A homeless man trying to steal from a Laguna Niguel home put a real estate agent in a chokehold until she nearly lost consciousness, sheriff’s officials said.

John Thomas Glenn, 23, was arrested in the attack on the 55-year-old agent, which took place about 1 p.m. Saturday as she accessed a lock box on the front door of the home, the Orange County Sheriff’s Department said.

Glenn put her in a chokehold and punched her several times, nearly knocking her out, sheriff's officials said.

Neighbor Julie Bacino said nearby workers heard the woman's screaming and rushed over to see what was happening. The suspect then got into an altercation with a neighbor before fleeing.

Glenn was taken into custody the next day in the area of Crown Valley Parkway and Niguel Road as he walked out of a nearby park, investigators said.

According to investigators, Glenn said he was on drugs at the time of the attack and was attempting to break into the house so he could steal.

Glenn faces charges of attempted murder and assault with a deadly weapon -- his fists. He was being held on $50,000. He was expected to make a court appearance Tuesday.

Sheriff's officials called the incident a crime of opportunity.

"Anyone can be in a situation where they're desperate, or whatever his situation was, and hurt someone, so we need to be more careful," said neighbor Kathie Gross.

A business partner told NBC4 that the victim was sore and was recovering from her injuries.

Vikki Vargas contributed to this report.

Firefighter-rescue personnel removed a door to extricate a police officer from a heavily damaged patrol vehicle after a collision during a pursuit Monday morning in southeast Los Angeles County.

The South Gate Police Department officer, who was responding to assist other officers in the pursuit, was hospitalized Monday morning after the 3 a.m. crash with a stolen pickup near Truba and Kansas avenues, about 10 minutes southeast of downtown Los Angeles. Firefighter-rescue personnel removed part of the vehicle to extricate the officer.

The pursuit driver was taken into custody at the scene of the crash. Witnesses said other officers pinned the subject on the sidewalk as firefighters attempted to rescue the trapped officer.

"I heard a loud bang," said resident Edgar Padilla. "It looked pretty serious. There were a lot of police officers trying to get (the officer) out of there."

The pursuit driver and officer were in stable condition, according to a police department statement.

Both vehicles were towed from the street early Monday.

The nurse at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas who tested positive for Ebola has received a blood donation from a North Texas doctor who survived his bout with the potentially deadly disease.

Nina Pham, 26, is believed to be the first person to contract Ebola within the United States.

A spokesperson for Samaritan's Purse said Dr. Kent Brantly, the Fort Worth physician who survived Ebola after he was treated at Emory University Medical Center in Atlanta earlier this summer, donated blood to Pham on Sunday.

Brantly, who previously said he offered to donate blood to first Dallas Ebola patient Thomas Eric Duncan but was not a compatible blood type, went to Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital to make a plasma donation.

Brantly didn't have to go far to make the blood donation for Pham. He recently moved back to North Texas after recovering from Ebola in Atlanta.

Pham tested positive for Ebola in tests from the Texas Department of State Health Services, and the diagnosis was confirmed in a test conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta.

Pham is a 2010 graduate of Texas Christian University's nursing program and, according to NBC News, passed her Texas Board of Nursing registration exam the same year. On Aug. 1 of this year, Pham received her certificate in critical care nursing — less that two months before she would be part of the team treating Duncan.

A critical care nurse deals specifically with "life-threatening problems," and patients who are "vulnerable, unstable and complex, thereby requiring intense and vigilant nursing care," according to the website of the American Association of Critical Care Nurses, the body that certified Pham, NBC News reported.

Before college, Pham went to Nolan Catholic High School in Fort Worth and graduated in 2006.

"She was such a good science student," said Gaye Houk, one of Pham's high school teachers. "She was kind of one of our leaders in the science department. We had a lot from that group that went on to be nurses."

A family friend said Pham's family is very involved in the Catholic Church.

"Like her family, she is a very devoted individual," said Thomas Ha. "She will serve you first, before she takes care of herself."

Ha said Pham is dedicated to her profession.

