date they attacked him and took off with his car and money. >> ryan has the warning from the sheriff. >> reporter: the victim used this app right here called plenty of fish. some call it a dating website. others say it's just for hook- ups. in this case, the victim found neither. >> he is lucky he's not dead. >> reporter: perhaps it wasn't love. but the 21-year-old victim thought he found a solid connection on the dating site. the meet-up spot the mcdonalds in lakeland. >> you don't do a background investigation of anyone on a website, you can end up with a lot of surprises. >> reporter: in this case, the first surprise popped up when he arrived to the meet-up spot and the girl who we are not naming because she is 17 brought her so-called brother. he is actually christopher williams and they are not related. she asked and the victim agreed to drop him off down the road. >> that's when he walked around

victim's car and just beat the stew out of the victim, took his wallet, tossed him out of his car and off they went. >> reporter: the chance at love turned into a brutal carjacking. the only good news for detectives, the female suspect made a very silly mistake. >> we recognized the female, who by the way has given her real picture on plenty of fish. thank you very much. >> reporter: deputies take her into custody without incident and she leads them straight to williams. the sheriff says anyone on a dating website must tread lightly. get to know them and their friends and what they like to do before ever thinking about joining them in a car. >> you make that choice to go on a dating site, you take whatever comes your way. and in this case, what came his way was a beat-down and the loss of his car. >> reporter: the victim had to go to the hospital with cuts and bruises to his head.

told he will be okay. live in lakeland, ryan raiche, abc action news. a shattered jaw and months of recovery is what a man is facing after being ambushed in his own home. one man was arrested and another on the run. michael has more on who police are looking for. >> reporter: jamison, the victim is recovering tonight at the hospital. he will be here for at least another week. he would not let us identify him. he didn't want an interview with us but we could take pictures to show how brutal the attack was. >> he has a broken jaw. i believe it's shattered on both sides. lost some of his molars. and just a little bit of face lacerations. >> reporter: howard is describing hiss son's injuries for him because his son is unable to clearly talk. >> they took his phone, tore it apart, took the battery out of it and yelled to him better not call the cops.

so he is very scared. >> reporter: the father who did not want us to identify his son in any way for fear of retaliation because both suspects are career criminals. >> there's no accountability held for guys committing crimes like this. >> reporter: st. pete police arrested the man and charged him with home invasion robbery. he has been arrested a dozen times forearmed burglary, name a few. >> he has a long rap sheet as long as your arm. something in the system is failing. and everybody else that is trying to do right and, you know, play by the rules are suffering for it. >> reporter: police tell us the victim is a commercial fisherman who just happened to live in the same area as vetter. when they learned that the victim was back from a week long fishing trip, they attacked, hoping to get all of his cash. >> they had a hard time making money. he has been short on cash but working hard.

he didn't have a lot of money. attack was taken. police wanted to give this suspect. he is in his 20s, tall and if you have any information, call the police. bond. now the most accurate weather team in florida, abc action weather. >> how are you doing? things got back to normal for us today with lows in the 70s. look what is on the horizon. nasty weather across louisiana. that area of low pressure will have a big impact on the weather tomorrow morning. right now we are rain free. have already seen showers and strong thunderstorms move in. in fact there's the chance of severe weather starting to tomorrow morning. i do not think it will be an

but i think by mid morning, right into the afternoon, we will be tracking some storm and possibly even some severe thunderstorms. so this evening, partly cloudy. it will be mild. and then the storms roll in tomorrow and even bigger changes arrive for the weekend. we will talk about that coming up in a couple minutes. an update to the overnight condo fire in sulfur springs. fire officials are saying a malfunctioning washing machine is to blame for the fire that left 7 families hopeless this morning. we brought this as breaking news this morning and we sent out a push alert on our mobile app. as adam walser is showing us, the neighbors have everyone to thank for getting out safely. >> reporter: the people who used to live in this apartment building will not be able to do so anymore. there is the order to vacate signs on the front of the eight apartment homes here because they are too unsafe to be in and out of. this was an intense fire that

