wound through the city streets. it was dubbed no time off, referring to police officers who had to scrap christmas plans to keep tabs on the protests. ktvu's noelle walker is live in jack london square, where last night they targeted what many see as a symbol of peace. >> reporter: it equated to vandalism at jack london square. they targeted the christmas tree even. ♪ >> reporter: the christmas spirit still glistens in jack london square. >> beautiful! >> isn't it beautiful? >> reporter: even as contractors sort through a web of broken lights. and cracked ornaments, as if the grinch paid a visit. >> not good. >> reporter: a protest in oakland christmas night turned destructive. video posted to the ktvu facebook page shows vandals ripping apart the christmas tree in jack london square. >> the christmas tree is symbolic of all that's good, so they had to go and damage it.

i'm mad. >> reporter: the vandals hit this restaurant, shattering 25 windows. the manager got a call from the alarm company during his christmas dinner. >> they said, hey, we have multiple window breakage alarms going off. they told me how many and i thought maybe it's a system error. it can't be that many broken windows at once. >> reporter: those broken windows, now boarded, the store opening delayed as the cleanup stretched into this afternoon. >> they keep us pretty busy. not that i enjoy this kind of work, going after the protests. >> reporter: today, many are just shaking their heads. >> i mean, why? it's wanton destruction. why would you do it? >> reporter: so we're unaware of any arrests made last night, but the plan is to get the lights working again on the bottom of the tree and hen keep it up through the new year. >> noelle walker, live in oakland, thank you. demonstrators returned to san francisco's union square today, reading the names of black men who have been killed

by police officers. >> lives matter. >> 12 were unrolled on the ground with the name of the dead. one man said the issue cut across racial lines. >> myself as a white person, i feel that my humanity is at stake in this issue. i don't want my kids to grow up in a world where black people are being hunted by the police and killed. >> there were no reports of any violence or arrests. organizers say their goal was to make today's event family- friendly and safe. a neighborhood on the peninsula is on high alert today after they heard what was likely a mountain lion attacking a deer, a few blocks away from the south hillsboro elementary school. though mountain lion sightings are not rare in hillsboro, ktvu found that the animal was lurking in a large tree on someone's property. >> startles you and scares you for a few minutes.

the window was open, so we could hear everything. >> reporter: it's a sound robert dahl hadn't heard before, a rude awakening around 12:30 this morning. first parts of tree branching dropping on his group, then-- >> extremely loud and high- pitched, very high, shrieky scream. it was scary. >> reporter: dahl didn't know what to do, but screamed back, hoping to square it away. his cocker spaniel was petrified. >> our dog wouldn't even leave the bed at all. she was just scared to death. >> reporter: it wasn't until 8:30 this morning, dahl came across this. a baby fawn he's certain was pounced on and eaten by a mountain lion, nestled in the large oak tree the night before. >> there's been a lot of fawns and deer around. probably just waiting, waiting as part of the wild right there. >> reporter: he knows deer frequent his front yard in the middle of the night. >> that's deer droppings. >> reporter: the animals likely coming from the san mateo creek behind his house. >> probably just followed the

water and the creek looking for food. >> reporter: greg brush lives across the street and heard the screeching sound, too. >> we have lots of kids across the street, next door. there are toddlers around, so that's definitely concerning. >> reporter: hillsboro police say the deer had injuries consistent with an animal attack, but couldn't find the mountain lion. >> it's unfortunate that it happened in someone's front yard, but it does happen. wherever there are mountain lions, this is going to happen. >> reporter: police plan to step up patrols and sent out a county-wide alert to be on the lookout, hoping this mountain lion on the prowl doesn't return looking for the next meal. >> i knew it was quite serious. i didn't realize it actually killed something. >> reporter: there are no plans to try and trap the animal. the california department of fish and wildlife does not do that unless these animals are

