stop sticks that slowed the car, the driver was arrested but his passenger got out and took off. they had help from delaware state police to search from the air, but tonight that man still on the run. investigators tell me they do have the driver of that car, that he is out of wilmingt ingw delaware. zbl turning now to your first week of weatheinter, here's a l look at cape may where it's been a pretty clear day outside, nice and calm. >> clear out some space for us,

glenn, because it's pretty mild out there. >> it's chilly weather because it's the end of december, it's hard to get into the 50s or 60s. we see clouds that have increased across the area, but they're not providing any kind of precipitation and it's just preventing the temperature from going up anymore more than it has. and these numbers are 9, 10, 11 degrees warmer than at this time yesterday. wilmington, 11 degrees warmer. in new jersey, not quite as much of a jump. 62 degrees warmer in vine larnd. we jumped up at least 10 degrees from yesterday to today. that's why it feels very comfortable.

in philadelphia, the temperature has gone up, it's a slow temperature increase here. as we get into the weekend, we're talking about temperatures 10 to 15 degrees above normal. so it's going to be -- the temperature's not really dropping very much during the night, instead of being in the teens like some of these places were in the lehigh valley, it's much, much milder during the night tonight. we'll tell you when we do expect some rain during the holiday weekend coming up. we have new details on the death of a 2-year-old philadelphia boy, police charged 21-year-old ramir custus. custus is the child's mother's

boyfriend. police say her son, zaire had drugs in his system. a sex assault suspect is charged in a three-year old case. police charged a man for slashing a woman's throat. he was already accused of several sexual assaults in philadelphia. denise joins us now live. >> dna linked all the cases to one man and today he's charged with killing a delaware county mother and endinging a vicious crime spree. >> this is probably the most dangerous criminal that i have ever seen in my years. >> killing natasha gibson.

>> i'm just devastated. for us as a community, nothing like this has happened. it was so sad. >> police chased him to west philadelphia where he dropped the gunning down a sewer grate. >> multiple stab wounds to her body, her face, her neck. >> reporter: investigators say allan's crime spree began in september. in those crimes, detectives say he slashed one woman's throat and choked the others until they were unconscious before sexual assaulting them. >> some of the evidence that we were able to recover was a surveillance video. we have some eyewitnesses and physical evidencfevidence.

>> reporter: prosecutors say that allan took natasha's purse during the attack. allen also is the crime suspect in a murder back in july. if convicted in that case, he could face the death penalty. overseas right now, a massive man hunt is under way for the man allegedly involved in a truck attack in a berlin christmas market. investigators identified the suspect today as 24-year-old from tunisitunisia. a reward equivalent to $125,000 is being offered this afternoon.

this was the scene earlier today where does sen dozens of refug together in a show of support to sing. the crowd sang christmas c carrolls and said you will not divide us. shoppers now have to get their bags checked at the entrances and there are more police patrols. visitors and workers alike said they wanted to send a message by coming out in numbers. >> back here at home, president-elect trump spoke out about what happened in berlin today, he said what happened at the market is disgraceful and targeted more than just christians. >> it's an attack on humanity, that's what it is. it's an attack on humanity and it's got to be stopped.

>> mr. trump also defended his position on creating a muslim registry or a ban on certain refugees into the u.s. the death toll has risen after a massive explosion in mexico. 32 people are now dead and dozens more are badly burned. keith jones is following this tragedy. >> many in mexico -- noisy firecrackers and rockets. the chain reaction explosion rip #ed through it's stalls. some of the injured have burns over 90% of their bodies.