"Instead of taking care of that patient as much as the medical ethics requires, she goes beyond that," said Ha. "She wants to save people."

Pham lives in Dallas, and her apartment on the 3700 block of Marquita Avenue was thoroughly cleaned and desanitized by a hazmat crew. Phase two of that cleaning began Monday afternoon, according to the City of Dallas. In the meantime, officials moved Pham's dog, Bentley, a spaniel breed, to a temporary location where it can be cared for and monitored for Ebola.

TCU Communications Director Lisa Albert said in a statement that they have no reason to suspect Pham had visited the Fort Worth campus while infected, while asking that they keep the alum in their thoughts and prayers.

Federal and local health officials are trying to identify how Pham became infected with Ebola while following Centers for Disease Control and Prevention safety protocols, which include wearing a gloves, a mask, a gown and a shield.

While it's still not clear how she became exposed, she has been working with CDC investigators to make sure no one else ends up in isolation.

CDC Director Dr. Tom Frieden said Sunday that a "breach in protocol" led to the infection, though officials have not yet identified the source of the lapse. After some interpreted his statement as finding fault with either the nurse or hospital, Frieden clarified his statement on Monday.

"I spoke about a 'breach in protocol' and that's what we speak about in public health when we're talking about what needs to happen and our focus is to say, would this protocol have prevented the infection? And we believe it would have," Frieden said. "But, some interpreted that as finding fault with the hospital or the health care worker. And, I'm sorry if that was the impression given. That was certainly not my intention. People on the front lines are really protecting all of us. People on the front lines are fighting Ebola."

The state health department said Pham reported a low-grade fever Friday night and was moved to a 24-bed Intensive Care Unit at the hospital being used as an isolation unit. The preliminary test result confirming Ebola was received late Saturday in a process that took less than 90 minutes.

Texas Health Presbyterian in Dallas said a close contact of Pham's has already proactively been put into isolation at the hospital. The car Pham drove to the hospital has been decontaminated and secured. Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings said everything the patient touched has been decontaminated to ensure everyone's safety.

"The enemy here is a virus. Ebola. It's not a person. It's not a country. It's not a place. It's not a hospital. It's a virus. It's a virus that's tough to fight. But together, I'm confident that we will stop it. What we need to do is all take responsibility for improving the safety of those on the front lines," Frieden said in a statement Monday. "I feel awful that a health care worker became infected in the care of an Ebola patient. She was there trying to help the first patient survive and now she has become infected. All of us have to work together to do whatever is possible to reduce the risk that any other health care worker becomes infected."

Ebola is spread through direct contact with bodily fluids of a sick person or exposure to contaminated objects such as needles. People are not contagious before symptoms, such as fever, develop.

Samples of antibodies from new Ebola survivors are heading to a lab in La Jolla, California, for analysis and the lab director is asking for the public’s help to fund the process.

Scripps Research Institute Professor Dr. Erica Ollman Saphire and her team are on the front lines to help find a cure for Ebola, which is believed to have killed more than 4,000 people in West Africa.

On Monday, the World Health Organization called the Ebola outbreak "the most severe, acute health emergency seen in modern times."

Saphire and her team worked with a global consortium of researchers to create the ZMapp drug, considered to be the most promising experimental drug against Ebola.

The Sorrento Valley lab Mapp Bio used the images created at Scripps to come up with the experimental drug used to treat Ebola survivors Dr. Kent Brantley and Nancy Writebol. It has also been used on an English nurse, a Spanish priest and two Liberian doctors who contracted Ebola. The priest and one of the doctors died despite receiving the treatment.

“Right now we are at war. It's a crisis there are thousands of cases there are not enough beds, it has come here, and it will come again,” Saphire said.

Saphire is anticipating the shipment of hundreds of antibodies from people all over the world who have survived the Ebola virus infection this year.

“We need to know what those antibodies are. Why do these people survive and what we can learn from that?" Saphire said.

Saphire has launched a crowdfunding page with the goal of boosting staff and upgrading equipment because she expects the amount of material she will soon receive to outpace the lab's current capabilities. Her goal is to raise $100,000 for a Fast Protein Liquid Chromatography machine.