aggressive towards humans. in hillsboro, ktvu channel 2news. a san francisco sheriff's deputy pleaded not guilty today to charges he attacked a patient at san francisco general. deputy michael lieuling is accused of choking a man in a wheelchair while on duty on november 3rd. the deputy is also charged with filing a false report against the man, claiming the patient attacked lieuling with a cane. he is free on bail. his next court date is set for january 15. authorities on the peninsula are looking for a vehicle involved in a hit and run accident involving a south san francisco police officer. it happened about 11:30 on christmas eve on spruce avenue near parkway in south san francisco. investigators say two officers saw a car heading toward them and that car hit one of the officers and then sped off. the injured officer was treated and released from the hospital. the car is described as a white two-door honda accord with a broken passenger's side mirror and california license plate 6

aoh 563. happening now, the day after christmas is bringing deep discounts to bay area stores and it's bringing in shoppers to spend money on themselves after weeks of buying for others. industry experts are predicting a lot of holiday returns this year, as much as $65 billion worth. a retail giant is trying to cash in on the returns just in case unwanted or unused holiday gift cards. wal-mart is testing out a new program for gift cards. >> reporter: post-christmas deals included discounts of 50 to 70% off. >> bath & body works, a deal where you buy two, get the third one free. >> reporter: traffic was light at bay street in emoryville, but booming at this wal-mart in san leandro. >> it's crowded in there, but it's really, really crowded at the other wal-mart. >> you've been to two wal-marts today? >> actually, i have. what i didn't see over there, i thought i would find it over

here. >> reporter: shoppers like deion morgan stocked up on half- off holiday supplies, while others were thrilled to learn they could use gift cards to nearly anywhere here. >> it's pretty cool. >> reporter: wal-mart is testing an online gift card exchange, allowing customers to turn unwanted gift cards into wal-mart e gift cards that can be used in stores and online. >> i guess it would be more of a convenience since i'm already shopping here. >> reporter: a wal-mart spokesperson said more than 200 retailers and restaurants could be exchanged for up to 97% of the original value. >> still bothers me a bit just because it's not the full value. >> reporter: a move this big- box store is trying to further boost its bottom line this holiday season. >> groceries, now this, right? i guess, yeah, they are trying to connect to the masses. >> reporter: wal-mart's test gift card exchange program will run for several weeks. we'll put information on our website, ktvu.com. melanie woodrow, ktvu channel 2news. new details on a head-on

collision outside sacramento that left four people dead. the chp now says a buick la saber with five people inside swerved and struck a subaru outback. the buick burst into flames. the crash happened at 1:30 this morning on san juan avenue in the community of fair oaks. a couple who lives nearby heard the crash and tried to save the people inside. >> tried the passenger door and he took two females out of the burning car. we went back and tried helping that guy. we couldn't get the door open. >> the only two survivors were the driver of the subaru and one of the people pulled from the buick. according to the chp, two passengers in the buick were not wearing seat belts. well, it's never a good sign when firefighters rush to your home, especially on christmas day. after flames gutted one south bay apartment, the firefighters returned a second time and saved the day. ktvu's ann rubin shows us how.

>> brother, look at our christmas day, bro. >> reporter: this was what jamie gains and her fiance woke up to christmas morning. >> smoke just came right at me. >> reporter: the fire moved quickly through their apartment. gains managed to grab her bath robe. everything else burned. >> i still start crying when i talk about it. we lost everything. >> reporter: that included their christmas tree and the gifts beneath it, which had been intended for their grandchildren. san jose firefighters noticed this and decided to take action. >> we said let's get some toys together and get out there and take care of this family. >> reporter: and so they did. the firefighters returned to the scene of the fire, this time their truck filled with toys. gains' fiance was moved to tears. >> when the firefighters came and opened up the truck, the pictures show him hugging the firefighter. he just broke down and cried. he just couldn't believe it. i couldn't believe it. >> reporter: firefighters say they hold their annual toy drive, in part to be prepared for situations just like this. >> to see the joy on their

