a san francisco superior court judge, went through with his plea offer today for a serial car burglar ordering him released from jail after less than four months. good evening, i'm dan ashley. >> and i'm j.r. stone. the abc seven news i-team has been looking into the judge's

reasoning in this case. >> and our dan noyes was in court this morning and is here now with the story. dan. >> well dan and j.r. san francisco da brooke jenkins took this case very seriously instead of the general felonies unit. she signed this to a major crimes prosecutor and pushed for a two year state prison sentence. it didn't work. unlike judges in past hearings for repeat car burglar robert sonza, san francisco superior court judge bruce e chan denied our request for a camera in the courtroom at today's hearing for video or still pictures, and he went through with his offer in exchange for guilty pleas to five felonies receiving stolen property, accessory after the fact, possession of a firearm by a felon, concealed firearm in a vehicle, possession of ammunition. sansa will be released after less than four months in county jail. severe with sansa's history of re-offending. how is this proper? >> i said what i had to say on the record. >> i tried to discuss the case with sansa's public defender,

sylvia nguyen. he's been on probation several times and reoffended. i wanted to ask what will be different this time? >> people are kind of upset about what's happening here. how is this proper given his history of re-offending? >> the court made a very clear record, which is what the court made, a very clear record. you are in there. we made a clear record as well. so this is all you have to say? that's all i have to say. thank you. >> as part of the plea offer, robert sansa had to admit a string of felonies over the years, starting with domestic violence. in 2019, several burglary convictions, evading an officer and resisting arrest. sansa also had to admit he was on probation when the crime was committed, and that his prior performance on probation was unsatisfactory. but during today's hearing, judge chan said it's important to be smart on crime, not just tough on crime. he went against the adult probation department pre-sentence report that called for state prison time, and ordered sansa to be released on probation. as part of the judge's plan, he promised to personally monitor sansa's

progress and if he reoffends, sansa will face a maximum sentence of three years, eight months in state prison. >> that's this case, and i made my commitment after his earlier cases that we would make sure that we held him accountable. >> da brooke jenkins is growing more vocal about what she sees as failures in the criminal justice system. >> i think we have a culture at the hall of justice here in san francisco of judges viewing property crime as less significant, finding opportunities to not hear trial, and to send people back out to sadly, use the courthouse as a revolving door. >> the judge on this case is bruce e chan. he's 68 years old, did his undergrad at stanford law school at uc davis, worked as a san francisco public defender for 18 years before governor arnold schwarzenegger appointed him to the bench in 2009. he's been reelected twice. his current term expires in 2029. >> it seems like in the ten years i was there, you know, trying really hard, the city only got worse. >> that's former san francisco police officer riley bandy.

sansa has been convicted of running from police several times, and bandy got injured when sansa slammed into his patrol car april 27th, 2022. he sped away in a stolen car suspected in several auto burglaries that day. sansa rammed into houses, sideswiped cars, slammed into another, causing injuries. sansa faced a slew of charges, but in a plea deal with a different judge, all of them got dismissed except a single count of evading an officer. the robert sansa saga has driven officer bandy to retire. he worries about officers still on the force. >> then the question is, is that going to motivate police officers then to work harder? i don't see how that's possible. oh, boy. san francisco i'm just fed up there. i'm just fed up. >> sansa may be getting out of san francisco county jail any time now, but he faces a $200,000 warrant out of contra costa county for fleeing an officer and resisting arrest. the da's office there tells me

they are making arrangements to take sansa into custody. so the story continues. >> what happens then? yeah, absolutely. >> wow. that's something. >> thanks, guys. thank you. thanks very much. remember, if you have a story for dan and the i-team, just go to abc seven news.com slash i-team. he'd be delighted to hear from you. >> in the city's soma neighborhood, some say the homelessness and open air drug use near sixth street is reaching a boiling point. it's why supervisor matt dorsey is calling for more arrests of drug users in a new strategy to clean up san francisco neighborhoods. abc seven news reporter monica madden spoke to him about it and joins us. monica. why now? >> well, j.r, in part because california just implemented prop 36, increasing penalties for drug users. dorsey says he wants the city to be arresting 100 people per night in the sixth street corridor, with the police department estimating at least 200 people using drugs in the quarter mile stretch on a nightly basis. but does san francisco have the resources to put hundreds into detox and