“We need a new FPLC it's most important workhorse in the lab. What we do here is look at the shapes of the proteins, how they're folded. How the antibodies get the virus," she explained.

The CDC describes ZMapp as a combination of three different monoclonal antibodies that bind to the protein of the Ebola virus.

There is no current supply of the drug. Experts warn it still must undergo testing in humans for safety and effectiveness.

Sheriff's deputies are relocating their search for the missing mother-in-law of Megadeth frontman Dave Mustaine after someone reported seeing the woman Monday afternoon in Scripps Ranch.

At about 3 p.m., a person called the San Diego County Sheriff's Department to report spotting a woman who looks like Sally Estabrook near the intersection of Semillon Boulevard and Scripps Trail. Estabrook, who has Alzheimer’s disease, went missing from a Julian campground more than a week ago.

The resident was picking up children from school but soon returned to look for the woman who was wearing dirty white pants and a blue sweatshirt around her waist, though nothing was found.

Deputies, the sheriff's helicopter and volunteers canvassed the region, calling out for help on the PA system.

"This is a great time and opportunity to ask people to check their yards, their backyards, their cameras, if they would check their cameras to see if they saw someone walking by. The businesses as well," said sheriff's spokeswoman Jan Caldwell.

She said it's possible someone picked Estabrook up from Julian and brought her to San Diego.

People carried out the search for about three hours before suspending it Monday night.

The new information comes after authorities decided to scale back their exhaustive search for  Estabrook more than a week after she vanished while camping with her husband on Oct. 4. The couple were staying at the Pinezanita RV Park & Campgrounds on Highway 79.

More than 200 searchers scoured the area over the weekend for the 75-year-old, but turned up no sign of her. They scaled back the search significantly on Sunday evening.

Her husband said he finished taking a shower and realized she was gone.

Estabrook has Alzheimer’s disease and is considered at risk. Officials also have said they worry for her safety considering the nearby canyons and rough terrain.

She was last seen wearing a teal top and white capri pants.

Anyone with information is asked to call 911.

Despite a report that 75 percent of nurses say hospitals are unprepared to treat Ebola, Rady Children’s Hospital is ramping up its training.

A Texas nurse has tested positive for Ebola after caring for the first patient in the United States diagnosed with the virus, leading to concern among some nurses.

Nurse Lisa McDonough took a NBC 7 crew inside the hospital’s one-room containment zone on Monday and was sure to suit up in protective gear showing how hospital staff would treat someone with the virus.

One of the first questions that hospital staffer ask is about travel, said Michelle Brenholdt, director of the hospital’s emergency department.

“The travel question has always been part of our screening, but instead of being fourth or fifth, now it’s the first question we ask so we can appropriately triage those patients," she said.

Carts filled with protective gear are now stationed at critical areas throughout the hospital. Since Thursday there have been four Ebola drills conducted at Rady, Brenholdt said.

“The key is preparation. Knowledge is power -- making sure staff is knowledgeable and aware of what steps to take is we have a patient suspected of Ebola,” she said.

Not all area hospitals are as prepared.

Deborah Kennard, a San Diego nurse, took part in National Nurses United's survey on Ebola preparations.

While she didn’t want to disclose what hospitals she works for, she was one of the three out of four nurses in the survey who said their hospital hadn't provided sufficient education on Ebola.

“My concern is are we ready?” asked Kennard. “We can be,” she said. It’s just the right equipment and the right training. We can be.”

At Scripps hospitals, officials say they're upgrading personal protection gear and re-training employees on how to use it.

Sharp officials say they’ve sent memos to staff about their policy and educational efforts, and training is already underway this week for some key staffers.

Dr. Wilma Wooten with the county health department said area hospitals do have personal protection gear and isolation areas for patients.

Staff members are also asking questions about travel history to anyone who has symptoms similar to Ebola.

San Diego-based Hubbs-SeaWorld Research Institute and private equity firm Cuna del Mar LP have filed permits to develop an environmentally sustainable, 5,000-metric-ton finfish farm off the San Diego coast.

