the search. a massive lawsuit against a a major mushroom grower accused of fouling up the water ways. the search for a cop killer in the central valley. good evening, i am dan ashley. >> and i am ama daetz. a search warrant executed right now in marin county. >> today police chief richardson choked up. >> you to have understand this was not supposed to happen you're doing okay. >> i have been to too many funerals and i never thought that i ever would have to be doing this. i did not know christmas morning at 4:00 in the morning when i said goodbye to him and sent him off to his family, that this

would be the last time that i saw him. my department is hurting. >> so emotional. chief richardson says this is the first time an officer has been killed in his community of newman. >> authorities say the suspect is in the united states illegally. >> laura anthony has the story. >> this is a man that i relieved on christmas day so he would go home to his family and newborn family. >> reporter: the chief of the ni tiny newman department. >> police remember the man, police remember the husband, please remember what he was, what he came to this country to do. yes, he was a police officer but more importantly, he was a human being. >> reporter: the 33-year-old

singh was shot and killed during a dui traffic shop. the man was captured on surveillance camera buying beer. >> reporter: sheriff did offer other details. >> the suspect is in our country illegally. he doesn't belong here. he is a criminal. we will find him. we will arrest him. and we will bring him to justice. >> reporter: the suspect's grey truck was found at a mobile home park in newman. the man himself is still at large. in the meantime, the small town is left to cope with the loss of an officer who knew him personally. >> people will remember a contagious mile and life and his commitment to treating people fairly and respect.

>> you have to understand this was not supposed to happen here. i have been to too many of these funerals and i never thought ever that i would have to be doing this. >> reporter: in newman, laura anthony, abc7 news. >> the sherif's department says there is only one authorized fund to help the family. if you would like to donate go to abc7news.com. president trump turned on it immediately that the suspect is an undocumented a statewide man hunt is ongoing for this guy. 21-year-old shalom mendoza. he walked away from a work

detail. >> san rafael police responded to a home depot parking lot for a reported car jacking. >> cornel barnard is lif lif lif the latest. >> reporter: this inmate somehow walked away from a work detail. police have just shared with us surveillance images of the car jacking which happened on wednesday night possibly involving the escapee from san quentin. the woman driving a silver rav 4. >> surprised that anybody could just walk away. >> reporter: living only yards from the gates of san quentin where authorities say

21-year-old shalom mendoza walked away from the work crew. he was discovered missing after a head count. a suspect matching the same description at mendoza car jacked a woman at 9:00 at 9:00 : >> a hispanic male approached a female. simulated what looked like a weapon or a gun through his t-shirt. demanded the keys from her. threatened to kill her. >> reporter: police say he took off with the woman's silver toyota rav 4 with this license plate number. it is unknown where he was headed. 5'5" with a distinctive tattoo over his right eye. >> i checked my phone and number

came through and i was concerned because i didn't know what was happening. >> reporter: laura wants to know why she never got an electronic alert on her phone warning of the escape. >> a simple alert to the community saying hey guys, this is the information we have. >> reporter: now the prison is defending its choice not to send community alerts to the local neighborhoods. instead a spokesperson said local media was alerted on wednesday. he could be armed and dangerous. if you see him do not approach but call 911. cornell barnd abc7 news. justin franks walked away from follow ssom prison.prison.n

since 1977, 99% of all escaped inmates have been caught. we called the correction department about that 1%. and we have yet to hear from them. let's move on. morgan hill is home to one of the nation's largest mushroom growers. deliberately dumping toxic waste water into a creek. there is another look at the location. the district attorney has filed a $67 million lawsuit against the company. >> reporter: monterey mushrooms in morgue gan hill has been dumping waste water into fisher creek for years.

a santa clara county deputy district attorney in the environmental protection unit. fisher creek flows into coyote creek which runs into the san francisco bay. >> this is a source of the water that flows into the bay. the source of our drinking water and it is totally inappropriate to be continuing to discharge or dump waste water into creeks. >> reporter: she says the hill. pumping approximately 700,000 gallons of waste water into fisher creek in a 48 water period. testing positive for toxic levels of ammonia.

