. breaking news out of the pittsburg, where an investigation is underway after crews recovered the body of a man from a car in a canal. disr pointing news for a bay area police department drying to rebuild its force. why an upcoming police academy will only be half full. we're seeing more of the destruction caused by yesterday's 8.2 magnitude earthquake that struck off the northern coast of chile. the new pictures we're seeing of the devastation and why officials are telling people to stay alert.

. good afternoon. i'm tori campbell. we have breaking news p in pittsburg where rescuers tried to save a man who apparently drove into a canal. fire crews launched the rescue effort about 9:00 a.m. when they got a call of a car that had gone into the water near west leland road. crews removed the car from the water just about 45 minutes ago. earlier they pulled out a man from inside that submerged car. emergency personnel tried to revive him but he was pronounced dead at the scene. a contra costa county sheriff's dive team searched the canal for other victims but did not find any. there is no word on what caused the car to go into the canal. within the last hour, the attorney for suspended state senator leland # yee announced he's stepping down as his attorney. he said, his defense will be in great hands with jim lassert.

i was happy to help especially at a critical time in helping him get released from custody. he is a great friend and i will support him throughout the case. one of yee's alleged co-conspirators was back in federal court a few hours ago in san francisco. raymond chow was appointed an attorney. chow was arrested last week as part of the f.b.i. sting targeting organized crime in san francisco's chinatown. he is accused of money laundering and other crimes. he did not enter a plea today. his attorney says chow mayor been a victim of entrapment. >> just reading through the affidavit, i think many of the defense lawyers in this case have to be looking at entrapment as a possible defense. >> chow was denied bail last week after a judge said he should be considered a flight risk. he is set to return to court on april 8. the san jose police department is now facing disappointing news as it hopes to beef up its police force

with more officers. we're live to explain the recruiting shortage ahead of the department's may police academy. >> reporter: good afternoon. i just spoke with the deputy chief in charge of recruiting. he says they're seeing their applicant pool shrink. it's not good. normally they have 1300 applicants that go through the physical and written test. this year they had 750 and the number of people that got to the academy has been whittled down even more. last night the san jose police department's hiring board chose recruits who would be moving to the academy. they had spots for 60 but only 29 people made it through. the department continues to lose officers to other departments offering better pay and benefits. in the last class of recruits, 40 were hired. now more than half have left the department already for greener pastures. the department says they won't lower their standards and allow unqualified applicants to join the academy. they admit it will be a tough

road ahead. >> we are at a competitive disadvantage with the agencies around us. we don't that have compensation pack thaij some of the others do in pay or other benefits. so i know the city is doing what they can to change and to change that and to make us more competitive again. >> reporter: the police union says people should be alarmed at the number of recruits going to the academy. they say it highlights the problem the department is having with retaining officers. a union spokesperson says it's happening because was pension reform that was approved that has increased the age of when officers retire before receiving a certain amount of benefits. >> this 29 that we're hiring, they're not going to stay. if the numbers hold, we'll lose half of them before the year is out. >> reporter: a city councilman is taking note of this and a meeting will be held this afternoon to explore changing the pension reform plan and putting it before the voters. the police department will be

holding a second police academy later this year. with the low number of recruits, the deputy chief says it's possible they may hold a third academy this year. back to you. the former san francisco firefighter accused of driving drunk on duty and strike act motorcyclist came to court today. we were there as the man made his appearance. apparently he had little to say. >> reporter: good afternoon. we got our first look at michael quinn earlier this morning. the 43-year-old man was arrested on monday and surrendered to authorities here at the hall of justice. he bailed out $100,000 bail. here is video of him in court today. he will be back in court on april 21 for an arraignment. here is surveillance video of the crash allegedly caused by quinn last june. prosecutors say the fire rig he was driving ran a red light and stalk motorcyclist at the intersection of fifth and

howard streets in san francisco. quinn was spotted drinking water at a neighboring bar just after the crash but then disappeared from the scene for a few hours. sources tell us quinn's blood alcohol level tested at .13%. he later resign from the fire department. the grand jury indictment does not contain hit and run charges but does include three other felonies. >> the first count is driving under the influence causing injury, the second count is driverring with a blood alcohol content of .08 or higher causing injury. the third count is driving a commercial vehicle with a .04 or higher causing injury. >> the injured motorcyclist is seen here. he suffered broken ribs and a punctured lung. he is suing quinn and san francisco county for damages. we'll tell you why the motorcyclist's legal team is not happy about this indictment and how it's been handled by the san francisco prosecutor's office. back to you. . >> thank you.