damagement you can see the flames we saw when our cameras first showed up around 2:00 this morning. quickly became a two alarm fire. firefighters calling for backup. about 30 firefighters required to put this blaze. >> there's strength in numbers much that's why we call for the second unit. >> reporter: and neighbors started knocking on doors to make sure that everyone is up and out of the building right before the flames got really bad and it was too late. i talked to the people who escaped. very upset and concerned about the damage but happen tee have made it out alive with their family members okay. >> i can be working more and get everything back. you have your life, that's it. that's the most important. >> reporter: after the fire department cleared out, there was a lot of mess to clean up. and there was a crew inside the building trying to salvage anything that they could for the people who live here.

property manager says it appears it originated with a washing machine on one of the second-floor apartments. why the fire started, that wasn't immediately clear. in tampa, adam whiner, abc action news. right now a man is on the radar for stealing thousands of dollars of tools. he broke into trucks stealing $12,000 worth of tools. it happened on tuesday in tampa. in thighs surveillance pictures you can see the van he drove up in. it's a white van with a horizontal dark line on the side. if you have any information call crime stoppers. an update to a story we brought you last week. a reward is being offered for information on a stolen coffin. it was stolen at the italian club cemetery. they believe it happened between november and january of this year. if you have any information, also call crime stoppers.

a cover-up in the water crisis in flint, michigan. and state environmental agencies are showing there is a researcher says the city fabricated test results to make were safe. a leaked report from the epa showing they knew about the flawed testing last summer and did nothing about it. the researcher hasn't seen a cover-up like this in 25 years. >> it was very scary to see the levels of lead that were hazardous waste levels of lead coming oust her tap water. >> tonight, the epa places the blame on the state saying in part the agency's ability to oversee the water testing was impacted by failures and local levels. tonight a hudson family is mourning a bicyclist killed friday night in a crash with a car on state road 52.

up for adoption at the humane society of tampa bay. it's clear that kevin waller took very care of his animals. two from the humane society. >> they bounced out and said hello to all of the strangers standing there, ready to greet them. they're loveable. they're of good weight. they look healthy. you know, we just got them and we will evaluate them further. very loved dogs. >> three of the dogs will be up for adoption this weekend. the fourth will be treated for heart worms, spayed and then up for adoption as well. a former florida football star is teaming up with churches to hold a prom. it's the second year for the night to shine prom sponsored by the tim tebow foundation. it will be held for those with special needs.

for some it's a night they never thought possible. >> what did you think when you came out and you tried on this dress, you know? >> i love it. >> makes you feel special? >> yeah. >> there are six churches taking part in the night to shine prom event in our area. bay side community church in sarasota, christian family church in familiar pa, harvest side church in harbor and trinity new life in owe december -- odessa. the disturbing allegations made by a former student and why there may be more victims. suspicious deaths, disappearances and severe abuse coming up. researchers from usf deliver

>> the victim now a teenager came forward to a school resource officer about the abuse she suffered in third grade. according to the arrest record, the teen said that sharp would whisper in her ear and touch her inappropriately. he is no longer working for the district. it is part of our state's dark past. a reform school shuttered with abuse. usf researchers gave the final report to lawmakers on the 55 school for boys. former victims of the abuse spoke out about what they think the state should do now. >> i'm very sorry for what of boys endured while wards of the state. >> reporter: what may be florida's saddest chapter in juvenile justice is closing.

a panhandle reform school. >> i just want to applaud her. >> reporter: usf's dr. kimberly got a standing ovation as she presented her final report after years of work at the dozier school for boys. >> we exhausted everything that we can do in terms of looking for additional burials. >> reporter: stopping short of any criminal findings but revealing suspicious details around the remains. the testimony marked by sick ening eyewitness accounts. >> a dozier employee ran after and shot the boy. >> reporter: 7 children have been positively ided through dna. now the state must decide how to handle dozens more bodies still at usf with no names. >> i think they all deserve a proper burial. >> reporter: former inmates, now men, weighed in too. >> no one wants the boys to be

