disappointed at mcdonald's behavior off the field, this after an accusation of sexual assault. a woman told police she was at mcdonald's san jose home monday. a local hospital called police tuesday to report that this patient may be the victim of a sexual assault. investigators interviewed her. in this police press release she told them she was possibly sexually assaulted. police armed with a search warrant went to mcdonald's home last night. legal analyst steve clark. >> they want to seize any bedding or clothing that may have a dna transfer to show that a sexual encounter occurred. they are also going to need to establish whether this was a consensual encounter if it occurred. >> reporter: this is the second time in four months that mcdonald has been investigated by the san jose police. in late august, he was arrested at his home after his pregnant fiancee called 911 and accused him of physically abusing her. ultimately, prosecutors did not press charges saying they could

not prove the crime occurred. the g.m. told reporters the 49ers' decision was based not on guilt or innocence in this case. >> ray's demonstrated a pattern of poor decision making that has led to multiple distractions for this organization and this football team that really can no longer be tolerated. >> reporter: he emphasized he had talked to mcdonald numerous times about his behavior and even put him on notice, saying he notified mcdonald this morning that he was cut from the team. he has been at his home all afternoon with occasional visitors coming by. one who did not identify himself said mcdonald was not going to make a statement at this time. vic lee, abc 7 news. >> how did this go down so quickly this time? sports director larry beil is here with a breakdown of how the niners handled this allegation very differently. >> for sure. this time there was no vigorous defense or any talk of due process. it took the niners less than an hour to decide to just cut ray

mcdonald after the new allegation of sexual assault came to their attention this morning. mcdonald wasn't charged in the previous case but it took months of investigating and the 49ers really left themselves open to criticism for not suspending mcdonald immediately upon hearing that first accusation. in a climate where the nfl has made it clear that any kind of violence against women will not be tolerated, this time the niners acted swiftly and released mcdonald, who had been with the team for eight seasons. >> i'm not angry. i understand the situation. i understand why the team did what they did. outside of that, it's really not my business. >> we had that meeting with the whole staff a couple weeks ago and i feel like jed made it pretty clear how he feels about everything. he's got to go with what the owner says. it's his team, obviously. everyone knows what's right and wrong. >> mcdonald had started all 14 games for the niners this season.

the niners will host san diego on saturday night. mcdonald was under contract through the 2015 season and actually seemed to play better once the initial allegations were dropped. at this point it's hard to imagine any nfl teams willing to sign mcdonald going forward. the climate such as it is in the nfl, teams do not want to be associated with anything close to this. >> they have spots running now about domestic violence. i-'mind-boggling how anybody would put themselves in -- i'm not saying, i know nothing about the situation, guilt or innocence aside, you just can't put yourself in any situation where anything might happen. >> right. >> perception is a problem. let's turn our attention to the weather. we are seeing some damage today from the previous downpours. in san francisco, look what this tree did on the saturated hillside. just boom, bumped into that public stairwell. you can see it just missed an apartment complex adjacent to the stairs.

>> another fallen tree took down power lines in orinda, knocking out service overnight for nearly 500 people. the tree was cut in pieces to be removed. power was restored about noon today. >> let's get right to abc 7 meteorologist sandhya patel tracking the storm on live doppler 7 hd. more on the way? >> indeed, more on the way as we take a look at live doppler 7 hd right now, most of our reporting sites, light rain right now but there are some pockets of moderate rain showing up on our radar here as we look a little bit closer on the peninsula from palo alto to los altos. middlefield road, north shoreline boulevard around mountain view, seeing some moderate rain. as we head towards the east bay, also seeing moderate rain out towards fremont, union city, and in the north bay, we are seeing light rain but some of it is moderate in intensity around some parts of the north bay, around novato, sears point area,

towards the east bay and richmond. want to pull out and as you take a look at this loop, this is just a disturbance that is coming through the bay area but it certainly is making for a soggy evening commute. we have storm number three coming. i will be back with a detailed look on the timing of that and when you will finally get a break around here. cheryl? >> sandhya, thank you. police are saying the number of car break-ins rise with stormy weather. the rain muffles the sound of showering glass. never leave your belongings in plain view. an armed carjacking suspect was arrested in oakland and it brought the chief to the scene. the suv was carjacked at about 7:00 a.m. in the 1300 block of east 23rd street. police spotted the car about 8:30. they chased it. the suv crashed near 57th and edgerly. the driver ran off into yards nearby. 45 minutes later, he was arrested. police say he was forcing his way into a house. the police chief responded to