the alameda fire department is working to clean up a diesel spill from a boat this morning. the coast guard says the bilge pump overflow on the boat. that sent diesel fuel into the water. the fire department sent its hazardous materials team and its own boat to deal with the situation. . happening now, cleanup is underway following damage left by yesterday's storm that battered the bay area. we spoke to a man in oakland who had a brush with death after the most recent storm knocked over a massive oak tree narrowly missing him. she's live as crews work to clear that tree. >> reporter: good afternoon. those crews just left minutes ago. we're getting a better look at the aftermath. look at this car. this is where the tree fell. look at where it oak tree five stories high once stood. >> that's amazing.

oh, man. >> neighbors were in awe. >> it's overwhelming. it's worse than a car accident. >> a 50-foot tall oak came crash do you think in the middle of el dorado avenue smashing three cars and snagging power lines. >> i heard some crackling and thought it was thunder. >> this man was walking his dog last night when the tree fell right behind him. >> i saw the big white kind of bluish explosion looking light. i saw it all come down. it was crazy. >> this woman was asleep when her family woke her up. >> it was scary. it was like really, really dark. i couldn't find my flashlight. >> she realized that the power was out and her favorite tree gone. >> we just moved here this summer. we put a ladder and basically whenever i felt sad i went up and sang on it.

so it was sad to see it fall. >> luckily no one was hurt. this woman's car received the brunt of the free's fall. >> i had to call my boss and say, i'm not coming in for a while today to figure out what i'm doing. i like texted her this morning saying, i'm not going to be in for a while. there's a tree on top of my car. >> for this man his brush with death made him feel lucky. >> i was having a rough day. it made my day a lot better. >> reporter: power was cut off to several homes overnight. it was later restored to all but a handful of homes. back to you. >> thank you. not only has it been wet, it's also been cold. in the south bay the lick observatory near the top of mount ham it ton received a dusting of snow. you can see a little snow on the ground from this video. prevent suicide, that's the goal of a campaign the santa

clara valley transportation authority kicked off this morning. officials showed off a bus wrapped with information on suicide prevention. the information will be written in english, chinese, spanish, and vietnamese. county mental health officials say it's part of a larger suicide prevention campaign. >> strategies around intervention, data collection, communications and education. >> suicide prevention workers say the number of suicides is up both nationwide and in santa clara county. people in chile being warns about more aftershocks following a 8.2 magnitude earthquake. we're now beginning to learn the extent of the damage. the bay area begins to it dry out after several days of stormy weather. steve paulson will be here with what you can expect for the rest of your week. the c.e.o. of gm back for a second day on capitol hill. why she says the automaker waited so long to arab recall

for ignition switch problems that led to over a dozen deaths.

. the amount of fault that ruptured in this earthquake might be 200 or 300 miles long by 50 to 100 miles wide. >> aftershocks continue to

shake chile as thousands of people just returning home to survey damage from the 8.2 magnitude earthquake last night. at least 35 aftershocks ever struck since yesterday. government officials warn people to brace for even more shaking. >> the 35 aftershocks were reported from the u.s. geological survey website. they've been pretty strong. some as big as a magnitude 6.2. the government is saying from early reports they fared better in this quake compared to one in 2010. a day after earthquake request sirens warned people to take cover or head to higher ground because of a tsunami warning, a majority of the estimated 900,000 chilean citizens told to evacuate are returning home. . >> the country has been able to face these first few hours of emergency in a good way. i would like to call on people

who live in the affected regions to remain calm and to follow instructions by authorities so that we can ensure their safety. >> president of the country has declared a state of emergency for three provinces in northern chile including the coastal town of iqique. the epicenter was 60 miles northwest of the town. this video from a store in northern chile shows a store employee waveing to customers to leave immediately and then moments later merchandise falls on the floor. some even coming close to falling on small children. experts here in the u.s. say the 8.2 quake wasn't even the big one. >> we expect about another 8.8, 8.9 earthquake in the future. it could be tomorrow. it could be in 50 years. we do not know when it will occur. >> quake has turned deadly. about six people have died. officials say some had heart attacks, others were crushed by falling debris. tsunami warnings were lifted for the south american and mexican

coastline and a tsunami advisory was cancelled earlier this morning for the state of hawaii. >> so the rupture mayor gone up to the ocean floor and may have gone down to even 50 or 100 miles below the earth's surface. >> while six were killed, the death toll pales in comparison to an earthquake in 2010 where a magnitude 8.8 killed 500 people along the coastline there. chile's president is currently in the area, and also deployed about 100 riot police and 300 troopses to the area to help. back to you. >> thank you. the chilean quake is stronger than the biggest earthquake recorded in san francisco the one that anytime 1906 is estimated to have had a magnitude between 7.7 and 7.9. the quake was followed by the great fire. the two disasters killed about 3,000 people and destroyed 80% of the city. the 108th anniversary of that quake is 16 days from now.