The two entities have formed a collaboration known as Rose Canyon Fisheries, which recently filed paperwork with federal and state agencies to develop what partnership representatives said would be the first open-ocean finfish farm in U.S. federal waters.

Rose Canyon Fisheries representatives said permitting will take 12 to 18 months to complete.

A statement from Rose Canyon Fisheries said the farm will use the latest technology to raise yellowtail jack, white seabass and striped bass through practices that meet stringent U.S. environmental and food safety standards. Officials said innovative, submersible cages will be located 4.5 miles west of Mission Beach.

The U.S. imports about 91 percent of seafood consumed domestically, worth $14 billion annually. “There is enormous need for new domestic supplies of safe, healthy, sustainable and locally sourced seafood,” said Don Kent, president and CEO of Hubbs-SeaWorld Research Institute and acting CEO of Rose Canyon Fisheries.

Cuna del Mar Managing Partner Robert Orr, who is board chairman of Rose Canyon Fisheries, said the project could serve as “a new paradigm” for domestic seafood production and spur nationwide development of the industry.

Hubbs-SeaWorld Research Institute, based at Mission Bay, is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit marine research organization founded in 1963 that also operates local fisheries. Maine-based Cuna del Mar invests in early-stage businesses and other aquaculture ventures geared to sustainable growth of seafood supplies.

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

A California boy hospitalized after suffering a serious electric shock at his backyard birthday party is awake and breathing on his own, his parents confirmed Monday.

Elijah Belden's parents announced Sunday that their son had all breathing tubes removed and was speaking with family members, the Press-Enterprise reports.

"Elijah is congested but breathing well on his own," the family posted to its Facebook page for family and friends.

The Temecula boy who turned 10 years old on Monday was in a coma at Rady Children’s Hospital in San Diego after he was electrically shocked at his own birthday party in what his dad describes as a “freak accident.”

Belden's family celebrated his birthday a few weeks early with family friends and his baseball team when the fourth grader was shocked near the swimming pool at their Temecula home.

Belden was snapping a picture with a friend when the accident happened. He apparently touched a metal patio cover support that had stringing lights and had somehow become electrified.

A family friend rushed to the boy’s side to perform CPR moments after he was shocked.

Belden continues to get breathing treatments to strengthen and clear his lungs, his parents said.

Check back for updates on this developing story.

The sight of smoke over the Anza-Borrego Desert should not be alarming in the next two days as California State Parks crews carry out prescribed burns there.

Monday and Tuesday, the crews planned to burn vegetation at the Carrizo Marsh, toward the southern portion of the park. However, workers got a late start Monday due to unfavorable weather.

The controlled burns are low intensity fires that reduce potential wildfire fuel. State Park officials say they also improve the natural habitat to let native species grow.

The Carrizo Marsh area will be closed until further notice, and the South Carrizo Creek access road will be shut down at the intersection of Canyon Sin Nombre and Vallecito Wash roads and on the east side of the Carrizo impact area. 

Parks workers have placed signs saying “Prescribed Fire in Progress Do Not Report” on northbound and southbound San Diego County Road S-2, in nearby neighborhoods and on campgrounds.

Officials ask you not to call to report the smoke since the burns are planned.

San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer released a three-step plan Monday to “elevate, celebrate and promote” the 100th anniversary of Balboa Park, months after the group tasked with organizing a grandiose celebration disbanded and handed operations back to the city.

The 2015 Balboa Park Centennial will include a year of parties, concerts, exhibits and shows to commemorate the 1915 Panama-California Exposition, an event that helped put San Diego on the map.

Leading up to the various events, parts of the park will be undergoing renovations and enhancements, including Wi-Fi available throughout the grounds.

The plan is a more modest than the initially ambitious, $50 million vision set out under former Mayor Bob Filner.

Nonprofit Balboa Park Celebration Inc. was given $3,069,461 to kick off the planning, but after lackluster fundraising, the group broke up and gave the event back to the city with less than $600,000 left in the budget – and little to show for it.