among the dead, a 3-month-old baby girl. drone footage showed smoke pouring out of the market. people say there was a heavy scent of gunpowder and nearby homes were also damaged. this isn't the first time there's been trouble at the fireworks market. in 2005, a fire engulfed the same market in september of 2006. er. we have new information about a pileup in gloucester county involving this semi, the driver failed to stop for traffic in front of him, which set off a chain reaction. sky force 10 was also over this rescue in delaware county, fire crews pulled two people to

safety after this car went into a ditch near saw mill road and earl's lane in radner township. there is no word on what caused the car to go off the road, though. sky force 10 was also over a mobile home fire that broke out around 1:00 this morning near clay hill. investigators still looking into what started this fire. sky force 10 in montgomery county, where a fire started at about 8:00 this morning on east third street in pots town. no reports of any injuries, the fire started in the first floor apartment and then spread to the pardon me on the second floor. investigators are still looking into the cause. now to bucks county where a shopping landmark is open for business again today, following this fire. flames tore through a pair of

businesses at peddlers village tuesday night. randy gyllenhaal is there this afternoon. >> and randy, you got to see the damage in the daylight, what is it looking like? >> reporter: well, peddlers village is open for business, but these two stores that were damaged are not. the nut kettle is one of the orginal stores left open at peddlers village. a year ago, a family lost almost everything in the blaze, another store also damaged in one of the busiest shopping weeks of the fire season. >> it was supposed to be their busiest week selling christmas gifts. but now most of the merchandise is burned and destroyed. the fire started inside the popular nut kettle, a long time staple at peddlers village. >> i'm really unhappy they had my favorite nuts. >> reporter: employees say the

fire started in a popcorn machine. >> and sparked a fire in the popcorn machine. >> lizzetti got all the shoppers out including a toddler. >> one of the co-workers grabbed the 3-year-old and she runs out. and the other two was carrying, everybody get out of the store. >> and my heart just sunk to the ground. >> reporter: other shop owners here say the community is now rallying around the two businesses who were banking on this final week of christmas sales. >> people know the nut kettle, i mean it's been here for many, many years. and it's just going to be a loss. a big loss. >> this is a close, tight knit community, everyone cares about each other, especially right before christmas. really, the concern and the love is really coming out right now. >> reporter: and back here life at peddlers village, you can see the nativity scene that was out

front did not suffer any serious damage, most of the damage was inside the building. i am told that the family who owns the nut kettle lost almost everything, their supplies, their product, even some personal christmas presents. peddlers village is organizing a way for shoppers to help. a lehigh valley woman who left her three children alone in a minivan while she gambled, she's going to be heading to jail now. she admitted to leaving her kids alone in a parking garage while she went gambling at the sands. new jersey governor chris christie is holding a candle light vigil for those who have died from drug addiction. the vigil taking place on the front steps of the state house. the governor's office says the vigil is meant to end the stigma

of drug addiction. the state of pennsylvania is investing hundreds of millions of dollars in the port of philadelphia. >> the $200 million will go towards improving the infrastructure, warehouse and equipment. the aim is to turn it into one of the leading seaports in the country. most of the money will go to the packer avenue marine terminal. >> work on the port project will start next year, it will continue through 2020. one of philadelphia's neighborhoods has won millions from the u.s. department of education. the community around drexel university is just one of six areas in the country to win a 2016 promise grant. $6 million will go toward a five-year project to help break the cycle of poverty. the money will go to enrichment programs to public schools.

30 million in federal grant money is on its way to camden. the grant will benefit the center for family services in camden and expand the work they do to benefit the city's young people. the congressman says this grant is evidence that camden is thriving. >> in pennsylvania, one pocono ski resort is launching a new ski resort experience. guests will be able to be part of what's being called galactic snow tubing. the after dark activity is going to feature laser lit lanes and an led light show. >> that's going to be really cool. >> but it's funny on this first day of winter, we're actually feeling a warmup. >> it doesn't really feel like winter. >> glenn "hurricane" schwartz is following that for us. >> it's all relative, after the bitter cold air that we have seen over the last several days,