the 1989 quake had a 6.9 magnitude. much of the damage was in the bay area. the actual epicenter was just outside santa cruz county. 63 people died. thousands of people were left homeless. for the second day in a rote c.e.o. of general motors appeared on capitol hill to answer scathing questions from lawmakers. after facing a house committee yesterday, mary barra went before the senate subcommittee on consumer protection this morning. the hearing focused on gm's failure to address faulty and some say deadly ignition switch problems dating back to 2001. one senator said gm has a culture of coverup. another said, gm's actions could be criminal. >> i will tell you that the more i hear and see in these document, the more i learn

about what happened before the reorganization and in connection with the reorganization, the more convinced i am that gm has a real exposure to criminal liability. in fact, i think it's likely and appropriate that gm will face prosecution based on this evidence. >> mary barra became c.e.o. just this year and said were she knew nothing of the problems even though she held several major leadership positioned in her 33 years at gm. chrysler is recalling nearly 870,000 suvs to install a shield to protect brake boosters from water corrosion. jeep grand cherokee and dodge durango suv models from the 2011 through 2014 model years will be inspected alhave the boosters replaced where necessary. joins in the brake boosters can corrode which makes the vehicle's brakes more difficult to use. fire investigators are trying to determine the cause

of a deadly house fire that killed one woman and injured six others. it happened yesterday evening near geneva avenue in san francisco's sunnydale neighborhood near the cow palace. this is cell phone video of the burning building. investigators say one man jumped from his third floor bedroom window to escape the fast moving flames. both firefighters and neighbors worked together to rescue others. the matriarch of the family did not survive. >> i am happy i got to kiss her on the forehead one more time and was able it to be with my mother when we saw her, but the day is not going to go by where i won't think about her. >> she was identified as 85-year-old jane thompson. two of the six injured family members are in critical condition. . our system has finally

moved out. we had the front, then the trough last night. that was intense rain. the low was close enough this morning that gave us some showers. by 8:00 most everything wound down. the low is down in catalina island now on its way it to visit l.a. and san diego. it's left behind cool air and good visibility. air quality is great. the hills are green. we're going to get a break. some of the rain left over in the totals were pretty good over the last 24 to 36 hours. anywhere from a third inch to up to an inch. many locations definitely had an inch. danville had torrential rain yesterday. calistoga. we had some 30 thz morning. i think we'll see some again tonight under clear skies and wind protected areas. san francisco's two day total

is 1.67. san francisco is 50.1% now. however, we need 11.79% by june 30 to get to seasonal normal. clear skies, a northerly breeze. overall every something clearing out rapidly. it will be cold tonight. there is our system. it's moving to southern california. it will swing in. 50s on temperatures. sigalert in san francisco. napa airport is 53. antioch 52. san jose 56. redwood city 53. there is a definite chill in the air. more of a pronounced northerly breeze, not too bad right now. we get a break. there is another system on the way for friday. it looks really weak and will probably fall apart and not do much. 37 in tahoe.

52 in ukiah. there goes our system. so sunny and breezy, not too bad, sunny and cool. some clouds over the hills. rain ends for now. the weekend looks good. 50s and 60s. these are well below average for this time of year. mostly sunny, maybe a few partly cloudies. tomorrow morning some 30s, sunny to mostly sunny. maybe a weak system friday. sunday mid-70s. maybe 80 monday. >> thank you. a rare double header in oakland today for a's fans. the reason for the treat. t mobile will no longer carry black beer phones in its stores. what to do if and you have blackberry and use t mobile.

. factory orders and hiring both up. a live look at wall street, the dow is up 28. the nasdaq is up 2. s&p is trading at an all-time high. it's up 4. t mobile saying goodbye to blackberry. the service provider says it plans to stop selling blackberries on april 25. blackberry owners who use t mobile will still be able to use their feens get product support after the deadline. the contract between the two

companies will not be renewed. t mobile stopped stocking blackberrys last year. commuters in one part of cupertino face big traffic concerns as apple begins construction on its new campus. demolition work has begun on the site bordered by north wolf road, prune ridge avenue and homestead road. crews have closed lanes to move utility lines around the former hewlett-packard site. a few minutes, the a's will host a double-header after last night's game against cleveland was rained out. first pitch for the second game is at 6:00 tonight. if you had tickets to last night's game, they're good for tonight's game. tickets printed with today's date are still valid for the afternoon game. breaking news, one man has died after a car crashed into a

canal. rescue crews searched the canal for other victims but did not find any. we still don't know the cause of the car going into the canal. we have a crew on the scene working to get more information and the latest we'll have that at 5:00. thank you for making ktvu your choice for news. we're always here for you on ktvu.com and you can followous twitter and facebook.

>> coming next, a pregnant cow falls down a hill. plus, a horse plunges into a steep ravine. and saving a kitty's life. this is "animal rescue." [captioning made possible by telco productions, inc.]