The current organizers decided to instead focus on the world-class attractions already at the park, building on the $280,000 in BPCI funds invested in ten of the museums and institutions.

Still, the new outline leaves a lot left to do in the few months remaining in 2014.

In the “elevate” portion of his plan, Faulconer announced 21 enhancements to be made throughout Balboa Park.

City leaders hope to expand the Japanese Friendship Garden, restore the Botanical Building, replace existing lighting with energy efficient fixtures, reopen the California Tower after an 80-year closure, add new signage, make ten buildings LEED Certified and bring several areas up to ADA compliance. People or groups can also adopt a garden within the park’s core to improve and maintain it.

Among the bigger goals are a 9,000-square-foot, $9 million Coast to Cactus exhibit to show Southern California habitats and new food and beverage contracts for more concessions, which could include food trucks.

The park’s annual December Nights will act as the opening and closing ceremonies for the centennial celebration.

Here are the events and exhibits planned for the rest of 2015:

• Centennial Concert on New Year’s Eve 2014 from 7 to 9:30 p.m., including a march down El Prado and performances at the Spreckels Organ Pavilion
• Living History Car Show and Antique Car Tour at the San Diego Automobile and Air & Space Museum on Jan. 10
• 2theXtreme – MathAlive! Interactive exhibit from Jan. 24 to Sept. 13 at the San Diego Air & Space Museum
• A Century of Dance show from Jan. 30 to Feb. 15
• The Discovery of King Tut exhibit at the Natural History Museum from Oct. 11, 2014 to April 26, 2015
• Garden Party for the Century at various gardens each weekend from April 24 to May 9
• Twilight in the Park’s free music, dance and theatre shows at Plaza de Panama, the Organ Pavilion and gardens throughout the year
• Centennial Railway Garden from Jan. 2015 to June 2016, showing a model of Balboa Park as it was in 1915
• Spanish Village Art Center History and Retrospective Art Show throughout January
• 7 Billion Others multimedia exhibition at the Museum of Photographic Arts from February to September
• Balboa Park Exposition Designers 1915-1935 from February to November at the Marston House Museum and Gardens
• A yet-to-be-announced fall signature event

A number of avenues will be used to promote the events, including a new centennial website, special 100 anniversary exhibits, HD cameras to provide 24/7 views of the park, advertisements on San Diego’s historic trolleys and banners in and around Balboa Park.

Next year’s San Diego County Fair will also cross-promote the centennial with the theme “A Fair to Remember: A Celebration of World’s Fairs and Balboa Park.”

Meanwhile, the city’s Tourism Marketing District will be working on a $2 million plan to attract visitors from nearby regional markets to Balboa Park.

San Diego police are searching for a man who entered a woman’s open window in a Golden Hill residence and sexually assaulted her as she slept.

The attack happened at about 2 a.m. Saturday in the 2400 block of B Street. The woman was sleeping inside her room when the unknown man entered the residence and assaulted her, police said.

He then ran away, heading north from the woman's home.

The suspect is described as in his late teens to early 20s, 5 feet 5 inches tall, clean shaven and with a round face. He was last seen wearing a green and white hoodie.

Investigators hope to release a composite sketch soon, but it will depend on the victim's ability to participate.

Neighbor Karin Williams told NBC 7 after hearing of the assault, she will be taking precautions.

"With the weather we have and the old house I live in, it doesn't have very good windows. They're all propped open, so of course now, in my own home, it doesn't even feel safe," she said.

Anyone with information should call Crime Stoppers at 888-580-8477 or the San Diego Police Department’s sex crime unit at 619-531-2210.

A man has been arrested in Lakeside in connection to the July 2011 homicide of his ex-girlfriend.

San Diego County sheriff’s deputies arrested 44-year-old David Williams in connection to the death of 38-year-old Christine Crosby.

Deputies said the two had been off-and-on dating and Williams was her former boyfriend.

Crosby was last seen by a friend on July 5, 2011. More than three weeks later, after she was reported missing, her body was found in a shallow grave on Old Highway 80 in Boulevard.