today's temperatures in the 40s seem much, much more comfortable. despite all the clouds across the area. not much wind, that's another reason it feels fairly comfortable, and we're at or above 40 degrees across about the entire area. as we go into neighborhoods here in philadelphia, while it's 43 at the airport. 4 4 at rittenhouse, penns port and down to 40 in andorra. so everybody is at least 40 degrees. despite all of these clouds that you see and the clouds that will be with us much of the night tonight, preventing the temperature for going down very much. there's snow around the great lakes, but as you can see, it's moving straight to the east, so that's going up toward new york state. so as we go into tomorrow, we're going to have a mix of clouds, and more sun later in the afternoon, and look at the temperatures up, several degrees from where we are today, chestnut hill at 46 degrees,

la langhorn 46. just about everybody in the 40s, but longport at the shore, 50 degrees, newark and rehoboth beach at 50 plus. and then it just keeps getting warmer. i mean it's not a huge warming trend and it's just warm enough for the eagles game tomorrow night. the wind will be up a little bit. so it's going to feel cooler than this, so you obviously have to bring some kind of coat. but we have seen way worse in late december, at night of all things too. we're dry for tomorrow. and starting on friday too. but watch the clouds start to increase, late friday, and into friday night. and as we go into saturday morning, now we start to see some moisture. now it's possible there could be a few flakes of snow, lehigh valley, up toward the poconos,

but this is generally rain on saturday morning. it could be fairly significant rain, more than just an hour or two of showers, then it looks like it's going to move out as we go into saturday afternoon and into saturday night. white christmas, well not in philadelphia this year, however the last 64 years, it's snowed at least some flakes, only 15 times the most we have had was about four inches of snow 89. for this year on christmas eve, we expect it generally to be dry, the temperatures a little bit above average, lehigh valley, 39 degrees at 6:00. could see a few flakes in the morning. but everybody is dry. again, a little bit above normal temperatures. it's also the weekend that hanukkah starts. rarely happens that both holidays are in the same weekend, we're in the mid 40s, with fairly light winds.

and for christmas day, we're seeing temperatures even a little bit milder than on saturday. starting off in the 30s and then going into the 50s. 52 in philadelphia, 49 in lehigh valley, 52 degrees in delaware. # it's looking pretty good for christmas unless you were looking forward to snow. new year's eve is now 10 days away. erika martin is down at penn's landing. >> reporter: we do have your exclusive penn's landing forecast, as you mentioned, temperatures are mild for the next few days, and then we'll cool down as we end this year,

2016 and begin 2017. so we're tracking what to expect for new year's eve. right now it looks like it will be dry, however we do have much colder air sliding into place. over the next couple of days, your ten-day outlook looks like this. 50s by that weekend as glenn mentioned. it looks like we do have that passing shower early and on saturday. after that, it looks mainly dry until thursday, we could see something moving through, a system and then temperatures start to dip by the end of the following week, by new year's eve, temperature also only top out in the upper 30s, however temperatures around midnight, it will be only in the 20s, but the great news is it's going to be dry. so at least we'll take that much, just be sure you bundle up and layer up. >> and it's your place to turn for the new year's eve fire works, we'll have live coverage

of the first display at 6:00 p.m. the tree gave a football field a fes tiff feel. >> yes, but it's how that tree got there and the reason why it caused controversy. plus a police stop that was anything but routine, a driver expecting a speeding ticket ends up learning a life lesson. you're going to see it for yourself, next. and the 41 cent squabble that's putting the mcdonald's menu in the spotlight this afternoon. first here's a look at the closing bell on wall street, where stocks closed down and the dow once again failed to close above 20,000.

back now on nbc10, with a controversy involving a rally surrounding president-elect trump. the mayor of mobile, alabama is apologizing for having this tree cut down and moved to the stadium where it was used as decoration for the rally. the mayor of mobile says it was decision and he will personally pay for three trees to be planted in the park where the tree was cut down. dash cam video shows an officer helping a student to tie his necktie. the officer made sure the tie fit perfectly before letting him go with just a warning. winter has arrived, but it's feeling a little less like winter in recent days. >> things are warming up out there, right, glenn? >> some that warmer air coming up from the south.

i'll tell you how long that will last, plus what you can expect over the holiday weekend. next in my exclusive first alert forecast. it's a struggle to try and put a turkey in a dorm fridge plus all the other things you need to do to prepare for thanksgiving. >> she said she had to do thanksgiving without her new fridge. she called nbc10 responds.