the scene on his way back from a charity event. then there's this story. a 24-year-old man recovering from a shooting. police say he was drunk, broke into a home. he thought it was a friend's home and the homeowner shot him. abc 7 news reporter tiffany wilson joins us with more. >> reporter: i spoke with police and they say this is the first time anything like this has happened here that they can remember. they also say it started with the suspect spending the evening heavily drinking. as soon as mike picked up his phone, he knew something was wrong. >> he was obviously shaken, almost crying. he said your mom and i are okay, but someone broke into the house and i shot him. >> reporter: around 4:30 this morning, police say 24-year-old tru hatch started banging on this sliding door. the noise awoke his parents. >> my mom immediately called 911. he was yelling and screaming, i can't believe you locked me out of the house, let me in. my dad, it's a two-story house,

went out to the landing on the second story and yelled down, you've got the wrong house, you don't belong here, go away. >> reporter: hatch allegedly grabbed this planter and smashed it through the glass. >> he came into the house, was pretty much in the living room. again, my dad yelled you don't belong here, get out. he kept coming into the house so my dad fired a round, hit him in the leg. he went down, he crawled into the kitchen at the exact time that he made the shot, the p.d. busted in the front door. >> reporter: officers say his dad acted appropriately. >> he feared for his safety and that of his wife. that's why he shot him. >> reporter: he believes hatch dated a woman whose family recently started dating this home at the bottom of the hill. we spoke to that woman. she played coy about her connection to hatch but admitted they went to school together and she's sorry this happened. >> although it doesn't make sense how he would mistake this house for that house when you have to climb up a hill. >> reporter: now his parents are

left with the cleanup and emotional toll. >> they are shaken. >> reporter: hatch was treated, then booked into jail on charges of trespassing, vandalism, prowling and public intoxication. tiffany wilson, abc 7 news. a 21-year-old petaluma man has been arrested for vandalism from santa cruz to seattle. derek murphy also has a criminal history in san francisco. police say he took pictures of his own graffiti. police say he is the tagger behind the series you can see here. he is suspected of vandalizing this fence as well as city parks, walls, two police vehicles. on a police blog, one detective said it is time to get up on your feet, do the wave and tip your cap to detective brian warren. warren has been working this case since june. san jose city manager is leaving his job on new year's day. it's believed his future was the

subject of a closed door council meeting yesterday. this is the second shakeup in the city manager's office in as many weeks. last week, the deputy city manager was demoted to an entry level parks department job. much more to get to for you tonight. coming up, a new chapter in relations with cuba. not everyone in the bay area is happy about it, either. plus a community mobilizes to help. how families affected by the storms are getting a helping hand as they struggle to go back home. also, four cars torched in 40 minutes. you will find out where this happened. and there is still time to find the perfect holiday gift for the music lover in your life. 7 on your side's michael finney looks at the best wireless features.

lots of bay area reaction to the historic u.s. move toward improving relations with cuba. an agreement which followed an exchange of imprisoned spies from both nations. president obama today announced a plan to end what he calls an outdated approach to the communist island nation. the plan includes easing economic sanctions, opening an embassy in havana and easing travel restrictions but tourist travel will still be banned. in the bay area, reaction has been mixed. many people say they are optimistic but extremely cautious. >> once the door cracks open it's not going to stop. the flow is going to be intense. it's going to grow. >> we cannot trust the government of castro. i want to see. i can't believe it. >> former san francisco mayor willie brown visited cuba many times, most recently in 2011. he says it's about time.

>> the whole business this is a communist country frankly made no sense when we were doing business full-time with china, full-time with russia, full-time with every other country in the world. no matter what their frame of government. >> coming up at 5:30 on "world news tonight with david muir" david muir sits down with president obama in an exclusive interview about this historic move. people at mobile home parks on the peninsula are still drying out after last week's flooding. and the rain we had yesterday, too. this one on bayshore road in redwood city was evacuated during the downpour. in all, two in redwood city and one in belmont were just swamped. now they are getting some help. abc 7 news reporter carolyn tyler is live in belmont with the story. >> reporter: the families living here in belmont at this mobile home park were evacuated as well. they are still displaced but now the belmont community is reaching out to try to make their lives a bit easier. since last friday, elena and her

children have lived in the gym at the college of san mateo, in a shelter set up boy the red cross. they are among the residents evacuated from the belmont mobile home park, where flood waters rose as high as three feet during last week's storm. >> many of us, we throw away everything that we have. >> reporter: that's because they lost electricity. some mobile homes are waterlogged and belongings are ruined. eight of the youngest victims attend nesbitt elementary school and their class mates are stepping forward to help. >> they are like a family over there. everyone is asking do you noticed something? wh need something? what can we do? >> reporter: it's more than words. what started monday as cash donations is now a go fund me campaign that the entire community is getting behind. >> we just want them to have the money to get some sort of cushion to be able to get