An autopsy concluded Crosby died after being strangled, according to a San Diego Sheriff’s Department news release.

Prosecutors filed charges against Williams last week, and on Saturday, detectives arrested him in Lakeside without incident.

He will make his first appearance in Superior Court on Wednesday.

Anyone with more information on this homicide should call the sheriff’s department’s homicide detail at 858-974-2321 or if after hours, call 858-565-5200.

San Diego ranks as the fourth most expensive city for housing in the U.S., which may come as no surprise to locals handing over monthly rent or mortgage checks.

The finding comes from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, whose recent report examines housing costs before, during and after the Great Recession.

Adding up expenditures like furnishings, utilities, supplies, household operations and shelter, housing costs forced San Diegans to spend roughly $22,000 on average in 2012.

The only three cities to beat out San Diego were Washington, D.C. (#1), San Francisco (#2) and New York (#3).

Households in D.C. spent an average of $17,603 on rent or mortgages alone, compared to the national average of $16,887, according to the report.

Among the cheapest metropolitan markets? Detroit, Miami and Cleveland.

U.S. residents spent about 33 percent of their yearly expenditures on housing – the largest percentage.

Another statistic found homeowners on average spent less on mortgage interest and charges than renters did on leases in 2012. But it's not all sunny for homeowners; they spent more than renters on maintenance, repairs, insurance and other similar expenses.

Read the bureau’s full findings here.

When Mark Zvonek watched his bride walk down the aisle Monday night on to the sand of Mission Bay, he couldn’t stop his eyes from watering up.

It was mostly joy rising to the top of the ever-present fear. Mark, a Carlsbad native, says even here at his wedding – the happiest day of his life – there is an element of deep sadness.

Like many grooms, Mark is slightly anxious about the word “forever,” but for an entirely different reason. He knows his new wife isn’t expected to live very long.

Ana Zvonek has Stage 4 colon cancer, which according to statistics puts her five-year survival rate from the time of diagnosis at less than 10 percent. She was diagnosed in 2012.

“We know that things aren’t perfect, and we know we have a struggle and a battle ahead of us," said Ana.

They’re starting “forever” on a steep, uphill climb.

Mark knew his marriage would be through more sickness than health when he asked Ana for her hand in marriage. What he didn’t know was how they’d pull off a dream wedding given the mounting medical costs.

Finding time to plan it was another issue entirely because Ana was in and out of chemotherapy and in no condition to focus on fine details of a wedding.

That’s where a nonprofit founded in 2010 entered the picture. Wish Upon A Wedding is a 501 (c) (3) nonprofit organization providing weddings for couples facing terminal illness and serious, life-altering circumstances.

They partner with folks in the wedding industry who donate their time and resources to a couple in need of a happy memory.

Mark and Ana’s wedding and reception was held at the Bahia Resort Hotel in Mission Bay. Pictures, flowers, musicians, invitations and everything else that goes into a wedding was donated.

“We know things aren’t perfect and we know we have a struggle and a battle ahead of us,” said Ana who told her new husband, “I’d rather have a minute of happiness than a lifetime without you.”

The Zvoneks don’t know how long their marriage will last, so they’re focusing on what is here and now. They’re fighting the fear of death with the power of love and thanks to their wedding planning friends at Wish Upon a Wedding, forever isn’t such a scary word.

An American Airlines flight from San Francisco to Dallas made an emergency landing at SFO after panels inside the plane's cabin began to come apart in mid-air, the airline confirmed Monday afternoon.

AA Flight 2293 landed without incident at about 2:15 p.m., an hour after takeoff, and taxied to the gate, according to FAA spokesperson Ian Gregor.

The plane’s captain decided to return to San Francisco “after several interior wall panels came loose while in the air,” American Airlines spokesman Matt Miller said.

James Wilson was one of the passengers aboard the Boeing 757.

"All of a sudden there were loud popping sounds and ripping noise," Wilson said in an interview with NBC Bay Area.

