carter performing routine tasks around the care home, where he helps the clients bathe, dress and perform other basic functions. But images of the victim and other clients were edited out of the video to protect their privacy.

Court records reveal what can’t be seen on that edited surveillance video.

In a written decision that prohibits Carter from ever again working in a licensed state care home, Administrative Law Judge Carla Nasoff said the video shows Carter and the victim, identified as “S.K.”, entering the bathroom together.

“There was no evidence that S.K. had any mouth injuries before he entered the bathroom,” Judge Nasoff wrote.

And no evidence that the victim fell in bathroom, but Judge Nasoff says the video shows S.K. had “blood around his mouth and continuously touched his mouth area” when he left the bathroom.

That video also shows Carter “repeatedly” wiping away the blood from the victim’s mouth.

The victim left the care home for a day program he attended at the ARC center in El Cajon.

It was there that ARC employees noticed S.K’s injuries, which included scratches on his neck.

Gina Turner, who supervised the ARC day program, told NBC 7 Investigates that she saw the blood in S.K.’s mouth and his swollen jaw.

"It would just keep refilling, the gums would just keep refilling with blood, as quick as he would rinse out his mouth,” Carter recalled.

Turner said she asked S.K. a series of questions to find out what happened.

The victim communicates only with sign language and facial expressions and responded to Turner with “thumbs up, thumbs down” gestures and eye movements. This led Turner to conclude that S.K. had not fallen and had not hurt himself during the bus ride from the Santee care home to the El Cajon day center, and that the injury happened at the home.

She immediately called the owner of the home, Julian Petrov, who quickly drove to the day center.

“Julian comes up and asks, 'Did Mikey hit you?'”, Turner recalled. “And [S.K.] gives thumbs up, to say, 'yes'.”

Petrov took the victim to Grossmont Hospital, where X-rays confirmed a serious jaw fracture. According court documents, Petrov immediately ordered Carter to leave the Wind River Care Home and take a drug test, standard procedure in cases of suspected abuse.

Turner says Petrov’s actions helped build the case against Carter.

“He called everybody. Got [S.K.] to the doctors. He kept in communication with me," said Turner.

Documents obtained by NBC 7 Investigates confirm Carter tested positive for amphetamines and methamphetamines.

At his administrative law hearing last September, Gina Turner and Julian Petrov told an administrative law judge what they saw and how they helped S.K. confirm that Carter had assaulted him in that bathroom, and broke his jaw.

Carter testified on his own behalf, and denied the allegations, telling Judge Nasoff that he would never hurt the victim, whom he'd known for decades, and whom he described as "like a brother" to him.

Carter said the victim might have hurt himself by falling in the bathroom, or on the bus ride to the El Cajon day program.

But Judge Nasoff said the surveillance video and the victim's use of sign language to confirm Carter hurt him, were evidence enough that Carter "inflicted pain" on the (the victim) and "deprived him of dignity and respect".

Judge Nasoff ordered Carter to stay away from care homes, and their clients, forever.

Gina Turner says the process showed that care-givers, state regulators and prosecutors are committed to protecting California’s most vulnerable population.

"These guys are put into our supervision,” Turner said. “They’re in to our protection, and that's our job, to protect them. And to hear that a care provider would do something this extreme, it's, it's heartbreaking. It really is. These people are defenseless."

Michael Carter was also charged in California criminal court, where he was accused of three felonies, including abuse of a dependent adult likely to produce great bodily harm, and battery and assault causing serious injury.

He also faced two misdemeanor drug charges.

On January 13, Carter pleaded guilty to the felony assault charge.

He faces up to four years in state prison at his sentencing hearing next month.

Carter and his attorney declined to be interviewed for this story.

A vehicle hit a jogger as she was crossing the street with her dog Tuesday evening.

The woman was running across the Interstate 5 on-ramp on Via de la Valle when she was struck by a vehicle at about 5:45 p.m., according to San Diego police.

The woman was taken to the hospital for serious injuries, but the dog is OK.

The driver stopped after the crash and police are investigating. No one was been cited at this time.

The head of a Delaware middle school and his wife are slowly recovering but their children remain in critical condition after they were sickened, possibly by a pesticide, during a vacation in the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Stephen Esmond, his wife Dr. Theresa Devine and their two teen sons were staying at the Sirenusa Condominium Resort in Cruz Bay, St. John, Friday when they suddenly became ill, suffering major respiratory trauma.

