he believes the suspect mathsthew muller may be responsible for even more attacks and his investigators are looking at similar unsolved crimes. >> in 35 years this is bazabout as bizarre an investigation as i've been a part of. >> reporter: he commended his deputies for cracking the case and proving the home invasion and kidnapping was not a hoax. it was their work in solving another home invasion that led authorities to matthew muller who is charged in the kidnapping of denise huskins. they also gave credit to the dublin homeowner who fought muller when he broke into his house. >> probably saved them all from being victimized furtherser. >> this ranks at the top of the strange scale. >> reporter: henry lee also says ooths it's one of the most bizarre stories. he became an unwitting

participant when he began receiving e-mails from someone claiming to be the kidnapper, containing details of the attack. the first one saying victim f will be returned safely tomorrow. the four e-mails said there were several kidnappers involved. they call themselves a group of professional thieves. more than two and fewer than eight in number holding bachelor degrees. the e-mail sender said they ran an elaborate car theft ring and burglarized several homes as well. it was like a game or movie adventure. >> a gentlemenially oceans eleven type group where we're responsible for all these car thefts and kidnapping. obviously very stunning. >> the sender expressed anger when vallejo police called the kidnapping a hoax. miss victim f was absolutely kidnapped. we did it. vic lee, abc 7 news.

a chain-reaction accident sent three people to the hospital in the richmond district today. it ended when a car backed into a fire truck parked outside a fire house. both people in that car suffered very serious injuries. the car also struck two other vehicles and a house. workers installed a bracket to support the damaged house and a spare fire engine has replaced the damage one. sky 7 hd over castro valley after rescue teams began searching for a drowning victim. someone vanished beneath the water after diving into the lake. they scoured the water in boats and from the shoreline but couldn't find a body. this map gives you a better idea of where they were looking. it stretches out in the hills north of castro valley. the shooting death of a woman on san francisco's water front is prompting an effort to withhold funding to sanctuary

cities. a gop panel voted to prevent sanctuary cities from receiving funds. the debate began after the july 1st killing of kate soon toteinle. republican lawmakers today had harsh words for immigration officials. >> as benign sounding as it is it may have been a sanctuary for that defend, but it sure as hell was not a sanctuary for a young woman walking with her father. >> the homeland skurlt secretary disputed the criticism but said he plans to evaluate whether a new approach is needed. some immigrants are experiencing a backlash in the waik of kate steinle's death and are calling for constructive dialogue. carolyn tyler joins us from pier 14 where the young woman lost her life. >> am arksa, the senseless murder

that happened here has thrown san francisco into the spotlight. a group gathered at city hall fearing this tragedy is being used to turn the clock back on immigrant rights. >> they held flowers and sang. and offered prayers and condolences for kate steinle and her family. the 32-year-old was gunned down on pier 13. authorities arrested francisco sanchez, a man with numerous felonies who had been deported five times. immigrants say they're now experiencing a backlash. >> unfortunately this incident has been used by anti-immigrant politicians to attempt to criminalize our community. >> reporter: this woman is undocumented and now she and others worry about potential changes to san francisco's sanctuary policy. >> in order to engage in true

public safety you need the trust of the entire community. and that's why the ordinance was passed. >> last night steinle's parents told fox news the system failed. >> and the people involved, the different agencies let us down. >> reporter: they says they're open to a proposal call kate's law that would require mandatory prison time for deportees illegally returning to the u.s. san francisco immigration consultant supports that and says it's time for federal immigration reform. >> the national -- when we each choose to go our own separate path it's somewhat misguided. >> these immigrants fear reactionary policy. in san francisco carolyn tyler abc 7 news. a man has been arrested for running an illegal medical marijuana dispensary out of a

bar. thomas rich mcginnis owned the sea breeze tavern and was operating the dispensary from the back room. you can see the display case of the items he was selling. he had software to sell fake medical marijuana cards. he's in jail and bail set 569at $5,000. san jose police department is taking steps to stop a recent spike in gang violence. they've ear marked five areas as gang hot spots where they plan to focus resources. it comes in the wake of rising gang violence. it took effect over the weekend. the idea is to saturate those areas with highly visible patrols. a move to strengthen safety failed. on a city level, berkeley city council members are set to decide on tougher construction

regulations. the konlcouncil is expected to look at better design standards and better ventilation openings. six died when their balcony fell last month. they blame dry rot. a man wanting to make a difference in the bay area is doing that. the people receiving a $34 million gift would like to say thanks but no one is saying who the donor is. wayne freedman showed us how they plan to put that money to good use. >> welcome to arts and crafts in the 21st century. >> when you are done making a stress ball. >> yes, stress balls where regina jackson felt a lot less stress today because her organization just received a $1 million donation to expand this building and mission. >> that's the fruit of all label. if we can have people make better decisions we'll resolve a