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built for business. back to our weather now, today is the first day of winter, but it really didn't feel like it out there. most people had on the gloves and the scarf. this was in camden as this warmer weather moved in. and taking a live look out at boathouse row, you can see a beautiful afternoon outside.

first alert meteorologist glenn "hurricane" schwartz is out on this first mild first day of winter. >> and glenn, you were saying the cold stuff is going to stay away through the end of the year? >> i think just about until the end of the year. for new year's eve, it's going to start getting cold again. but not as cold as the last couple of days. >> we're expecting a relatively mild weekend, the skiers are still going to have a good time. because they're going to be able to make snow just about every night through the weekend there in the poconos. it's mild enough to be comfortable. but not too warm to rucin the skiing. it's 45 in dover, 42 degrees in vineland. yesterday, we barely got above freezing and tonight we're barely going to get down to freezing, a lot of clouds around, that's going to help keep the temperature up. but as you can see, it doesn't really change much from 10:00

p.m. to 6:00 a.m., lehigh valley, the temperature actually goes up, it goes up in new jersey from 32 to 34. that's a sign of the atmosphere warming up and there's not much doubt about that. the milder air, starting to come in, as we go into saturday, and it is in full force by monday. so if you think today was comfortable, just wait until then, but here's some colder air coming in, right toward the end of the year. we'll get into all that and when showers are coming this weekend in just a few minutes. a philadelphia man charged with murder in the brutal stabbing of a delaware county mother. byron allen is charged with killing natasha gibson, just steps from her friend's home. friends say the attack was random and the sport of killing was the motive. a man involved in a police chase through philadelphia and

the suburbs is wanted by police right now. troopers tried to pull over a car in philadelphia around 1:00 this afternoon, but the driver wouldn't stop. police chased that car but it would. stop. the st the driver was arrested but the passenger got away. a fire that damaged two businesses at peddler's village in bucks county. the fire started inside the popular nut kettle store and spread to a store next door. the fire started in a popcorn machine. imagine trying to do thanksgiving dinner without your refrigerator. >> that's what one woman said and her calls only led to more frustration. so she contacted harry hairston and nbc 10 responds. >> you want to talk about a woman who had a stroke of bad

luck. she tells us she lost a refrigerator full of food not once but twice in just two days. >> we came down in the morning one morning and when we opened it up, the fridge, you could tell right away that the temperature wasn't right. >> angela hamilton says she checked the control panel. she called sears that's where she purchased it 14 months ago. but hamilton tells us when the repairman arrived, he didn't have the part to fix it. that was back in september. she says weeks went by with no word from sears. and each time she called for help. her frustration mounted. >> every time i call, i have to start from the beginning and explain everything that happened. >> reporter: eventually another repairman showed up to make the repairs but the problem wasn't solved. >> two days later, after we had filled the refrigerator back up with food, it stopped working again. >> reporter: turned out it was the wrong part.

>> i was livid. >> reporter: to make matters worse, hamilton says she went through thanksgiving using a fridge more suitable for a college dorm. >> it was quite the struggle to put a turkey in a dorm fridge along with all the other stuff that you need to prepare for thanksgiving. >> reporter: hamilton tell us her calls and e-mails to sears went nowhere, then she contacted nbc10 responds. when we contacted sears about why the repairs were taking so long, they took action. >> i got a new refrigerator so i'm thrilled. >> a new refrigerator comes with a new manufacturer's warranty and it says they hope that hamilton will remain a loyal customer. >> a holiday meal with a dorm fridge. >> well, listen, let's check out

the recovery counter, we're well over $250,000, $254,585. if you have a consumer complaint for nbc10 responds. . >> tomorrow after calls for help went nowhere, the family made one more call. now to south jersey where dozens came together to help families in need this holiday season. free christmas dinners were given out at matt's automotive in glassboro today. more than 2 h50 families showedp to get the free meal. the mcdonald's menu is in the spotlight this afternoon and all over 41 cents. what one man claims is happening under the golden arches next.