The Federal Aviation Administration said earlier that the plane had lost cabin pressure. Miller, the American Airlines spokesman, said the cabin never lost pressure and "oxygen masks were never deployed."

Miller blamed the issue on a blown air duct.

The above photos were taken by Wilson, who also wrote on Facebook that the tear visible in the plane's cabin wall panel opened up while the plane was in the air.

"American Flight 2293 depressurized and started coming apart mid air," Wilson wrote. "Please pray for us."

Wilson said the flight attendants aboard the jet did a good job of keeping everyone calm.

No one was injured, SFO officials said. Miller said the passengers would be put up in hotel rooms.

The FAA will work with the airline to determine the problem before the plane flies again, Gregor said.

American Airlines was scheduled to have another plane fly the passengers back to Dallas on Tuesday morning.

Bay City News contributed to this report.

An Imperial Beach barber is accused of slicing his customer’s throat after the victim was found bleeding profusely on the shop’s floor Monday, according to San Diego County Sheriff’s officials.

Investigators say barber Daniel Flores, 22, took off from Vic’s Barbershop on Palm Avenue after he cut his customer’s neck just after 3 p.m.

The victim, 33-year-old Timothy Vaughn, was discovered with multiple slices to the center part of his throat, just under his chin.

He was taken to the UC San Diego Medical Center in critical condition, though officials say his injuries are not life-threatening.

As deputies began searching for the suspect, the barbershop’s owner called in Flores’ aunt to ask where he may be. While she was at the shop, Flores called his aunt from her house in San Diego.

With the help of San Diego Police officers, deputies arrested the suspect a block from his aunt’s home.

Flores was booked into the San Diego County Jail on one count of attempted murder.

Detectives with the Imperial Beach substation will continue the investigation.

A 31-year-old San Diego man is undergoing a series of painful shots and rabies vaccinations after a bat landed on him following a mud run in Del Mar.

“It’s a little bit surreal. What are the odds of a rabid bat landing on you in the middle of the day?” said the man, who does not want to be identified.

He says he had just finished the Del Mar 5K Mud Run on Oct. 4 and was having a beer at the race site with coworkers when a bat fell from the sky onto him.

He says he “screamed like a little girl” and then yanked off his shirt.

The bat was eventually taken to animal control, and subsequent testing on the bat’s brain by the county health department showed the bat was, in fact, rabid.

The challenge for health officials was then finding the victim, who had left for New York for a few days. He says a friend sent him an email that showed authorities were looking for him.

“There was no doubt it was me,” he said.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, it is very rare to contract rabies without being bitten. The man is pretty sure he was not bitten, but was not about to take any chances.

“It could be as small as a pin prick, a light breaking of the skin, and you’d be exposed," said the patient. "The CDC explained to me rabies is 100 percent fatal, so it’s pretty much worth it to act like you have it and get treated as such." 

He has now started a series of ten shots and vaccinations that will be given over a two week period.

“Day one, I had a total of seven shots. It is pretty painful, but read an article about contracting rabies, and it's much worse than having to have some shots," said the man.

VAVi, who put on the Mud Run released a statement on the incident that read:

"We worked rapidly with the City, Del Mar Fairgrounds and our participants to find the person the bat came in contact with. Safety is our number 1 priority at VAVi when producing events locally and across the country. Within hours we found the person and they're getting taken care of. We appreciate the help the city and media has given us. Once the matter is fully resolved, it will be back to business for VAVi producing fun and safe sports leagues and events."

A Lakeside man is under arrest a cold case homicide, accused of killing the woman who was about to testify against him in court when she disappeared.

San Diego County Sheriff's Deputies say Christine Crosby, 38, was found dead, in a shallow grave in Boulevard in 2011.

Now, her ex-boyfriend David Williams, 44, of Lakeside is in Central Jail charged with her murder.

Eyewitnesses last saw Christine Crosby leaving Viejas Casino near Alpine on the back of Williams' motorcycle on July 5, 2011.

Odd, since she was just weeks away from testifying against him on a domestic violence complaint.

