>> good evening, i'm jennifer leigh. >> i'm josh benson. thanks for being with us tonight. >> a major marijuana trafficking bust in hillsborough county to tell you about tonight. detectives concluded a yearlong investigation called operation hydro hustlers. chip osowski says there were nearly a dozen grow houses in hillsborough and surrounding county being shut down. >> reporter: good evening to you jenn, this investigation began in march of 2015. even seasoned investigators

big this drug ring was when the investigation initially began with grow houses like this one scattered all over hillsborough county. and elsewhere. including citrus, fernando, pasco, polk, and swanee counties. the sheriff explained how sophisticated the operation was run by one julio alvarez. >> he is from miami. he has been operating out of a house in the carolwood area right next to a school and a church. >> reporter: coordinating county wide grow operations like the one you see here. this is video provided by the sheriff's office. you can see the extensive wiring for high powered grow lights. within the past week, deputies started making arrests. more than 20 people now facing numerous charges including racketeering. >> these individuals are directed to place rental

their name. they are given money to cover the monthly bills and are given a portion of the proceeds after a harvest of marijuana. >> reporter: dozens of cars and other assets now seized, deputies even got their hands on a device that makes counterfeit credit cards. the state attorney's office is now working with the court system to make sure the bonds for those arrested are appropriately high and also making sure that if any of those arrested does come up with bond money, that money was not derived from illegal activity. in hillsborough county, i'm chip osowski, newschannel8. >> the sheriff tells us tip ifs citizens were key in investigations like this. if you notice a rental property has the blinds closed, has air conditioners or privacy vents, you may want child authorities cho check it out.

after she was accidentally shot by her four-year-old son. putnam county sheriffs deputies stopped when they saw the car parked partially in the road. she is expected to be okay. going to the dentist can be scary, but what if the person doing your dental work is not legit? this man is behind bars charged with practicing dentistry without a license in naples. he was operating outside of a makeshift office in his home. he was arrested after a botched procedure sent a woman to the hospital. right now, we are awaiting the arrival of democratic presidential candidate bernie sanders. here's a live look at the hall at the fairgrounds in tampa. the sanders event is scheduled to begin at 7:00. you can see the arena is already packed. i think they can hold up to 11,000 people and they are cruising toward that direction. for the first time since her presidential bid in 2008, hillary clinton made a visit to the tampa bay area.

at the ritz in ybor city today. hundreds of people listened as the former secretary of state touched on a a variety of topics. >> go after the predatory drug companies that are engaging in nothing but greed. >> clinton spoke for about half an hour today. she took a shot or two at republican florida governor rick scott. republican candidates are prepping for their last debate before the florida and ohio primaries. donald trump has promised a softer tone after an angry slug fest at the previous gop debate. the debate starts at 9:00 on cnn. we have team coverage of the republican debate for you tonight. keith cate and candace mccowan are live in miami this evening. we will check in with them at 6:00, 7:00, and 11:00. governor rick scott's

joe has a lot of people talking. it started as a conversation about why he has not endorsed anyone in the republican race. joe scarborough was surprised he had not endorsed marco rubio. he didn't answer about hating muslims like donald trump. >> i can tell you what is happening in florida. >> no. no. no. i want to know what is going on in your head governor. we are friends. i want you to answer the question. do you personally think that islam is a religion that hates america? >> joe, what i can tell you in our state is we have a lot of muslims that live in our state. we have a lot of latin americans in our state. we love people in our state. coming here as tourists. we are a great melting pot. that is what i can tell you about our state.

things he wants to talk about. marco rubio, john kasich, ted cruz. >> no. no. no. that's not answering any questions. rick. rick. rick. i know you and joe are friends and this is kind of awkward. but ... can you answer the question or should we scoot? [ laughter ] >> well, i can tell you that, you know, i'm glad everybody is in florida. we are doing well here. the debate will be fun tonight. i hope they talk about jobs. it is a most important issue. >> governor rick scott, thanks for being on. we will move on now. thanks. >> oh, awkward interview is causing a lot of conversation online if you could imagine. what do you any about the way the governor responded to the question? we want to hear from you. you can share your thoughts on our wfla facebook page. in other news, two families ripped apart. a lakeland woman is charged

into the back of another car. the woman inside that car died. newschannel8's melissa moreno joins us live in winter haven. >> reporter: it happened here along winter lake road. you can see the skid marks where the drunk driver slammed mother of two. >> she was my world. she was my best friend. my everything. >> reporter: the loss so sudden and unimaginable. >> i'm entirely just taken by the fact that she gets to go home and my wife doesn't get to come home with me. >> reporter: victoria mccain's wife kelly died in the crash tuesday night. the driver suzanne baldwin is charged with dui manslaughter. she was drunk as she plowed

sent the car flying. the passenger, kelly mccane died at the hospital, her family and friends went to the court hearing to get some closure. >> what made you come here today? >> i want to find out justice is right. >> reporter: kelly had a son and the couple recently had a baby. they were planning to conceive again this month. all of their plans had been shattered. instead of planning for another a funeral. >> what do you have to say to her? >> i know it was an accident. it was a poor decision. i feel sorry for your family and your daughters. >> reporter: definitely an emotional day all-star around. the driver is also a mother. we reached out to her friends. they said she is very remorseful and very sad about what happened. >> yeah.