treatment programs? dorsey says there will have to be a way, some say drug use in the sixth street corridor is worse than ever. look around and you might see why. while crackdowns have focused on dealers, san francisco supervisor matt dorsey wants to take it a step further, making interventions that get people under arrest into drug treatment. and it's personal for him. >> something i consider nothing less than the obligation of my own survival as a recovering drug addict. we do need to be making arrests of drug users with an eye toward making sure that any criminal justice intervention we make is a medical and life saving intervention. >> it would be a significant shift in the city's approach, which has long focused on harm reduction strategies. >> what may have worked in the heroin era is not working in the fentanyl era. we are facing drugs that are deadlier than ever before in human history, and we're seeing levels of addiction driven lawlessness that we have never seen. >> with prop 36 now in effect, authorities can charge repeat

drug offenders with a treatment mandated felony, giving people the option of rehab over prison time. >> nobody is asking for draconian sentences like, you know, the bygone era of the drug war. what we are asking for is for people to be held accountable for drug driven lawlessness. >> what's that going to cost? >> i think the answer is that can we afford not to solve this problem? >> it's not the first time the city has tried this. in 2023, mayor london breed directed sfpd to make more drug related arrests. forced treatment wasn't welcomed by all. >> their risk of overdose sometimes sort of paradoxically, goes up. we've said you can't use humane and created a situation where they're not using opioids. their tolerance goes down and a relapse can be deadly. >> the ceo of san francisco's aids foundation telling abc seven news, in part, decades of research have shown that criminalizing people for their health conditions or

circumstances perpetuates harm rather than fostering recovery. >> all of it comes back to public safety, a city that is as premised on being welcoming and safe and clean for tourists and conventions, and shoppers and commuters cannot lose sight of how valuable it is to solve these problems. >> and another new ordinance is also going to impact this issue. those with a substance abuse disorder who refuse to accept treatment will no longer be able to receive county funded cash assistance thanks to prop f, which was approved by voters in november. jr. dan. >> all right. monica, thanks very much. let's get a check now on the weather as we take a live look outside at the conditions. right now, the rain is back in the forecast. so for more, let's go to abc seven news meteorologist sandhya patel. sandhya. >> yeah. dan, let's take a look at a live picture from a different perspective. that one's pretty, but look at this beautiful view from our emeryville camera. as the sun is setting, this is all going to be changing. as a light level. one storm is headed our way. looking

at live doppler seven, let me time this out for you. first thing tomorrow morning, we begin at 4 a.m. with some light rain around mendocino county. it starts to move into parts of the north bay at 6 a.m. and really, by 10:00, we're starting to notice other parts of the bay area, the east bay, san francisco, the peninsula is getting in on the wet weather and into the south bay by the afternoon. this storm is going to bring some higher surf. so a high surf advisory 9 p.m. tomorrow until 3 a.m. sunday. those breakers 18 to 25ft. it's going to lead to some dangerous swimming and surfing conditions. we also have a beach hazard statement that starts at nine tomorrow morning until 3 a.m. sunday, so watch out. there is a moderate to high risk of sneaker waves. here's a look at that storm impact scale. it's a level one light to moderate rain tomorrow. slick roads and large breaking waves. i'll let you know if the wet weather is going to impact your weekend plans. coming up. dan. >> all right, sandhya. thank you. >> dozens of firefighters are on the scene of a fire in fullerton started by a plane crash. investigators say two people

were killed and 18 suffered injuries when a small plane crashed into the roof of a commercial building near the fullerton airport that caused a four alarm fire inside the building. more than 100 people were evacuated safely. ten of the injured people had to be taken to hospitals. investigators say the pilot radioed for an emergency landing shortly before the crash. the cause of the crash, though, is not yet known. >> all right, let's move now to the latest developments from new orleans. after yesterday's deadly truck attack, the fbi is now saying they believe the suspect acted alone. federal and state authorities say there is no additional threat to the public. abc news reporter morgan norwood has the latest now on the investigation. >> the fbi no longer believes other suspects are involved in the deadly truck ramming attack in new orleans. the swift reversal after the fbi now says it combed through hours of surveillance video showing the moments. it says the suspect sped down the jam packed bourbon street, killing 14 and injuring