faces and the kids in the family, to do that little extra for them is, it's -- it seems small, but it's so huge. >> reporter: gains says not only did the firefighters save lives that day, they saved christmas. >> everybody was, like, in awe of all the gifts they had brought us. it was just so amazing. we thanked them so much. it wouldn't have been christmas for our grandkids without that. >> reporter: the couple isn't sure where they will go next or how they will even begin to replace the belongings they lost in the fire. relatives have set up a go fund me page on their behalf. in san jose, ann rubin, ktvu channel 2news. he told us he thought it would be a curse that would drag him down. >> but today, he is a division 1 athlete. >> this is something i can use to my advantage. this is what made me who i am. it's really how you react to adversity that shows who you are as a person. >> coming up next, it's more than a story about a stanford football player. it's a story about fighting adversity in your life.

. >> plus, you can call him one lucky dog. home alone, he stumbled out of a 15-floor window and fell to the ground. the miraculous landing that could mean he'll be walking in just weeks. >> temperatures cooling off rapidly. coming up, the areas that will be in the upper 20s first thing tomorrow morning and i'll let you know if we have rain clouds to talk about for the rest of the year.

. austin tubbs is the third string long snapper for his football team. he's not on scholarship. why is his story so significant? >> austin has tourette's syndrome, rare for a varsity athlete. scott reiss reports the neurological disorder helped define an unlikely team hero.

♪ >> reporter: if you blink, you might miss it. austin tubbs blinks often, yet misses nothing. >> i blink sporadically, which is nice, but people think i'm flirting. >> it's not something he hides. he's out front with it, but it's also something that's never been a problem. >> reporter: when austin was younger, it was a problem. the symptoms were more severe. the audience, less forgiving. >> used to be much tougher for him. the younger kid in the school, kids are in school. >> something he had to deal with and that was kind of something he had to push through and kind of learn how to handle for certain points. >> i would shrug my shoulders, bob my head, had to blow on my hands one time. that made the least sense to me. oddly enough, i was at my most still when i was playing football. when i get down to play, i am just a statue. >> run! >> reporter: perfect form and

the perfect demeanor to go with it. >> you use it as a sense of humor, to be honest. he'll make jokes about it and if you can laugh at yourself, what else can hurt you? >> it's a funny thing. i played center for a little bit and when anyone went offsides, they were like, come on, you're jumping more than the guy with turrets, what are you doing! >> it makes him the strong, nice guy he is now. >> something that i thought was a curse that would drag me down for the rest of my life, that i would never be normal and i realized it's something i can use to my advantage, what made me who i am. it's really how you react to adversity that shows who you are as a person. >> reporter: austin's condition may not keep him off the field, but his position on the depth chart does. there's a lot of repetition, maybe boredom on a field completely separate from where the team practices. that kind of dedication makes him the ultimate team player. >> it's easily the most monotonous thing i've ever done

in my entire life. >> it can be a grind sometimes. okay. i'm going out to do the same thing 200 times today and 200 times tomorrow. >> reporter: all this, despite knowing he would probably never get into a game. >> touchdown stanford! >> reporter: but on august 30th, the stars aligned. stanford was blowing out uc davis and in the blink of an eye, austin got his chance. >> i ran out and i lined up on the ball and i'm, like, huh, the game looks bigger from out here. >> it's awesome, because it's something he worked so hard for and we finally got to see. >> my favorite part absolutely was running off the field. a lot of the coaches and every single one of the players and the equipment guys and sports staff were losing and cheering for me. people ran up and hugged me, really happy. you know what? i haven't gotten to go in as much as i said, but i have a hundred plus guys here that absolutely love me that are family to me, and it was the coolest feeling in the world, knowing that many people were happy for me. >> reporter: at stanford, scott reiss, ktvu channel 2news.