The family was eventually taken to hospitals in the Philadelphia area. Esmond and his wife are in serious condition while their two sons are in critical condition.

Esmond is the headmaster of Tatnall’s Middle School in Wilmington while Dr. Devine is a local dentist. Their two teen sons attend Tatnall's high school. 

Officials with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) are investigating whether the family was sickened by a pesticide called methyl bromide. EPA officials say the pesticide may have been used to fumigate a room at the resort back on March 18, the same day the family checked in.

The use of methyl bromide is restricted in the United States because of its acute toxicity, according to the EPA. The pesticide is not authorized for use in buildings and only certified applicators are allowed to be used in certain agricultural settings.

Exposure to methyl bromide can cause damage to the central nervous system and respiratory system.

“Pesticides can be very toxic and it is critically important that they be applied properly and used only as approved by EPA,” said Judith A. Enck, EPA Regional Administrator. “Protecting people’s health in the U.S. Virgin Islands is of paramount importance. The EPA is actively working to determine how this happened and will make sure steps are taken to prevent this from happening to others at these vacation apartments or elsewhere.”

Both the EPA and the U.S. Virgin Islands government are investigating the incident.

Tatnall is a college preparatory school for students ages 3 through grade 12. Tatnall is currently on Spring Break but students and staff have shown their support for the family.

"The whole community is pulling for you guys, praying for you guys," said Oiver Campbell, a family friend. "We really wish them the best."

Charlie Tierney, the head of School at Tatnall, also released a statement on Esmond and his family.

“The Tatnall School family is sending its well-wishes and love to the Esmonds,” Tierney wrote. “We will continue to offer our prayers and positive, healing thoughts and support them in any way we can.”

The body that crews discovered east of Temecula Monday has been identified as a missing veteran.

Robert Cricks, 76, was found dead in a remote area of the Cleveland National Forest, almost two miles from his car, according to the medical examiner's office.

A search for Cricks started last week when his wife reported him missing. She said she had left him in the car with the engine running as she went into a McDonald's in Temecula.

She last saw her husband, who suffers from severe dementia, driving away in their Infiniti sedan.

Search and rescue crews spent the weekend looking for Cricks, and they discovered his car on Sunday about 45 minutes away from the Cal Fire station on 39400 De Luz Road.

The next day, someone found his body. The medical examiner has not listed his cause of death.

Investigators are searching for the man who punched a woman, pulled her to the ground and sexually assaulted her on a Chula Vista street last week.

On Friday just before 4 a.m., the woman was walking northbound on Broadway near J Street when a grey, two-door truck pulled up beside her.

After the driver and the victim talked for a moment, the truck pulled ahead of the woman and parked. According to the victim and a witness, the suspect made sexually explicit comments to the woman as he got out of his vehicle.

He then hit the woman in the face, dragged her down on the sidewalk and held her there as he sexually assaulted her for a few minutes, Chula Vista police say.

The victim called for help to a witness across the street, which spooked the suspect. He got into his truck and drove off northbound on Broadway.

The CVPD is now asking for the public’s help in finding the suspect, who is described as a dark-skinned man in his 20s, standing about 5-feet-7-inches and weighing about 170 pounds. He has short hair and thin sideburns, according to police.

Call the CVPD at 619-691-5151 or Crime Stoppers at 888-580-8477 if you know anything about the suspect.
 

A woman is in the hospital after he crashed into a woman with his car and took off, Sheriff’s deputies said.

At approximately 11:30 p.m. Tuesday, the driver was heading down Vista Way when the driver claimed a woman stepped into the roadway, deputies said.

He told officials he could not avoid her and ran her over, and instead of stopping to help her, drove off instead.

An hour later, he called the Vista Sheriff’s station and told deputies he left because he was afraid of what would happen if he stayed.

Deputies later arrested the man and charged him with felony hit-and-run.

The victim is at Palomar Hospital with serious injuries.

San Jose’s police chief held a somber news conference Wednesday morning, hours after a veteran police officer was killed by a drunk, suicidal man during a welfare call – the first officer death in the city in 14 years.

“It’s unfortunate for any of our officers to lose their life,” Police Chief Larry Esquivel said, with obvious emotion before the sun came up. “It’s something we are aware of, and that we need to address.”

The suspect in Officer Michael Johnson's killing – Scott Dunham of San Jose, a former groundskeeper for De Anza College – was “despondent” when family members called for help about 6:48 p.m. Tuesday because the female caller thought he might harm himself or others, police said.