you mentioned the driver. did the judge allow her to post bond in this situation? >> reporter: he did. he set it at $16,500. we are working to find out if she posted bond at this time. thanks melissa. well, a toy that is tied to a symbol used by pedophiles to identify children available for sex. 8 on your side investigates that. >> and fasten your seat belt. it's a wild ride. coming up, we will put you in the passenger seat of a sports car and see just how fast it can go through the streets of downtown saint pete legally. >> plus, pollen problems. the simple steps you can take season. i'll be listening to that. >> and it was another very warm afternoon today. officially up to 85 in tampa. the warmth continues but some rain chances moving back in. just in time for the weekend. we'll have the details coming up in your forecast. >> we'll have that and more coming up. you're watching newschannel8. the station that is always on

>> now, to an 8 on your side story we are working on for 11:00. a bay area company is offering customers a refund or the opportunity to exchange a toy that is tied to a symbol used by pedophiles to identify children available for sex. sounds so bizarre. meanwhile, 8 on your side investigative reporter steve andrews tells us feld entertainment is looking into why this symbol ended up on one of its toys. >> reporter: you learn something everyday. i have never heard of this and some of the folks i have spoken to in law enforcement haven't either.

a monster truck pillow. look at the little double heart. according to the fbi, that symbolizes a relationship between an adult male or female and a minor girl. this is how these people recognize one another and distinguish their sexual preferences. feld entertainment is located in elle rton. they produce monster jam shows. now they are offering refunds. an entire culture has figured out not only a way to exist, but silently communicate using these sinister seedy symbols. >> so upsetting and there is more to the story. >> absolutely. >> tune in tonight for steve's story coming up on newschannel8 at 11:00.

not every sponsor is dropping maria s sharapova. some say she made an honest mistake. sharapova lost several major deals after she admitted to failing a drug test. the streets of downtown saint petersburg are roaring %-@with the noise of race cars as the fire stone grand prix revs up. >> three days of competition starts tomorrow. but first, peter bernard got a very up close review with a ride in a souped up car. how did you pull this off? >> reporter: good evening josh and jenn. it was fantastic. they invited us and i took them up on the offer. you are about to get a ride on a high performance racing machine. we are standing in the paddock area. this is where the drivers and their cars prepare for the race. all tweaked up and ready. i got a hair-raising two laps around the track. this is what it looks like racing around the bends,

the fire stone grand prix. this car tops out at 140 miles an hour. >> the mistake here is more costly and everything is heightened. >> reporter: jeff courtney with the racing team invited me to go along for a ride. you can see what the drivers seat on the beautiful course is like. >> you are racing past yachts and such. >> kind of like monte carlo. >> reporter: the car jeff drives looks like the one you could buy, but this one has been modified to race. to do it safely, i had to get into this fire suit. yes. it is as hot as the name implies. and, i had to wear a helmet. jeff tells me he has had a few crackups and broke a bone here and there. >> does it get hairy? do you ever think i almost bought the farm? >> of course. otherwise, you are not pushing it hard enough. we run a little more cautious here than we normally would because of the lack of runoff.

stacks of tires are placed to lessen the crash. >> here, it is the concrete alley. it is a little tighter and it is an actual street. there are a lot of imperfections. >> reporter: i didn't even want to think about that. the world ahead becomes a blur. with the walls that come at you that you swear you were about to hit. i was glad to celebrate a successful two laps. we are back here live. that car is a gts racer. this one here is one as well. there are races going on all weekend long. it starts friday, saturday, sunday. some of the practice returns start as early as 7:30 in the morning. going to be a little loud down here. that is how it is. back to you josh. >> looks like you have been doing it your whole life. [ laughter ] all right, you probably have seen it. yellow pollen covering cars all over florida. we have some of the highest levels of pollen in the country. i can attest to that. just look at the map of the country from pollen.com. we are like in red there.