lot of problems in the world. >> that would be one happy story in oakland filled with happy stories today. 17 organizations received $34 million from one anonymous donor who gave the money to the san francisco foundation to invest in oakland. >> they wanted to go to oakland and be transformative. >> $34 million is going to make a difference, particularly in the right hands. >> $3 million would help renovate a clinic servicing patients who don't speak english. along international boulevard, hack the hood will turn at-risk kids to tech producers. it's already influenced ashton's life. >> i use twitter and facebook. and it just opened my eyes to get behind the scenes of those things i like to use. >> $34 million. can they cure the ilils of a

city? they might start. wayne freedman abc 7. nine years and billions of miles later. >> it's ready to start sending us the treasure trove of data. >> up next, a picture almost a decade in the making and how the bay area is over the moon for pluto. the fake story that sent twitter shares soaring. and -- >> concern over chemicals in vinyl flooring. 7 on your side takes a look. abc 7 n

cover novato, oakland, sunnyvale and all the bay area this is abc 7 news. >> 3, 2, 1. >> cheers that could be felt 3

billion miles away. euphoria breaks out at nasa. the excitement goes beyond the science community. jonathan bloom is at the nasa ames research center where pluto is capturing the imagine aigss of the young and old. >> it's been 35 years since nasa first explored a new planet. pluto was always where we couldn't get to. there's a spacecraft that just hours ago made its closest past to that icy dwarf planet. now everyone is waiting for it to send a signal back to earth. >> who wants to go to pluto to too late. you should have been on the rocket 9 1/2 years ago. >> when new horizons left the earth, some of the kids here weren't even born.

>> the pictures might tell us about the surface of the planet and about exactly how big the atmosphere is. >> some of the things astronomers have wondered. >> this is something i've been waiting for since childhood. >> the first stunning views of pluto close up. >> pluto has turned out to be an extraordinarily complex and interesting world. >> nasa scientists know the best is yet to come. >> 4 3 2, 1! >> after new horizons completed its closest path to pluto. >> we expect to hear a signal saying i made it through safely. right now we don't know whether it made it safely. >> it's spending all its time gathering data and will slowly send it back. >> how many believe pluto is

still a planet? >> though now called a dwarf planet its largest moon is half the size of pluto itself. >> it's outside the surface of pluto. it's a dwarf planet. we're investigating two planets orbiting each other. dwarf planets. >> if new horizons successfully completed that fly-by it would have already sent the signals back. even traveling at the speed of light, that data will take 4 1/2 hours to reach us so we could get some data as soon as an hour from now. >> this is a big deal for two companies. nasa gave instagram the first picture. it's the first time they've ever done that with a social media site. they're trying to attract new

audiences. >> the mugsission has been popular on twitter as well. nine years and billions of miles later, twitter is over the moon for the fly-by. shares of twitter spiked today on false reports of a buyout. the stock briefly rose 8.5% after someone falsely planted a story saying twitter received a buyout offer. a bloomberg spokesperson says the story was bogus. twitter closed up at $36.72. san francisco supervisors voted to revise the rules for short-term housing rentals through sites like airbnb. the office will speed up the process registering to rent their homes. it will enforce rental limits. they face a 90-day limit if they aren't in their homes.

rentals are unlimited if they spend 275 days a year in their home. currently vehicle owners have just four hours to pick up their car after it was recovered and towed to avoid any fees. the new law approved today gives city residents 48 hours to get their vehicle. nan residents get 24 hours and a reduction of administrative fees. they are considering a measure that will make it tougher to buy and sell guns in the city. it would require the videotaping of all gun and ammunition sales. it would require them to store and send sales data to police every week for five years. six fruit flies have been detected in and around cupertino. the zone measures 89 square miles. residents in the quarantine area are urged not to move home grown

fruits and vegetables from their property. they can be consumed on the property where they were picked. there had been questions long time coming about the safety oyl flooring which contains chemicals that can harm the health of young children. they've just tested a variety of flooring materials. >> today's vinyl comes in all patterns. some look like marble, wood. it's one of the least expensive floorings you can buy. there were concerns about chemicals called phthalates. >> there's concern that some phthalates may be end krin which will affect the hormonal system. >> reporter: consumer lab tests on 17 vinyl flooring products testing for different fal

phthalates. the lab also tested to see whether the chemical could be wiped off on to your hands or get into the air. >> there may be considerable amount of phthalates in the composition of the material but very little came out in the air or in the wipes themselves. >> consumer reports recommends wet mopping vinyl floors often if you have young children and wash their hands if they've crawled on the floor. still vinyl flooring has a lot to recommend it. >> vinyl is a terrific value. superior performance in durability tests and a very affordable test. they are seeing how well it stands up to foot traffic, scratches and dents and how well it resists stains and whether it will fade in sunlight. the best vinyl flooring survived all those tests and looks relatively new.