photos to support the claims. ca neither monterey mushrooms or their attorneys responded for comment. pg&e is trying to figure out what caused a transformer explosion that burned one of his employees. a transformer exploded more than an hour later. and sparked a fire. more than 400 customers lost power. 18 remained without electricity until this afternoon. cal osha is investigating what happened. from chainsaw to chipper, the best way to get rid of your christmas tree. next. i am 45 feet above downtown san jose on a billboard. but these college football fanatics are going to be here

for the next couple i am meteorologist sandhya patel, how long the windy conditions will last, coming up. how long do you

it was just a couple of weeks ago many of us looking for christmas trees. and now it is time to think about getting rid of them. it happens so fast. dion lim has a message to san francisco from the department of public works and the department of environment about your used christmas tree. >> reporter: i know it is depressing seeing a christmas tree stripped of its ornaments so soon after christmas. a reason why they say not so fast.

tree after tree after tree discarded on curbs in san francisco. >> christmas was just two days ago. >> reporter: sad reminders of holiday cheer gone by. in addition to being an eye sore, there are reasons why trees discarded too soon can be a hassle. >> the rain water makes them stick to the ground so i have to wait to sweep anything. >> reporter: a message the company along with public works and the department of the environment get out so much, they brought in the annual tree chippers to show what happens to a tree after it is collected and why it is important they are not put out too early. >> every year we have situations where trees, you know, they are

dry. and they get lit up and start fires. >> reporter: it also becomes hazards for traffic and pedestrian if they get in the war. >> you have to be considerate of your neighbors. >> reporter: you may see your own tree as mulch somewhere else. just not until after the first two weeks of collection. dion lim abc7 news. if you want to find out how to recycle your christmas tree, we have you covered. abc7news.com go to the search function and type in recycling. and click on the first story, got recycling com com com com cm scroll down until you find your city. you might have to search for christmas trees once there. but the information is all in this section for you.

many young people came in from the cold to enjoy holiday cheer. volunteers helped larkin street youth services host its national festival. they dined on lunch while receiving gifts. >> warm items of clothing and wonderful food and games so they can be engaging with folks and have a place to come to. >> focusing on providing a wide array of assistance to homeless. help finding health care as well as housing. your water bill cn be one of the most expensive bills that you pay how do you save money on it. >> let's start with a quick quiz. what is the biggest energy expense in your house? >> i would say dishwasher or washing machine. >> heating and cooling.

>> i was fooled. >> yeah. here is the good news. the second biggest expense, heating for laundry, and washing dishes can be brought way down. how long do you spend if a shower. >> 30 minutes. >> 45 minutes. >> 20% of water comes out of the shower. a standard shower head releases 2.5 gallons of water per minute. a low flow head that uses two gallons or less can save you 2900 gallons per year. and first try a shorter shower. and quit letting the water run when shaving or brushing your teeth. after scraping there is no

reason to rinse dishes. you could cause the sensor to adjust to a lighter wash. for best results and energy savings, always run your dishwasher fully loaded. consider replacing your old dishwashers. 90% of your clothes washer energy goes to heating the water. using warm water instead of hot could cut it in half. consumer report test shows your clothes will still get clean. >> energy efficient washers perform better in cooler temperatures. >> one drip per second wastes nearly 1700 gallons of water a year. that's a lot of short showers.

one last tip. to find out if your toilet is leaking and you are wasting water there. put a few drops of food coloring into the tank and then wait about ten or 15 minutes and if you find it in the bowl, that means you have a leak and it is time to fix or replace it. >> good trick. thanks. coming up, tonight we move to the weather. hi there, everyone, and it has been a bustering afternoon. you will notice there is no rain on our radar. a look at those winds at the lower elevations they are easing. higher elevations, stronger winds. notice mout. diablo gusting. now earlier in the day some gusts were over 50 miles per hour which is why we have a wind

advisory for higher elevation. for the rest of you until 4:00 a.m. tomorrow gusts could take down trees or topple power lines. north wind definitely. a look at those temperatures mid to upper 50s. 53 in morgan hill. also a bouncy camera, and the chill is in the air 52 in santa rosa. can't find in fog and we are not going to see it. dry air mass and chilly air mass. gusty winds especially in the hills. clear skies and chilly conditions in the morning. the winds will relax just in time for the college championship billboard forecast for tomorrow morning, san josene