themselves the food they need, to buy new clothes, to perhaps buy some toys for their children for christmas and anything else they might need. >> reporter: the money will be used to buy visa gift cards as well as those from target and safeway. the principal mobilized the effort in just a matter of days. >> more so than the money i think what they will walk away knowing is that their school loves them. >> reporter: the donations will also go to mobile home residents whose children attend other belmont schools. for all of them, christmas will come early, on friday. in belmont, carolyn tyler, abc 7 news. starting next year it will be harder for children to get [ inaudible ] in unincorporated areas. students from riverview middle school did research on flavored malt beverages and presented their findings to the county. thanks to their efforts last night, the contra costa county board of supervisors voted to restrict the drinks moving them away from colas starting next

month. drunk driving may have been a factor in a horrific crash in fremont overnight. investigators say a man driving a company van hit a tree shortly before 11:00 last night on fremont boulevard. the driver, a 45-year-old fremont resident, died at the scene. police say he was the only one in the van but as you can see, it was an awful impact. the area was closed for more than seven hours. a team of arson investigators is looking into four suspicious car fires. they were all within a couple blocks of each other early this morning. police tell abc 7 news the first fire happened after 4:00. three more happened by 5:00 a.m. this is a look at some of the aftermath. the neighborhood was hit by similar car fires last month. investigators are looking to see if there is any connection between these incidents. the fbi is releasing surveillance pictures of a man who used last weekend's event in san francisco as an opportunity to rob a bank. i will show you this picture. here it is. authorities say he was wearing

his santa costume when he walked into a bank and handed the teller a note demanding cash. the teller handed over an undisclosed amount of money and the sneaky santa got away. >> santa doesn't rob anyone. that's bad. christmas is now just about a week away. if you are still searching for that perfect gift for the music lover in your life, you may want to consider wireless speakers. >> but which are the best? consumer reports is partnering exclusively with 7 on your side's michael finney to find out. >> there are a ton out there. have you seen this? it's really growing with more of us keeping our music on phones and tablets, the easiest way for others to listen in is with a wireless speaker. consumer reports just tested a whole new crop and found several that would actually make a great gift. portable wireless speakers let you bring the music just about anywhere. if you are looking for good sound quality on the go, experts at consumer reports say you're in luck. >> we are seeing a lot more choices, a lot more different colors, different styles of

speakers, and while none of them are exactly cheap, they have definitely come down in price. >> consumer reports tested 31 portable wireless speakers for sound quality using a series of frequency measurements. but a trained ear can also tell a lot just by listening to, say, harry connick jr. >> we're listening for the instrument, the strings of the instrument, how it's being plucked and played or bowed. we are listening for how deep it sounds and that it sounds like a real let's say bass or cello or violin or horn. >> among the better sounding portable wireless speakers tested is this one. it's easy to set up and the rugged exterior promises to be water resistant. it costs $300. this sony srs-x 7 is another consumer reports pick that sounds good. the look is sleek and it connects easily. for $250.

for about half that, $130, the new bose sound link color is a consumer reports best buy. it's small and lightweight and it has good sound quality. it will even talk you through the setup. >> ready to pair. >> it makes a perfect gift. now if only it could wrap itself. >> that sounds good. another less expensive option to consider is the tdk life on record that sells for $145. it even has a usb port that lets you recharge a smartphone while playing music. >> thank you, michael. all right. meteorologist sandhya patel busy looking ahead. >> we have another storm system coming, sandhya, which is great in a lot of ways. we need it. >> we do need it. that storm is coming in on friday. right now, we are tracking a disturbance as you look at live doppler 7 hd. i will take you in and show you exactly where we are getting

some pretty good rain falling right now. as we look along the san mateo coast here, half moon bay, if you recall yesterday, there were some issues on main street. half moon bay, you are getting ready to see some moderate rain coming into that area. as we pull out a little bit here, i will show you some other moderate pockets of rain down around fremont, milpedas, taking you to street level in san jose, north first street, mayberry road, we are seeing moderate rainfall around santa clara. with all this rain that has been coming in, in case you're wondering how san francisco is doing, when you take a look at the wettest decembers, 1866, december 1866, we had more than 15 inches of rain. now you take a look at the present time, 2014 december, we are in 11th place, close to ten inches for december so far. now when you compare it to san jose and the wettest december back in 1955, more than nine inches of rain. that was the wettest december

for san jose. we will bring you up to the present time. third place for san jose, pretty good because you are usually in the shadow of the santa cruz mountains. more than seven inches so far. we will keep tabs on it for you. temperatures in the 50s across the bay area and as we take a look at a live picture, some raindrops on the lens here, we are going to deal with the showers into the early morning hours. partly sunny tomorrow afternoon. that's your break. the next storm arrives on friday and there is another break coming after that. that's going to be a little bit of an extended break. this is the disturbance that is bringing in the rain right now. it will switch over to showers overnight and the next storm arrives early friday. this one here will continue through friday evening and it does bring with it some risks. urban flooding, mud and rock slides, moderate risk of those. downed trees, slight possibility now that the ground is saturated. river flooding remains a low possibility with up to two inches of rain expected on saturated soil. the concern of course will be