According to the 911 call, the dispatcher said the caller worried about Dunham, who said "he'd kill her if she didn't leave," referring to Dunham's wife. The dispatcher also says Dunham "used pills five or six years ago" and may be bipolar. An officer is heard asking the dispatcher to do a weapons check on Dunham. The dispatcher confirmed he had a handgun, though no guns were registered in his name. Another officer is heard on the dispatch saying "I'm told there's all kinds of ammo in the house."

As Johnson and other officers approached the apartment building in the 2600 block of Senter Road, Dunham fired upon them with a high-powered rifle from the balcony, police said. Johnson died at the scene. His body was taken away from the scene early Wednesday, as a procession of patrol cars snaked through the streets of San Jose alongside him.

Dunham was found dead on the apartment balcony at 3:20 a.m. Wednesday. The 57-year-old had suffered at least one gunshot wound. It's still unclear, however, if he killed himself, or if he died as a result of the ensuing police gunfire. "It's possible he was dead the whole time," Esquivel said.

Esquivel added that there were no known previous calls to the address. Still, court records indicate Dunham was charged with three counts of assault and battery, which he plead no contest to in 1996. He spent three days in jail, and was ordered to probation and counseling, along with a protective order. He petitioned the court to have the no contest changed to a "dismissal," records indicate.

De Anza College's Acting Chancellor Kevin McElroy said Dunham worked as a grounds gardener for the school from October 1998 to June of 2012 when he "resigned for purposes of retirement."

Police officers all over the country expressed their condolences, as did Calif. Gov. Jerry Brown, who issued a statement Wednesday remembering Johnson's "courage and dedicated service."

His family emailed a statement, saying Johnson was killed "while trying to help the community he loved. We are deeply saddened by his loss and cannot express in writing how deep a hole in our hearts we are left with by his passing." The family thanked everone for "sharing our pain," and asked for time to "grieve and heal in private."

Until the wee hours of the morning on Wednesday, the scene was chaotic along Senter Road, between Umbarger Road and Balfour Drive while police and MERGE units searched for the gunman, who they did not know he was dead on the balcony at the time. Police were heard shouting: "There is a man with a high-powered rifle who may be pointing it at you right now. You may be in the line of fire." Anthony Mancilla witnessed some of the aftermath and took video of the aftermath. He said he heard two gunshots. A man was heard in the street saying "He shot a cop. He shot a cop."

Esquivel thanked "the community," hoping residents would understand why they were evacuated because of the commotion.

Some residents along Senter Road were kept out of their homes all night, and even into the morning hours of Wednesday. Khoun Thoeuk, a mother of six, slept at her sister-in-law's house and only got two hours of sleep. Other aspects of local life were also distrupted due to the investigation; San Jose Conservation Corps Charter School on 2650 Senter Road was closed on Wednesday.  And Mayor Sam Liccardo, who called this San Jose's "darkest hour," canceled a Rules and Open Government Committee meeting.

Johnson was newly assigned as a training officer, and was in the same police academy class as Jeffrey Fontana, the last San Jose police officer to be killed in the line of duty. Fontana, a 24-year-old Woodside resident, was shot in 2001 during a high-risk vehicle stop. That gunman, DeShawn Campbell, was convicted in a case that dragged out for seven years.

Johnson is 12th officer to be killed in the San Jose Police Department's 166-year history, according to Morales.

He leaves behind his wife, Nicole, who was out of town at the time, police said, and parents, Katherine Decker and Daniel Johnson.

Department spokesman Albert Morales took over for Esquivel, saying the chief is “broken up” and had the “very, very difficult” job of telling his officers “to do a good job” and protect the citizens of San Jose after what happened.

“Our hearts are heavy,” Morales said.

For information on how to make a donation to Johnson's family, click here.

NBC Bay Area's  Kristofer Noceda, Lauren Inderhees, Gonzalo Rojas, Terry McSweeney, Jeff Clayton and Damian Trujillo contributed to this report.

A Dartmouth College fraternity that had already been suspended is now facing stiffer punishment, after being accused of branding new members.

The Alpha Delta fraternity, which partly inspired the 1978 movie "Animal House," has a history of disciplinary violations, including hazing. Now the fraternity, which was suspended in October, is accused of branding members.

A lawyer for the fraternity compared the accusations to a form of self-expression, including body piercing and tattooing, according to The Associated Press.