with all the different kinds of pollen, there are also different treatments. doctors recommend eating local honey. taking antihistamines and using nasal sprays. and the weather has been gorgeous this past week. the only downside as jenn mentioned has been the pollen. we are dealing with dry conditions. here's the view from frenchy's. winds a little breezy. bright sunshine. as we have your spring break forecast, more of the same looking good. temperatures in the low 80s near the coast. the water still on the cool side. tomorrow, expect partly cloudy skies. it will be a nice beach day, no rain expected. another dry day for us. also an excellent day to head

john anderson is at 3:30 p.m. through day, expect more of the same. a little bit more cloud cover tomorrow. but not necessarily a bad thing when you are dealing with temperatures reaching into the mid 80s . mild even into the evening hours. you definitely don't need to bring a light jacket with you. it will not get chilly. remaining in the 70s all day long. currently, a lot of places still in the 80s . it 81 in bartow. 84 in weeki wachee. so, warm temperatures around. high pressure in place leaving us with mostly clear skies now. notice out west what we are dealing with. showers and storms across louisiana, texas, we are seeing all the weather system stuck over this region. that is why they have been seeing such massive rainfall totals. here is a look at the last 48 hours. you can see about a foot of rain is what they have seen in northwest louisiana. it is no surprise we are dealing with some severe flooding out that way. now, for us, the area of high

and it will continue to do so overnight. as you wake up tomorrow, expect a mix of rain and clouds. temperatures in the mid 60s . great beach weather if you are spring break this week, you lucked out as things continue to look nice into the start of this weekend. a warm start on saturday. mid 60s again. as we head into saturday afternoon bringing in just a very slim 10% chance of a shower. so, really not going to see much in the way of rain saturday. it will be dry for the most part. it is sunday where we finally start to see the high push out our next weather system move in. and this will bring us the chance of showers through the day. it is not going to rain all day, but we will likely see the rain at some point. the rain will ifect the grand prix. there is a chance to see some showers all the way through the period of the race. temperatures still warm in the mid to upper 70s but don't be surprised to see some rain. you can see sunday is really the main day for the rain. may have some lingering showers

but, the rest of monday is looking pretty good. and, temperatures looking good as weapon. there's no cool-down behind the rain. we will track a weak front in. next week, high temperatures remaining in the low 80s for us. saint patty's day at this point. that is already on the seven day forecast. highs will be near 81 then with a slim 10% chance of a shower. watch the rain chances for saint patrick's day. but everyone looking forward to the weekend, a warm weekend with the chance of rain mainly sunday guys. if you have outdoor plans, make them saturday if you have the option for the choice. >> good advice. thank you julie. a woman had to be rescued after driving into flood waters. >> we will show you that amazing video next. also coming up, a brawl breaks out in midair.

>> this is a live look at a fire. the fire is about 200 yards away from homes. you can see homes on the edge of the screen. no homes have been damaged so far. the division of forestry is helping pasco fire rescue put out the flames.

drive through flood waters in mississippi ended up in need of a rescue. she thinks she can make it through the high waters. then she drives off the road into the ditch and her car is immediately swamped. a man passing by helped her to safety. a brawl broke out on a spirit airlines flight and it was caught on camera. this video from green light entertainment shows several female passengers hitting each other and pulling hair. the flight crew called police when the plane landed in los angeles. no one was arrested or charged. it is unclear what started that fight. >> newschannel8 at 6:00 is coming up next. >> rod and jenn are here with what we are working on. >> good evening guys. a special needs student forgotten and left on a school bus. >> you will see how the student got off the bus and what he did next. plus, the trouble the bus driver and the aide are now facing. >> plus, a bus stop abduction turned out to be a hoax. why a child is facing charges instead.

face to face debate before super duper tuesday. see what is happening two-and-a- half hours before the debate here in miami coming up next at 6:00. >> >> 8 on your side discovers towing companies. >> sports with dan lucas and

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>> a special needs student forgotten on a school bus. see how he got off that bus. >> breaking news in saint petersburg. a child shot in a drive by shooting. >> and we are live from south florida ahead of tonight's republican presidential debate. i'm rod carter.

thanks for joining us this evening. a polk county school bus driver and an aide are in big trouble. they left a sleeping special needs student on board a school bus not once, but unfortunately twice. jamel lanee joins us now. she is live in polk county. the most baffling part about this story is the student apparently climbed through a window to get out the bus. and then he hitchhiked not ten, not 20, but 30 miles home. >> reporter: exactly jenn. the details in this story are mind-blowing. can you even believe that we just learned this student even told the bus driver the attendant, that they left him on the bus the first time this happened. it happened again days later when they didn't believe him. watch the surveillance video on this polk county school bus. the bus attendant and driver are packed up ready to go home after dropping students off on a morning route. but wait. a sleeping student emerges from