the urban and small stream flooding, issues we have been dealing with. 11:00 p.m. tomorrow night, we are going to start that friday storm now, we will see some drops beginning to develop up in the north bay but it's really around 2:00 a.m. that light to moderate rain starts to move into the north bay, the coast. your friday morning commute is going to be a bit on the dicey side with the rain coming in, the cold front is slicing right through the heart of the bay area. at 9:00 a.m., some light rainfall with that but by the evening, it's all winding down. rainfall totals by friday night will look like this. south bay mountains up to an inch and a half. north bay mountains up to two inches. most lower elevations will pick up four to eight tenths of an inch of rain. winter weather advisory is still going in the sierra nevada until thursday at 4:00 a.m. couple more inches of snow expected above 4,000 people so if you are thinking about heading up there, expect potential travel delays. carry your chains. right now, no chain controls heading up there. mid 40s to low 50s out the door tomorrow morning. there will be some slick roads

due to the few showers and it will be on the chilly side. make sure you have a coat or jacket for the afternoon. keeping it cool, mid 50s to low 60s around the bay area. accuweather seven-day forecast, tomorrow is your day to get out and do things. friday's wet. the weekend is dry so if you do have a lot more holiday shopping to do, don't you worry. this weekend you will have a chance. sunday, the seasons change at 3:03 p.m., we officially welcome winter. next week, the middle of the week, it's looking dry right now. the only thing is fog could be a problem for travelers. >> the new bike i'm getting for christmas, i should be able to ride it? >> yes. scooter, bike, anything. we have more ahead. breaking the stained glass ceiling. one church's historic move. >> that is next. plus why it might be a good idea

christmas trees can burn fast and furious. that is the message san francisco firefighters push to the public today with the

version of a tree lighting demonstration that they pulled off. fire completely consumed this tree in less than 30 seconds. crews say keep live trees well hydrated. lot of water and away from heating vents and fireplaces. make sure extension cords are not frayed or exposed. after the holidays, place trees outside on designated trash days so they can be mulched and safely recycled. >> great advice. a historic move in britain. the church of england named its first female bishop. reverend libby lane. the decision to allow women to serve split the church. the episcopal church in the united states was first to have a female bishop. she now leads the church. she went to college at stanford. those who celebrate their 29th birthday year after year after year may be on to something. a new study shows people who believe they are younger than their actual years have a lower death rate than those who feel their age or older. university college of london researchers looked at data from

6500 65 year olds over an eight year period. 24% of those who felt their age or older had died compared to 14% of those who felt younger. scientists say paying attention to medical advice and living among those who feel younger contribute to longevity. let's all think young. santa claus is coming to town but not on a sleigh. >> santa rides a harley. we'll have that stor

tonight on abc 7 news at 6:00, the silicon valley entrepreneur's gift to a local research lab. that's nothing to sneeze at. also tonight, the $2 million grant from a local philanthropist that will keep these lights on the bay bridge burning permanently. and where do you turn when your pet is missing? 7 on your side's michael finney with a frisky dog that has a

tendency to escape. that's all coming up on abc 7 news at 6:00. >> thanks, ama. see you then. santa ditched his sleigh and red nose reindeer today. >> he opted for a motorcycle, flashing lights and a police escort. >> it's the oakland police department's eighth annual motor santa operation. >> traffic division employees, the oakland police foundation and toys "r" us donated 180 toys for motor santa to hand out to kids he found along his route. >> the police stopped me and i was like what did i do? they said come over here and that's really surprising. i'm happy for it. that was entertaining for me to have all the police wrap my kids' gifts. that's cool. >> what a great idea. >> sweet. >> the oakland police department says it looks forward to surprising motorists and pedestrians with this gift operation every year.

thanks for joining us. welcome to "world news tonight." and the breaking news. u.s., cuba, the historic breakthrough. tonight, our exclusive one-on-one with president obama. the secret talks. the pope's intervention. the american hostage arriving home. we ask, will the president go to cuba? also breaking tonight, the fbi now closing in on those threats aimed at americans headed to movie theaters. what we just learned about who could be behind it. and the stunning move at this hour. pulling the plug on that movie. the air scare. new images of the panic, the terror on board, as an american airlines flight hits severe turbulence. and the flu hitting hard. which parts of the country most at risk tonight? and dr. besser on why the flu vaccine might not work.