“He had threatened her life less than two weeks prior to that and tried to strangle her,” said Christine’s sister, Colleen Flemon.

The Crosby family filed a missing persons report two weeks after her disappearance. They circulated flyers all over Lakeside including in Dave Williams’ neighborhood.

“It was very upsetting. It was really hard on my mom. We knew right away when she was missing that something happened to her because she was in contact with my mom every day,” Flemon said.

Crosby’s body was later found just east of Mile Marker 29 on Old Highway 80 in Boulevard. Officials determined she was strangled to death.

“She was a nice girl she got involved with the wrong people but she was still my sister and we loved her,” Flemon said.

Last Saturday Williams was arrested at his Oak Creek Drive home without incident. When NBC 7 knocked on the door of the home Monday, his daughter and nephew were there but did not want to discuss the case.

The Crosby family first heard the news from NBC7.

“I'm excited. I have been shaking the whole time since I got your
phone call. I can't believe they finally got him,” Flemon said.

Crosby’s mother died last March. Her father moved to Colorado. As much as things have changed, the family desire for justice has not.

“It would be great to think they actually found something that they could use,” Flemon said.

Lead investigator Lt. John Maryon said it took nearly three years after Crosby’s body was found to make an arrest because investigators had few leads. Witnesses were afraid Williams would retaliate, he said.

The lieutenant is hoping with Williams behind bars more people will come forward with what they know.
 

A new lawsuit blames the Omni La Costa Resort & Spa for the Poinsettia Fire, a blaze that destroyed 23 homes and apartments and burned 600 acres in Carlsbad last May.

Attorney Gerald Singleton says on Oct. 10, he filed the suit on behalf of multiple homeowners, renters and business owners who lost everything, were injured or had property destroyed in the flames.

The lawsuit alleges La Costa Resort is responsible for starting the fire because it was negligent in maintaining and operating its property and equipment and because it failed to safeguard against the fire’s spread to nearby communities.

According to the complaint, Omni should have taken precautions against fire risk when working with maintenance equipment that could ignite brush.

Calls for response to Omni have not been returned. While investigators have pinpointed where the Poinsettia Fire started, they still have not said what caused it.

A month after the Poinsettia Fire raged through North County, investigators determined it had started on the La Costa Golf Course, which was bought by Omni in 2013.

Wild, hot winds caused the fire to quickly grow out of control along Poinsettia Lane and beyond on May 14.

It was one of nine wildfires fueled by Santa Ana winds, hot temperatures and dry vegetation that made up the May firestorm. Altogether, those blazes cost county agencies $27.9 million in response and $29.8 million in damage.

The Poinsettia Fire accounted for about $12.5 million in response costs and $12 million in private property losses. The city of Carlsbad estimated it would take $8 million to restore natural habitats and control erosion due to the fire.

In the end, the flames tore through five homes, 18 apartment units and one commercial building, forcing thousands to evacuate. Another four homes had major damage, while 22 residences received minor damage.

The residential building under construction that has been racing up the Manhattan skyline the past year was topped off Tuesday, making it the city’s second-tallest building.

The final few feet of 432 Park Ave. were added on Tuesday, putting the tower’s final height at 1,396 feet, according to Curbed. The building, which will one day house condos with price tags approaching $100 million is, for the time being, the tallest residential tower in the Western Hemisphere.

The building’s top floor is about 150 feet higher than the Empire State Building, and is arguably taller than One World Trade Center. The 1,776-foot building holds is the city’s tallest building, but is actually 28 feet shorter than 432 Park Ave. if its 408-foot spire isn’t included.

The building is one of several super-tall residential buildings planned for or under construction on 57th Street and supplants One57 a few blocks away as the city’s tallest residential tower.

According to Curbed, it will eventually lose that title itself to the Nordstrom Tower, which broke ground earlier this year on 57th Street and will be 1,775 feet upon completion in 2018.

 

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Chopper 4 shot this video of 432 Park Ave., which is now the second-tallest building in NYC and the tallest residential tower in the Western Hemisphere. More details at www.nbcnewyork.com #nbc4ny #nyc

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