dozens of others. >> we've had 24 hours now to go through media, to go through phones, to interview people, to analyze those videos. we're confident at this point that there is no accomplices. >> president biden, meeting with his homeland security team today. >> i directed my team to accelerate these investigations. so we have answers to our unanswered questions. they're making every single resource available to get the job done. >> shamsuddin jabar was killed in a shootout with police. the fbi now says the us born, 42 year old army veteran drove from houston to new orleans new year's eve and posted several videos online proclaiming his support for isis and isis flag recovered from the back of his pickup truck, jabar explains he originally planned to harm his family and friends, but was concerned the news headlines would not focus on the, quote, war between the believers and the disbelievers, end quote. the area where the attack happened now washed clean. louisiana's

governor saying with the influx of law enforcement, new orleans is now one of the safest places on earth. >> we're going to keep those again who have lost loved ones in in mind, and we're going to get on to the business of this city and this great country. >> the fbi says it is searching a home they believe is connected to jabar. they also say they've spoken with several people close to that suspect. they're urging anyone else with information to come forward. morgan norwood, abc news, new orleans. >> now to yesterday's tesla cybertruck explosion in las vegas. the fbi says the motive remains unclear, but investigators don't believe it's connected to the terror attack in new orleans. authorities identified the suspect as 37 year old matthew lee berger, a decorated u.s. army green beret from colorado springs. they say he rented the cybertruck online in denver and drove it to vegas. this video shows the vehicle pulling in from the trump hotel, then leaving. it returned later

a short time, a short time later that is exploding in front of the entrance. >> the individual had sustained a gunshot wound to the head prior to the detonation of the vehicle. >> officials cannot say with 100% certainty that the body in the vehicle is lee berger. two handguns found inside the car were lawfully purchased just before christmas by berger. there were also gasoline canisters and fireworks. the seven people injured in the blast suffered only minor injuries. >> still ahead here, a deadly shooting in bernal heights ends with one man dead and a woman and toddler injured. what san francisco police are saying about this morning's shooting. >> plus, a new report out on racial disparities when it comes to police stops in california. we'll show you the numbers when

one person is dead. two others, including a toddler wounded in a shooting in san francisco's bernal heights neighborhood. police found a man, woman and the child at a home on the 1000 block of tompkins avenue just after eight this morning. the man died at the scene. the woman was taken to the hospital with life threatening injuries. the toddler was also taken to the hospital and is expected to be okay. police say they are not considering the incident a homicide at this time. >> california police officers continue to stop black and latino drivers and pedestrians at much higher rates than white people. those are the findings in a new report from the state's racial and identity profiling advisory board. the latest report is based on statistics from 2023, but the results are similar to every year since law enforcement officers began collecting this data. it shows latinos totaled about 30% of california's population, but 43% of police stops. black people make up about 5% of the

population, but made up 12.1% of the stops. by comparison, whites were 33% of the population and accounted for about 32% of the police stops. also, san francisco and san jose police are among the departments to each have nine or more officers face decertification. >> still ahead, the first snow survey of the year was held in the sierra today. we'll have the results and what state water officials say it means

>> all right. that's a live picture of homewood resort at tahoe right now. the california department of water resources kicked off the new year with the first snow survey at the central sierra snow lab, and the results have everyone hoping for more storms coming our way. abc seven news reporter leslie brinkley has the latest numbers on this first snow survey of 2025. >> at phillips station along highway 50, in the sierra, water officials were not ready to

break out the champagne. >> our survey here today recorded a snow depth of 24in, two feet of depth melted down. >> that's nine inches of water. to put that in perspective, that's 91% of average for this state, but only 37% of what is required by april 1st to supply the water that's needed in much of the bay area. last year, results showed only 28% in january, but heavier winter precipitation meant things were above average by spring. in 2022, things were flipped, with 154% of average in january. but then things dried out. the snow survey isn't just about ski season. it's important because of climate change and erratic water supplies, leading to droughts and wildfires. experts say a la nina pattern seems to be emerging for snow on this date. >> the northern region is above 160%, so above the 80 corridor. got a ton of snow with those atmospheric rivers, but it was

less and less as we moved south through the state. so the central sierra region is about right, just below average right now. and the southern sierra is about 75% of average. so that's a big difference throughout the state, central and southern sierra. >> we need some help. we need above average accumulation for the remainder of the winter to really catch back up for the next two weeks. >> most storms seem to be tracking north of california. the next snow survey is set for february the 3rd. i'm leslie brinkley, abc seven news. >> and the snow survey comes as we get ready for a little wet weather in the forecast. >> that's exactly right. meteorologist sandhya patel is here with the forecast. sandhya? >> yeah. and dan and j.r, let's take a look at a live picture, because we do have precipitation coming our way. this is from zephyr cove, where they're just seeing some high clouds right now. but that scene is going to change statewide, the sierra snowpack is at 108% of average, while the northern sierra is doing great at 161. central and southern sierra are still behind