"Because of the serious nature of the charges, and the evidence gathered to date, Dartmouth is strengthening and extending the terms of AD's current suspension pending the outcome of the disciplinary process," the college said in a statement.

It's not clear what new members may have been branded with. 

Rescue crews are working to airlift a man missing since last night out of a canyon. 

The Sheriff's helicopter is airlifting the man out near the 400 block of Airport Road in an Oceanside canyon, they said. Officials said he had a medical issue in the canyon. 

He was reported missing last night. 

He is in moderate condition. 

Check back for updates on this developing story. 

Local alternative-radio powerhouse 91X fired the big guns Tuesday, unveiling an X-Fest lineup packed with marquee names.

More than a dozen acts -- new bands, old-school artists, local groups and touring talent -- fill out the lineup, including headliners Modest Mouse of "Float On" fame and the hard-rockin' Brits of The Cult. Joining them on June 7 at the Sleep Train Amphitheatre will be the rap royalty of Public Enemy and "Trunk Muzik" star Yelawof (spotted by SoundDiego last week at SxSW), SoCal's Pennywise and Cold War Kids, as well as alt rockers Death From Above 1979, Altas Genius, the Orwells, electronic artist Robert Delong and SoundDiego local faves Shady Francos (just ask us about our new theme song!). Bonus: Brooklyn's Moon Hooch will be busking around the site.

"Diversity has always been 91X's middle name, and this X-Fest lineup proves it," said Halloran, 91X's program director. "91X was the first radio station in the country to play The Cult and Public Enemy. X-Fest 2015 has artists from 91X's history and future all together on one stage. I can't wait to see all the 'old school' and 'new school' listeners at the show."

The station is following up on the success of its very successful Wrex the Halls concert at Valley View Casino Center in December, which boasted a bill bursting with Cage, Billy Idol, Alt-J, Interpol, Spoon, Banks and others.

Lucky 91X listeners can buy pre-sale tickets on Wednesday from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. (via a code available at the station website and texting plaform), while the rest of the public will have to wait till Friday at the same time to snap them up from LIve Nation.

UPDATE: Click here for the latest developments in the slaying.

The man suspected of killing a veteran San Jose police officer in a shootout was found dead early Wednesday on the balcony of his home where he had been holed up, police said, after what the mayor called "San Jose's darkest hour."

Police found the suspect dead on his balcony with at least one gunshot wound when they entered his home around 3:20 a.m., a police spokesman said.

Fourteen-year police veteran Michael Johnson was shot dead Tuesday night when a man opened fire on officers responding to a call about an intoxicated man threatening to kill himself, Officer Albert Morales said.

The suspect — who police earlier identified as Scott Dunham, 57 — shot at the officers as they arrived just before 7 p.m. Tuesday, and they returned fire and may have struck him, Morales said.

Officers had swarmed the area of Senter Road, between Umbarger Road and Balfour Drive in East San Jose, in search of the suspect. Police were heard telling people in the area "there is a man with a high-powered rifle who may be pointing it at you right now. You may be in the line of fire."

After hearing of the shooting, police departments throughout the Bay Area late Tuesday offered sympathies to San Jose police by sending thoughts and prayers on social media.

"It's a sad day for law enforcement and the police department in our community," San Jose Police Chief Larry Esquivel said.

San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo called Tuesday's fatal shooting "San Jose's darkest hour."

"We mourn the loss of an officer who has paid the full measure," Liccardo said.

It has been nearly 14 years since the last San Jose police officer was killed in the line of duty. Officer Jeffrey Fontana was shot and killed in the Almaden Valley neighborhood in October 2001.

Fontana was shot during a traffic stop.

The gunman, DeShawn Campbell, was convicted in a high-profile court case that lasted more than seven years.

A former SeaWorld trainer on Tuesday released a tell-all book about his time at the park, condemning its practices as “detrimental to whales and ultimately unsafe for trainers.”

Titled “Beneath the Surface: Killer Whales, SeaWorld and the Truth Beyond Blackfish,” the book explores the differences between whales in captivity and those in the wild and scrutinizes the park’s practices.

Author John Hargrove was featured on the SeaWorld-critical documentary “Blackfish,” and according to published reports, worked in San Diego and Texas parks.

A synopsis of his book on Amazon.com described Hargrove’s journey to writing the book as being borne out of doubt that the whales’ needs could be met in captivity.