>> austin and stanford will play maryland at the foster farms bowl on tuesday at levi's stadium. well, a small dog is expected to make a full recovery after he survived a 15- story plunge from an apartment balcony. sammy the boston terrier was sitting in the sun when he slipped through the railings at his owner's home, and plunged 15 floors down. luckily for sammy he picked a good place to land. >> there's a pool and a hot tub and the dog went directly into the hot tub. he hit the hot tub, intentionally started swimming to get out. he swam it three times, swam the stairs, pulled himself out. >> the 13-year-old dog suffered a cracked pelvis and broken ribs. vets say sammy should be walking again in just a few weeks. >> that's pretty miraculous!

tomorrow afternoon, by 2:00 and 3:00. here we go with the 50s. with the cooler start tomorrow morning, tomorrow afternoon

will be schooler than today. forecast highs, lots of 50s for san jose, 57. san mateo, 55. santa cruz, 58 degrees. here is a look ahead at your five-day forecast. partly sunny skies into sunday, also into monday. cold pool of air moves in once again for tuesday and wednesday. we could be greeting 2015 with lots of sweaters and jackets, but no rain clouds to talk about in the five-day forecast. with all the rainfall recently, if you've been outside for a walk, it is so green out there, with all the hills, all that rain. >> feels clean. >> yeah, making a big impact. but unfortunately, we need more. it's not showing up at least in the five day, but that could change into next year. >> thanks, mark. former 49ers quarterback will not be on the field this weekend due to a lacerated spleen. we'll tell you who. >> and colin kaepernick has revealed his off-season plans. scott reiss will tell you what they are, next in sports.

. with christmas now behind us, the city of san francisco is urging its residents to recycle their christmas trees and give them another life. >> this morning, a giant chipper transformed christmas trees into mulch as part of the

annual christmas tree collection program. city officials say the program will help san francisco make progress towards its goal of achieving zero waste by 2020. a two-week tree collection is set to begin on january 2nd on regular service days. the city is just asking residents to bring their trees to the curb and not place them

a ton of talent. just needs help to make the most of it. >> a little bit here, a little bit there, try to make sure i'm staying up on things. it's hard to break habits in- season. you don't want to completely try to change something because it can throw off everything else you're doing. >> there's value there. quarterbacks are always trying to, you know, improve their play and find something, find one thing or find two things to help, to get better, and colin's always been that type of player. from k asm p to alex smith, who will miss sunday's regular season finale against the chargers because of a lacerated spleen. smith suffered the injury last week. the chiefs can still make the playoffs, but they need a win and some help. in the world of college bowl games, we have the heart

of dallas bowl, formerly the ticket city bowl, played in the cotton bowl. now that we have that straight, illinois and louisiana tech, that's tech the mascot, a bulldog. that is riley o'toole, the quarterback. not a very good one on this play, picked off by xavier woods, 69 yards back the other way. louisiana tech gets its ninth win of the season, 35-18. couple of more bowl games today, then five bowl games tomorrow, including the holiday bowl, the sun bowl. we're getting pac-12 teams, maybe more local interest starting tomorrow. >> going to be a busy weekend for college football. >> always is, but a great weekend. >> interesting off season for the 49ers. >> no doubt. >> thank you, scott. well, a clear day is making way for a cold night here in the bay area and temperatures in some parts are about to drop below freezing. we'll track the conditions tonight on the 10:00 news and give

d news yesterday. um, phil's mom died. it wasn't unexpected, he was with her, and she went very peacefully in her sleep. she and i had a special connection. we all did. but mostly me. she said i was just like her. was she weirdly competitive, too? the whole family is going down to florida tomorrow to be with phil for the service. it's such a relief. i can feel how much he needs me right now. there they are. hey, guys. oh! oh, you brought my neck pillow. i missed you so much. phil, i'm so sorry. thanks. grace was such a kind and whimsical soul. the different animals she put antlers on for christmas cards-- inspired. not a single one was photoshopped.