area. 38 degrees in the afternoon. the weather looks good but winds going to remain high into the overnight hours before they drop down. still gusting 25 to 27 miles per hour around napa. the winds will begin to ease. breezy, not nearly as windy between 5:00 and 8:00 a.m. winds will pick back up over the weekends when we see another system passing through. tomorrow morning make sure you bundle up. it is going to be chilly. low to mid-30s in the north bay valleys. most other areas right around the bay and in the coast will be in the 40s under clear skies. sunshine and temperatures right around where you should be upper 50s to low 60s.

fremont, palo alto upper 60s. 60 in santa rosa. 58 in san francisco and 60 in oakland. download the acuweather app and track those forecast. cold saturday morning with patchy frost. notice that holiday weekends is dry. new year's eve temperatures will be in the 50s. no rain monday or tuesday. keeping it near average. i hear ama has happening plans. >> 9:00 on the east coast, we are done. >> just go crazy. >> i'm wild. a story for those who feel a little bad not seeing parents. major dip in the dow

upgrades to the california highway patrol vehicle fleet means saying goodbye to their iconic cars. posting this photo calling it a dinosaur. replacing the crown vic with sleek black and white dodge charger pursuits. those were classics. a routine traffic stop proved to be anything but routine because of this little guy, scooby-roo. norwood police department shared it on its facebook page. warning the driver that scooby-roo was not properly

detained. he posted this photo to his facebook page. the man sitting next to him booked a seat on all six of his daughter's cross country flights to share the holidays with her. what a fantastic father. >> that is so sweet. throwing balls off the balcony as football fans rise to the challenge. first, we would like

coming up at 6:00. case on hold. what is delaying justice for the family of nia wilson.

check fraud exposed. the clues that helped a woman get her money out. closing out the first year of legal recreational cannabis sales. looking at the reality of how this happened. all coming up in half an hour at 6:00. happening right now in the south bay, four college football super fans are living on top of a billboard. living here above downtown san jose. the championship game planned on january 7. live with the details. are you still up there? >> reporter: the people up there were asked two things. are you able to go camping are you afraid of heights? home to four college football fans. to find them you will have to look up.

picked from a pool of roughly 700. >> i am janet and i am here to support the fighting irish. >> reporter: the teams will play in a semi final games saturday. fans of the two losing teams will have to leave. the remaining two will stick around chilly san jose through january 7 for the championship game at levi stadium. >> i think we can win anywhere. >> reporter: they will eat, sleep and breathe atop this billboard. >> whenever we go to sleep, you can hear planes going over head. the airport is by us. people yelling. carnival ride next door so kids are screaming on this ride. >> reporter: home at a new height. you can look up or sit back and

relax. activities are being live streamed. >> it is not about prizes or gifts they give you. how many people can say they spent 13 days on a billboard. not many. >> reporter: i have been asked about the sleeping situations and bathroom breaks. i'm told they will sleep in tents, bathe in a trailer and go to a bathroom in another. this is night two for those super fans up on that billboard. reporting live downtown san jose. abc7 news. that answered two key questions. >> you can watch the national championship on espn happening on levi's stadium. that is all for now. i am dan ashley. >> i am ama daetz. for all of us here. thank you for inviting us into your homes tonight. look at that. >> gorgeous sunset.

our next news cast is in half an hour at 6:00. we'll see you then. tonight, several developing stories as we come on. the dangerous winter blast. 25 states under alerts tonight. blizzard conditions shutting down highways. flash flood rescues in the south and a tornado threat, as this powerful system barrels east. the cop killer manhunt. new details tonight about the suspect. police say he's armed and extremely dangerous, that he was allegedly in the country illegally. >> i never thought ever that i would have to be doing this. the wild ride on wall street. the dramatic dip, then last-minute rally. the dow clawing all the way back, as the government shutdown drags on with no end in sight. also tonight, the new audio in the kevin spacey sexual assault case.