all flooring will be phthalate free by 2016. time to turn to our weather. >> sandhya patel joins us with the accuweather forecast. >> there's a refreshing breeze across the bay. some chop on the san francisco bay and a small craft advisory because of that. live doppler 7 hd. we'll talk about when those winds will relax. low clouds lingering around parts of the coastline. most areas are enjoying the sun. it's gusty at sfo. 30 out of the southwest in fairfield and 24 in mountain view. onshore breezes contributed to the cooldown today. south beach showing some clouds. san jose 71. and it's 81 in morgan hill. our high so far, low 60s to upper 80s. sfo camera showing you cloud

cover still lingering. sfo continues to report delays on arriving flights of just over an hour. mid-80s in santsa rosa. upper 80s today there. napa 75. concord 78. livermore 75. you'll be seeing more of this from our mt. tam camera. hot inland the next two days with cooler cloudier conditions. even the possibility of thundershowers. let's check out what's happening. a weak trough lighting east. this is what's contributing to the brief cooldown. warmer conditions are expected inland. high pressure building in. eastern pacific. there are two storms there. enrique move away from land. hurricane delores, category 1 hurricane expected to strengthen even more. by thursday morning expected to be a major hurricane category 3. you can see passing well south of cabo san lucas.

high surf possibility of rip currents and rain bands for mexico and cabo. in case you or your family are traveling there, keep that in mind. we're watching that storm. once it falls apart some of that moisture will get pulled up by a pressure system from the north bringing thunderstorms sunday, late afternoon evening going into monday morning. we'll keep an eye on this. it's still a few days out. mid-50s to low 60s tomorrow morning. some damp roadways. allow more time for your commute. and your wipers may be getting turned on due to the drizzle. 84 tomorrow afternoon in the south bay. 90 in gilroy. 82 sunnyvale. 83 in redwood city. 78 san mateo. mid-60s pacifica. 71 north bay upper 80s.

84 in san rafael. 81 vallejo. oakland, 86. hot inland. 94 antioch. 92 livermore. 90 in walnut creek. hot summer weather inland. mid-60s to low 70s along the coast. the heat cools on saturday and sunday afternoon into monday morning is when we're watching for the possibility of some showers as we make potential tropical connection. we'll be whaitaiting for that's. still to come a rare sighting off the golden gate bridge. the endangered animal that caught some people by surprise. and what we're learning about a problem on a major roadway. traffic is be gining to back up. we'll be right back.

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south bay in sunnyvale. only two northbound lanes are open at highway 237 because an earlier crash broke free one of those highway signs. crews just removed it but the scene still isn't safe on 101. southbound lanes are all open on 101 and all lanes ss of 237. the rest is expected to open around 6:30. a man in lake tahoe is telling police he shot and killed a black bear in self-defense. the bear was wandering in andous of his garage last thursday when he felt compelled to shoot. game wardens had offered the man a permit to legally shoot bears after one damaged his property. he turned it down because he feared rett ibribution from animal rights activists.

the state is encouraging homeowners to let their lawns go because of the drought. another mountain lion and its cub have been spotted in the bay area. this time in san mateo county. a resident saw the animal in woodside. the cats never approached the residence and quickly headed back into the trees. this is the fourth reported sighting this year. a leather back sea turtle was spotted off the golden gate. they say it's trier seerare to see one because their numbers are so low. they usually arrive in august. pacific leather backs were designated as the state's official marine reptile.

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cover daly city dublin, los gatos and all the bay area, this is abc 7 news. >> coming up at 6:00 -- making balconies safe in berkeley. we'll look at the emergency ordinance officials there will be considering tonight. some say it still isn't tough enough. new 3d images of clouds and the technology that might help

us beat the drought. why so many panhandlers are converging on one town. it's all coming up at 6:00. the bay area is celebrating like the french. bastille day is being celebrated. tonight the french bistro will have music and a light show. >> other french restaurants have special bastille day menus. the big celebration is in paris. the french president hollande took part in a military parade on the champs elysees. that's going to do it for us tonight. "world news tonight" is next. >> thanks for inviting us into your home tonight. our next newscast is at 6:00.

have a great n tonight, several breaking stories. the historic deal with iran. the backlash here at home. the president saying it will make the world safer. tonight, israel calling it a stunning historic mistake. what does it mean for american security? martha raddatz in iran. also breaking at this hour, new video of el chapo from inside his cell, just a short time before he escaped into that mile-long tunnel. authorities set to release it. swept away. multiple homes gone in seconds. the search for the missing at this hour. the deadly system now moving east. the miracle survivor tonight. the daughter, walking out of the woods, two days after a plane crash. and the other plane tonight landing in the middle of traffic. and we're just hours away tonight. christmas in july? it's amazon versus walmart. and our reporter tonight with the list of mega-deals.