where they should be for this time of year. we certainly can use the rain. you can see here santa rosa, 209% of average, san francisco 121. but the other cities are all lagging behind. and these are rainfall percentage of average since october 1st. we do have rain moving into northern california. it will get down here by tomorrow morning. right now we're just seeing high clouds on live doppler seven. but here's a look at the storm. it is developing in the pacific. and while all the moisture is aimed at the pacific northwest and northern california, that changes come tomorrow. so your temperatures in the 50s and the 60s. here's a live view from our sky star camera a gorgeous view right now you're still noticing that there is no rain yet. that will all change. this is from our sky star camera at pier 39. a lovely view from our san jose camera right now. tomorrow rain arrives during the morning drive. next few days. rough and dangerous surf coming your way and for the weekend, dry and mainly sunny weather is expected so it's a level one for tomorrow. light to moderate rain, slick roadways, large

breaking waves when we time it out for you 5:00 in the morning, it's starting to move into the north bay. it's still going to be in the north bay, mainly at 7 a.m, and then it starts to spread at 10 a.m. watch out for some brief downpours. by noontime, it's crossing the east bay and parts of the south bay along with the santa cruz area. while most of the action is over by the early afternoon in the evening, we're still going to see a few more showers popping up here. going into the 6 to 9:00 hour, 11 p.m. an isolated shower, and then we're done. rainfall totals with this storm will range anywhere from about eight hundredths of an inch there in san jose to about 8000/200 in ukiah. a winter storm warning goes up in the sierra from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m, 6 to 10in above 5500ft. higher peaks are looking at up to 15in. with those gusty winds, it might be difficult to get up there, so keep that in mind. 40s 50s on your temperatures. north bay starts off with the rain and then it spreads tomorrow afternoon. you're looking at highs in the 50s and 60s. it was

close to 70 in san jose today. tomorrow it's going to be 60 degrees. it's a cooler day. accuweather seven day forecast level one storm for tomorrow, rain and rough surf. as we head into the weekend, we'll see a combination of some fog, high clouds and some sunshine for both days. it's a dry weekend next week. temperatures are trending higher. we're warming up above average for january. no rain through at least thursday after tomorrow. >> j.r. and dan, i know we could always use the rain, but i do like the sunshine. i know it brightens your mood, right? >> you'll have plenty of sun next week as well. great. thanks, andy. thank you. >> it's the second highest civilian award in just a few hours ago, president joe biden posthumously awarded it to one california woman who won her case challenging the imprisonment of japanese americans during world war two. >> i'm reggie aqui, i'm lyanne melendez, i'm luz pena, i'm tara campbell, i'm j.r. >> stone at abc seven news we deliver local stories with real

answers to help make our city better.

>> a reminder that you can get our live newscast, breaking news, weather and more on our abc seven bay area streaming tv app. just search abc seven bay area and download it. >> a long overdue honor for a california woman who helped end the internment of japanese americans during world war two. >> president biden presented the presidential citizens medal to the son of the late mitsuye endo tsutsumi. she died in 2006. it was her case in 1944 that led the supreme court to close the camps. the medal is the second highest civilian honor in the united states, and is to those who have performed exemplary deeds or services for their country or their fellow citizens. >> among the 20 others honored today, bennie thompson and liz cheney, the chair and vice chair of the committee on the january 6th attack, also honored former senators bill bradley, chris dodd and nancy kassebaum as well. some impressive honorees today. well, that is this

edition of abc seven news at five world news tonight with david muir is next for sandhya patel all of us here. we appreciate your time. >> i'm dan ashley and i'm j.r. stone. we'll see you at six. pete g. writes, "my tween wants a new phone. how do i not break the bank?" we got you, pete. xfinity mobile was designed to save you money and gives you access to wifi speeds up to a gig.

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tonight, the horrific new year's attack in new orleans. authorities describing the attacker as a lone wolf, inspired by isis. breaking news. a small plane crashing into a building. and tracking the first major winter storm of the new year. fi