made an arrest in a deadly shooting. he was wanted in the shooting death of gabriel wallace on december 15. witcher is charged with second degree murder. we have an 8 on your side consumer alert to tell you about tonight. viewers have contacted 8 on your side or our help line rather to report skimming devices on gas station pumps. those skimming devices can steal your credit card info so we have been digging deeper into this issue. 8 on your side's jeff patterson joins us live with more. >> reporter: good evening stacie schaible. these could be placed in a gas pump and you would never know it until the fraudulent charges show up. a woman in fish hawk ranch contacted 8 on your side when she believes it happened to her son. >> it was his first time using his debit card. two days later we found

>> reporter: lori daley filed a police report after her son's account was hacked. >> it was his first charge. this is absolutely where it happened. >> reporter: on monday, we reported about a suspected skimming device problem at another 7/11 down the road. a number of neighbors were complaining about the issue on facebook. >> a lot of people were posting about it saying they had their cards compromised here. >> reporter: but while we were there, the owner of the franchise came out to confront us. >> you didn't ask me if i wanted to be on camera. >> you walked up to me. >> reporter: he announced he is doing everything he can to protect his pumps. >> there is a special lock with a special key that you can copy anywhere. and there is a sticker. >> reporter: he showedtous locks on the pump and showed us he checks the pumps everyday. but couldn't explain why people

cards have been compromised here. >> so you don't believe anybody has had their information compromised? >> no. i mean, we checked. we made sure because of the situation we have about the scammer. >> reporter: yeah, the hillsborough county sheriffs office strongly recommends you don't use a debit card here. use a credit card at the pump. and to be perfectly safe, pay inside. >> it seems like nobody pays inside anymore jeff. what is 7/11 says about it? >> reporter: i wish i knew. i tried since monday to contact their corporate media relations a. i called them. i e-mailed them. they simply have not responded. >> all right, jeff patterson, live in tampa tonight. thank you. police in temple terrace are looking for several people pretending to be cops. these imposters look and act like police officers. they knock on doors and present themselves with authority. in one case, the fake cops were

house and they may have taken some personal information from the owner. you don't want to fall from this. if someone shows up at your place, ask to see their credentials. >> it is similar to a drivers license. but it has the police department on it. it has a badge, a picture. >> if thaw doesn't do it, you might as well call the police to verify the person at your door is supposed to be there. in polk county, deckives need your help tracking down a person who stole a big rig. this is the semitractor trailer we are talking ability. thieves managed to steal it from a commercial property in auburndale, that is a big truck to steal. it was taken some time between monday night and tuesday morning. and a reward is being offered for information in this case. in pinellas county, largo police are trying to a identify a couple of robbers. here is video from the citco they robbed. two armed men robbed the gas

if you have information, you are asked to call crime stoppers. and still to come, taking the plunge in tarpon springs. >> it is is a tradition more than a century old. we will show you why thousands came out to celebrate. >> plus, sick and tired of waiting for appointments. 8 on your side investigates why working. >> after the clouds rolled in, we ended up with 67 degrees and breezy. it was a coolish feeling day. we expect a bit more sunshine tomorrow. but rain chances back just in time for the weekend.

>> it is a someday in tarpon springs. a day the greek orthodox church celebrates the baptism of jesus in the river. the diving of the cross. young men jumped into the cold waters. the archbishop of the church threw a white wooden cross into the water. that is the cue for the teams to jump in. as you can see, there's the one who retrieved the cross said to have special blessings for the coming blear. anderson combs of new port

>> got a message for your family? >> i wan to thank them for all they have done in my life and i love them all. >> this is the 110th year the epiphany has been held in tarpon springs. bicyclists listen up. you may need to register your bike before you hit the road. you will have the opportunity to do that in hillsborough county. the sheriffs office is hosting a bike registering event from 9:00 a.m. until 1:00 p.m. registering your bike helps prevent theft and increases the chance that you will get your bike back should it be stolen. and, one of the biggest power ball jackpots ever is up for grabs tonight. and hundreds of people are scooping up what they hope will be the lucky half a billion dollars ticket. $500million. just think about it. tonight's drawing will be at 10:59:00 p.m. we will have the numbers for you tonight on newschannel8 at 11:00.

convenient store after this. >> my wife said did you go? not yet. >> they are still available. they don't run out. that's the good news. >> only one though. we want that to be the lucky one. >> i like that. save your money right? well, sick and tired of waiting for appointments. >> the va set up a program to give veterans the care they need more quickly. but is it working? what 8 on your side found out

>> now, an 8 on your side investigation. sick and tired. billions of dollars have been spent to provide our nation's veterans medical treatment faster. but are they getting what they need? we are talking about a lot of money here spent on this. taxpayers shelled out $10 billion last year to help roll out the veteran's choice program. >> it is designed to get veterans in to see doctors more quickly. senior investigative reporter steve andrews is here. >> reporter: the va acknowledges that the veteran choice program is complicated, needs streamlining but it says it has had some success. tell that to lewis who has waited months to see doctors. he served his country as a marine from 1969 to 71. now, 66 years old living in