“When two fellow trainers were killed by orcas in marine parks, Hargrove decided that SeaWorld’s wildly popular programs were both detrimental to the whales and ultimately unsafe for trainer,” the Amazon synopsis states.

Reached for comment on Tuesday afternoon, SeaWorld San Diego spokesman David Koontz said the park had no official statement about Hargrove’s book.

Not all trainers share Hargrove's views. Former trainer Kyle Kittleson has previously told NBC 7 that he believes 85 percent of the facts in the “Blackfish” are untrue.

SeaWorld has battled negative publicity since the 2013 release of “Blackfish,” and park attendance dropped by 4 percent last year.

SeaWorld has long defended its practices and last year announced the construction of larger environments for animals, namely Orcas, and that it would fund research programs to protect whales in the wild.

A “reckless and crazy” man who brazenly walked onto a Solana Beach Campus Monday tried to wrap tape around a 7-year-old girl’s head and carry her off, according to an email from the victim’s father.

The parent said he is detailing the frightening incident in a mass email to prevent this from happening to others and to help catch the suspect.

“We also want everyone to know the details regarding the incident so you understand what kind of crazy person is still running around out there,” he wrote in the email. The San Diego County Sheriff's Department released a composite sketch of the suspect to give residents a better idea.

Just 15 minutes after the dismissal bell rang for Skyline Elementary School Monday afternoon, the suspect parked in the school lot, walked past the front office and confronted the 7-year-old behind the school as she walked to her after-school program.

Armed with a roll of packing tape, the man tried to wrap it multiple times around the girl’s head, according to the father.

“The ‘if you want to see your mommy again’ was used in our case as he tried to lure her behind the garden and attempted to tape her up,” the father wrote.

The stranger also attempted to pick her up and carry her away, but her screams and kicks caught the attention of staff nearby. The father says teachers and janitors tried to catch the man, but he drove off. The girl was unharmed.

Witnesses told sheriff’s officials that the man drove away in a silver Ford Flex-style SUV with a black top. The suspect is described as a man in his 40s with light brown hair, tan skin and facial stubble. He stands about 6-feet tall with a medium build.

At the time of the incident, he was wearing a red, white and blue baseball jersey, a green baseball cap, off-white baseball pants, athletic shoes and held a duffle bag, according to the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department.

The victim’s father is encouraging all parents to talk with their children about “stranger danger.”

“Yell, scream, draw as much attention as you can,” he wrote. “This is what saved our daughter.”

The Solana Beach School District announced Tuesday it will be implementing new protocols to make sure students safely transition to after-school programs. Officials urge parents not to drop off students before supervision is available and to be prompt about picking children up after school ends.

Each school in the district will also hold a "Play it Safe" assembly to teach students, through role  play, how to react to suspicious situations, attract attention and escape.

Opponents of the mixed-use One Paseo proposal have collected more than 61,000 signatures from voters opposed to the project, according to a representative with the opposition.

The signatures were delivered to the county registrar's office in Kearny Mesa Wednesday morning, said Jeff Powers with Protect San Diego’s Neighborhoods, just weeks after legislators approved the project. The final count added up to 61,235 signatures, Powers said. 

However, the City Clerk received approximately 27,500 forms from voters looking to rescind their support for the petition, said Rachel Laing, spokeswoman for Kilroy Realty, the company behind the One Paseo development. 

City Council President Sherri Lightner joined Protect San Diego’s Neighborhoods to submit One Paseo petition signatures to overturn the council’s approval of the project. They want the issue passed along to the voters.

Opponents submitted the petition signatures to the county registrar at 11 a.m. Wednesday. They need at least 34,000 signatures to send the initiative to voters.

The One Paseo Project includes the construction of stores and eateries, the expansion of a movie theater and the addition of more than 600 family apartments and a parking structure in Carmel Valley.

The council gave their initial OK to the plan in late February, though they did say developer Kilroy Realty must add 60 affordable housing units and a synchronized traffic system. Council President Sherri Lightner and Council President Pro Tem Marti Emerald were the dissenting votes.

The San Diego Planning Commission approved the proposal for the $750 million, 1.4 million square-foot, mixed-use village slated for the corner of Del Mar Heights Road and El Camino Real.

The panel agreed to the plan on the condition that developer Kilroy Realty agreed to make 11 changes to the master plan.