and don't even try it. what ikea is telling people not to attend.

tonight ikea is warning against store sleepovers. the store officials are taking it seriously, they say anyone caught trying to sleep at their stores will be charged with trespassing. a chicago man is taking on mcdonald's restaurants. they say their value meal aren't actually a value at all a combo meal of two cheeseburgers medium fries and a drink costs 41 cents more than if you had bought each item individually. you do the math. the lawsuit is about principal. no comment yet from mcdonacdona.

>> one local team took their championship to the streets today. when you can expect to see some rain in your neighborhood, that's ahead in my first alert forecast.

live look at lincoln financial field. the giants here tomorrow and nbc10 is the only place to see the action, and danny pommells is joining us from the csn studios. >> the giants can clinch a playoff spot with a win, the birds surely don't want to watch their rivals celebrate on the

eagles home field. the last game, though, carson wentz, he's thrown six touchdown in 12 picks. preventing the giants from clinching would be a good deal. but doug pederson with more on what his guys need to do as a team. >> they want to do the same thing, they want to win a game too. for their own reasons, for us, it's just a matter of going out and executing and playing our style. i think we got a great opportunity, the guys are excited and looking forward to thursday night. >> winning cures everything, we'll have more on the eagles coming up at 5:00 and 6:00. doug pederson talks about not winning a game all season long. >> we'll get you started at 7:00 p.m. with eagles game day kickoff. then it's the birds versus the giants at 8:25.

followed by the eagles game day final after the game. the bucks county now, the high school put on a championship parade. archbishop wood won a championship this year. the parade was followed by a rally inside the school's gym. >> if we would have had a day like this in no, it would have felt freezing cold, but after all that bitter cold air we have had in the last few days, it's comfortable. a lot of clouds out there, no precipitation around, 43 at philadelphia right now, pretty light winds across philadelphia right now. it's at or a little bit above 43 degrees, and nobody even has a 10-mile-per-hour wind.

it's out of the west/northwest. and we go into new jersey for our neighborhoods, clayton 39 degrees, pemberton at 38. but mt. laurel and turnersville h 2 degrees. 42 in lumber on the, 45 degrees in princeton. we can see the cloudy sky are getting some returns on the radar, but that's higher up in the clouds, not moist enough near the ground for that to be reaching, but we'll keep an eye on it just in case. and this area of snow is reaching the ground, but it's also headed toward toronto, not toward pennsylvania. so as we go into tomorrow, we're going to be seeing clouds, especially at the beginning of the day, more sunshine later. we get up to 45 in redding, 44 in eastton. west chester to 45. newtown with 46 degrees. you notice the morning lows

aren't nearly as low as what we have seen the last couple of days, fairmount at 47 degrees, mt. airy, 46. and farther to the east in new jersey, 48, 47 in haddonfield. no rain anywhere in the area. atlantic city up to 50, one of the few place ts there. wilmington and rehoboth beach. it will not be 50 degrees by the time the eagles are playing tomorrow night. but it's not all that cold for this time of the year. it will be a bit breezy, a and so it will feel like it's closer to 30. obviously you have to prepare for that. but we have seen a lot worse in the month of december. especially for a night game. it's a big travel period too, we have been showing you that very few travel problems with this kind of weather pattern, we could see some snow coming up

close to boston. that is on thursday, that's about one issue, we don't see much in the way of any other snow in the next couple of days. you don't see any bitter cold air either, chicago, right near the freezing point, so if they get some snow, it may not stick on all the roads. so i don't expect big problems there. this is the system that's going to be coming in and giving us rain on saturday morning, but you can see the temperatures well above freezing and you have to get way up into new york state to see any kind of snow and temperatures below freezing. now for christmas eve, remember those showers are coming in the morning. probably maybe up until noontime, but by 6:00, there is no precipitation around. temperatures a little bit above average for this time of the year, and as usual it's cooler in the lehigh valley and elsewhere. and for christmas day itself,