from hepatitis c. >> it is only going to be harder and harder to treat s. and the longer i wait, how much liver will i have left? >> reporter: he is enrolled in the veteran's choice program. rather than tracking all the way to the va hospital, he can seek treatment from private doctors close tore home. >> they are supposed to get you an appointment within 30 days. >> reporter: it was passed when congress learned veterans were dying waiting for medical appointments. the government poured 10 billion of your tax dollars into the veteran's choice program last year. healthnet administer it is program in this half of the country. >> it took longer than going to the va. >> reporter: according to lewis, he waited since november to get appointments with doctors. he shows up for appointments

been approved resulting in unproductive phone calls. >> they put you on hold. they have to look it up in the computer. oh yeah, we don't know what happened. somebody dropped the ball. and you start all over again. >> the va just seems to have in their genes this incapability of streamlining the system. >> reporter: since the va rolled out the program in 2015, the number of veterans waiting more than 30 days for an appointment has actually grown from 300 to more than 500,000. >> that is what they were funded for. >> reporter: here is the kicker. it took six months for him to get approved to be included thinking that he could get faster access to doctors. >> you say health net administers this program. so you have to get with them

>> i reached out to health net. i was put on hold several minutes and told we will get back to you. here is a surprise. haven't heard back yet. >> nothing yet. >> my, my, my. well stay on it. >> we will. >> thanks steve. well, the clouds after some early sunshine really gave it kind of a cool feel to the day. we will stay with a bit of cool temperatures in the low 60s . show you radar in a couple of seconds. now for tomorrow, at 8:00 a.m., 58 degrees. quite a few low clouds still left around. 71 degrees at noon. pleasant temperatures. mostly dry conditions. we are expecting. great shot from paul in eagle 8 fourth quarter d. 65 degrees this evening.

57 degrees at daybreak. temperatures warmer than average this time of the year. the average low 51 degrees. and in the afternoon, 74 degrees. 61 degrees currently. in lakeland, clear water. 61 degrees saint pete. brooksville, 65. north port, this area of low pressure further to the south will continue to develop, but it will stay well to the southeast. that is good news. it will continue however to help create an easterly flow into the state. and that will drive some low clouds and a few showers into the east coast especially. a few of those may continued to make their way across the state into the evening hours. you see them going pretty good at this point. a little more substantial. we are talking a low top clouds associated with these showers so places like melbourne, sebastian, all rolling off here to the east and west. some of these are holding together in places like southeast polk county to create

down to sebring and north of lake placid. we will leave that in the forecast for the evening hours. don't be surprised to see a few drops on the windshield. low pressure stays to the east. the clouds associated with that. but cloud cover will continue with the morning low clouds. amp sunshine. as we get into friday, we will see showers possible as a result of an area of low pressure moving in from the west. that will stir up a few showers as you can see here, now as we go long range on the european computer models, an area of low pressure will clear the area. we are watching to the west for a cold front bringing a better chance of showers especially the second half of the day into the early part of sunday. that is our rain chance. you can see the time stamp there. so this front will approach the area late. rain pushing through early sunday. then we will start to see coming temperatures building in behind that. that is when the rain will end. you can see the trend carry

down in the 60s . low 60s . able to start the day tomorrow. that day throughout the way. not expecting much in the way of precipitation. 77 degrees for friday. same for saturday. and the rain chance there at 50% on saturday and the temps start to fall back into the average really this time of the year. upper 60s near 70 degrees is our average. we are a bit above that and a bit below that. it all averages out to average high of 70 degrees. so the rain chances are really for saturday. lated saturday. >> yeah. you know, that rain bow you showed didn't look real. loom looked like it was photo shopped. >> that came from our own paul. we can trust him. >> is it on your facebook page? i want to see it again. >> i will do that. we are all chases the lights. not the rainbows. next in sports, who will make spite this year's class at the baseball hall of fame? >> and a key member of the

job in another team. dan lucas tells us why his role is so important to the bucks'

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>> ken griffie jr. was nominated into the hall of fame. what in the world were the other three writers thinking? but, junior and piazza heading to cooperstown. we are shedding tears of joy. bucks fans have their eye on offensive coordinator dirk cutter and what the architect holds for him.

office has landed an interview with the tennessee titans for their general manager job. his name is john robinson. she the man on the left of your screen next to jason light. he is the bucks director of player personnel. he keeps a watch on available players and the master plan for the bucks nfl draft. of this season, robinson helped discover with an nfl.com survey called the top rookie class in the nfl. jameis winston was no drainer but donovan smith paid off. the bucks enter this off season with major needs on defense and they have to fix it through free agency as well as a less predictable draft. robinson has earned the right to run his own front office, but the bucks could sure use his services for at least another year. well, at the end of the month, the nhl all-star game will stage a four-team three on three tournament to cash in on

overtime format. and two lightning players will take part. congratulations to a well deserved goal tender ben bishop. he is joined by the captain of course. stephen stamkos. they will play for the attic division team captained by jaromir jagr of the panthers. this did not begin well for the bulls. the lightning fell behind the flames 2-0 before stamkos scored his 17th goal of the season. the bolts have a couple of the days off now before taking on the oilers friday night. and our old buddy. vinny had a busy afternoon traded to the la kings from the flyers. he announced he will retire from hockey at the end of the season. so marty this year, now vinny, brad richards is now playing. but man, that is going to be

>> all from that 2004 stanley cup. nbc nightly news is next. >> you can get news any time by downloading the wfla app. >> we will see you back here at 11:00. steve and jim back at 7:00. >> have a great night!

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