Hundreds of people showed up to hear the debate at council chambers on Feb. 23 -- so many that Golden Hall had to be used as an overflow area. About 600 people signed up to speak on the issue, many wearing red shirts to show their opposition to One Paseo.

However, supporters say the development would be a positive addition to the area, bringing 1,600 new jobs, 600 news homes and $630 million to the local economy.

The Carmel Valley Planning Board voted against the current proposal but its members have said they support a smaller version of the plan.

Opponents say the project is too big and would create a traffic nightmare.

If all goes as planned, Kilroy Realty will break ground by the end of the year. Its completion date is set for 2018.

Supporters of the proposed Chargers-Raiders stadium in Carson, California, plan to present the signatures collected in their petition at city hall Wednesday.

Carson2gether proponents will march to Carson City Hall at 2:30 p.m. in what they have dubbed the “Petition Mission Accomplished Parade” to submit the signatures supporting the construction of the new football stadium.

The parade begins at the Doubletree by Hilton Hotel and ends in the Carson City Clerk’s office about six minutes away.

Chargers special counsel Mark Fabiani told NBC 7 the group has “41 boxes, 482 petitions and 15,373 signatures to submit.”

A total of 8,041 verified voter signatures are needed to qualify the Carson stadium petition for the ballot, and proponents have collected nearly double the amount of signatures since the petition began on March 13.

If the proposal is approved, the green light will be given to start construction on the $1.7 billion stadium, financed by Goldman Sachs.

In San Diego earlier this month, Mayor Kevin Faulconer’s Citizens Stadium Advisory Committee (CSAG) announced recommendations for a new Mission Valley stadium to be used by the Chargers and for other large-scale events.

The CSAG said the stadium would replace the aging Qualcomm Stadium site, which makes the most sense because the area is already zoned for that purpose.

The Chargers have made it no secret that they prefer a hybrid stadium-convention center in downtown San Diego, not the Mission Valley site – if the team stays in San Diego at all.
 

More than two dozen people are expected to be charged Wednesday as authorities dismantle a Oxycodone and heroin trafficking ring that distributed drugs in public places including a large Rockland County mall, NBC 4 New York has learned.

Twenty-nine people were named in federal and state indictments charging them with conspiracy and drug charges for a narcotics ring that operated out of the Palisades Center Mall in West Nyack, the Mount Ivy Trailer Park in Pomona and various motels around Rockland County between early 2014 and March, law enforcement officials and a federal indictment say.

"Dealers in this operation are alleged to have sunk to a new low, selling prescription drugs and heroin at popular locations where parents drop off their kids to see a movie, attend a birthday party or spend time ice skating with friends," Rockland County District Attorney Thomas Zugibe said at a news conference Wednesday.

The group sold more than 50,000 Oxycodone tablets valued at more than $1 million over the course of the year, most of which were obtained through forged and fraudulent prescriptions, according to the indictment.

One defendant allegedly used his home computer to fill out blank New York State prescriptions with fraudulent patient and doctor information, officials say. Lower-level "runners" would then go to pharmacies across the state to fill the prescriptions.

They also obtained and sold significant quantities of heroin from a distributor in the Bronx, according to officials.

Some of the defendants allegedly celebrated their drug trafficking on social media sites Instagram and Twitter, with one writing on the latter: "Shout out my TMC [Too Much Cash] bros we taking over the streets."

Teams of federal, state and local investigators began making arrests early Wednesday morning.

Seventeen people, including the operation's alleged ringleader, are being charged with federal crimes. The other 12 suspects face state charges.

Neighbors in the Pomona community where some of the drug operations allegedly took place know some of the suspects arrested Wednesday, and were stunned to hear of their arrests.

"It's just a huge surprise to me," said Joanne Brown. "They're just fun-loving guys, always fun to be around. This is just sad." 

Investigators with the DEA, NYPD, Westchester County Police and the Town of Orangetown Police conducted the investigation, law enforcement officials say.

Police officers in the Northeastern division have a new addition to their patrol cars.

Automated External Defibrillators (AED) devices were delivered to patrol cars Wednesday morning by councilmember Mark Kersey, who authorized the funding for the devices for his district last year.

Many times, officers are the first ones on scene when someone is going through cardiac arrest, said Kersey, and every minute counts. The AED devices will help officers in situations where someone is having a heart attack and do not have the resources to help.

Police officers in the district patrol from Carmel Mountain to Scripps Ranch. They can use the devices starting Wednesday.