we're talking about temperatures starting off in the mid to upper 30s. which is not too cold for this time of the year, and by 3:00 in the afternoon, getting into the 50s. philadelphia 52 degrees. and south jersey at 51 degrees. so that is pretty decent. and the philadelphia temperatures going up to 56 by monday. lehigh valley could start off as a little bit of a wintry mix early saturday morning, before it changes over to some range. temperatures get well above freezing there. and when we get to the 10-day. we'll see more of that milder air. and eventually by new year's it should be cooling down again. >> not too bad. >> except for people who want a white christmas. a massachusetts church is celebrating an early christmas present after a lottery winner donated all of his winnings to

their mission. two weeks ago, a man called st. anthony's shrine and said he wanted his winning lottery ticket to go to the church. it's a mystery who the generous man is. >> we really don't know if it's somebody who's barely getting by and wants to be supergenerous, or somebody who's doing well. but my guess is it's somewhere in between. santa will be giving his toy shop a break and giving cold, hard cash. >> man dress as santa came in a store and started giving away $100 bills. >> that is a generous santa. now to a man what's anything but your everyday mailman.

>> one postal carrier who's going to new heights to spread some holiday cheer. >> forget the elf on the shelf, how about an elf on his mail run?

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there they will. hey, is that for me? oh, thank you. >> this guy is a full-time postal carrier, and as you see right there, a part-time elf. he's making his way during the most festive time of year. >> it's making getting the mail more fun than ever for people along his route. >> reporter: he drives a local

postal service truck, he has the normal postal id on his arm, but in december, he's not only a letter carrier, but he's an elf. he's originally from st. louis. he has a naturally elfish mid warn accent. he's got the spongy curly shoes. he goes door to door delivering the mail. and with the letters, he also drops off a little shot of happiness for any kids waiting to see him. >> hey, is that for me? >> reporter: you drive around town dressed like this, you're going to get a lot of attention. >> hey, you're a cutie. >> when tilo wore the outfit the first time, he had a message to santa.

>> reporter: three years later, tilo the elf is out here every day in december. he spends a month out of his regulation uniform. but he says his bosses are fine with it. because he love what is he does for a living and it's making the hopefully santa delivers this mail carrying elf some good gifts. >> merry christmas. >> in carney's point, tim furlong, nbc10 news. >> an elfie? >> do you think we could get a message to him for me? have i been good this year? >> but you haven't. >> all new at 5:00, he says he spent ten years in prison for a crime he didn't commit. now he's just walked out a free man. we're bringing you the latest developments all new at 5:00. plus, we have loved following

his story. zion harvey was the first to receive a hand transplant at chops. tonight his family takes us inside his home to see how he's recovering. and he has an important message for the christmas season.

tonight all new at 5:00, a fight for freedom. >> a philadelphia man has spent ten years in prison, and just moments ago he walked out a free man. family members say daunte r rawlins was originally convicted of attempted murder which left j jabbar wright paralyzed. >> daunte recaawlins was just released. >> reporter: he walked out of the detention center just a moments ago. he gave his mom a big hug, and he said one of the first things he wants to do now is take a bath. in all seriousness, though, he says that he now wants to work in the criminal justice center and help others like him with situations like his. his is a case of the innocence

project and his mother have been working on for quite a while. >> it's been a long time. >> reporter: that's ava rawlins waiting for his son to be released from prison. daunte rawlins was convicted of attempted murder. >> an innocent man will leave prison nine years, 17 days after he was wrongly convicted. >> reporter: today philadelphia district attorney seth williams says the charges against the 29-year-old are being withdrawn. >> i'm very glad that this miscarriage of justice has been corrected today. >> reporter: outside the criminal justice center today, williams cited new evidence including witnesses, store receipts and cell phone records, they reportedly back up the claim that rawlins was somewhere especially that night.