>> these kids were not taken care of in life. and we're afraid they won't be taken care of in death. >> reporter: proper burials and for the state to build a monument at the school to recognize lost lives. >> after decades of silence, these boys' bodies were brought once again to the light of day. >> reporter: in tallahassee, >> tonight the mayor of washington, d.c. is apologizing for last night's traffic meltdown. a light dusting of snow during rush hour backed up cars through the night in some cases. mother nature didn't give the president any special treatment either. it took the motorcade more than an hour to get back to the white house from andrews air force base because of icy streets. they prepare for a major winter storm and all d.c. schools are closed tomorrow. the mayor is urging people to stay off the roads. in the meantime more than 200 tampa electric workers are

in anticipation of mass power outages from the storm headed that way. tiko is part of a network of utility companies that help others during a time of need. a lot of that cold is trying to start coming this way. you can imagine what they will be dealing with up there. >> i grew up in virginia. with two feet of snow. this is not going to be a northeast storm. this is not going to be the boston-new york blizzard. this will be more d.c., down into the carolinas. and the clouds that we see off shore right now with our cam network is some of that cloudiness that will be pushing in late tonight and into tomorrow thanks to that same storm and the front that is attached to it. and that front and that low already creating some nasty

tornado watches in effect. and tornado warnings across parts of louisiana, in through mississippi, alabama eventually. and, again, i think this is something that we will have to track overnight into tomorrow. the timing probably earlier to mid morning until the early afternoon. i do not think our threat is all that high. but it isn't something to blow off either. we will continue to keep our eyes on it just in case. tomorrow morning first thing shea will be in and i'll come in as conditions start to deteriorate later on in the morning. clouds in tampa at the airport, hey, we finally got back to where we should be. in the low 70s today. so this is the map that the spc, the storm prediction center issued. when you see a slight chance of severe thunderstorms, that means chances probably 5% or less. so clearly it's not a huge deal. but we had that same thing last saturday. and we ended up having a couple of tornadoes.

but i think the bigger threat probably is going to be more straight-line winds or winds that barrel in ahead of the front, the squall line and the thunderstorms. clouds thickening overnight. as we time out the next 12 to 24 hours into the weekend, we have a big kids parade on saturday. tip, bundle up. the bulk of the rain rolls in from around 10:00 until 2:00. imbeded in that line, there could be some gusty winds and yes possibly an isolated tornado. right on through lunchtime into about 2:00. and then it quickly moves on through. the problem with friday night and saturday, we have strong northwest winds behind the front. that will come over the warmer waters of the gulf.

sense but for us it's more gulf effect clouds and rain. and the windy cold weather continues on saturday morning, into the afternoon. so that is going to be an issue for the kids parade. yes, there could be a passing shower. but i think even more than that, it's just going to be raw. that's a perfect way to raw. shower. so as we watch over the next 24 hours, the showers and storms, some strong, roll in. saturday, that's when the cold air comes in. and we begin to clear out by late saturday into sunday. there's a look at the most accurate 7-day. it will rain tomorrow. clouds and a chance of a shower on saturday morning. the rest of the weekend looks better. sunday will be sunny but cold. 57 the high. early next week, we're back in the low 70s and another storm rolls in by the middle of next week.

the breakdown of american pie singer's marriage. the claims his wife is making. a pasco county teacher goes public with her resignation. the reason she is leaving a

>> right now at 5:00, american pie singer don mclane defending himself against domestic violence charges. >> he issued a statement saying his marriage is experiencing a painful breakdown but he is a villain. his wife cites a pattern of abuse going back three decades calling his rage deep and scary. she feared for her life when she called 911 earlier this week. mclane is out on bond. tonight general motors is giving uber and lift new competition. america's largest automaker

ride-sharing business. gm announcing today it is creating an on demand car sharing service. it will be started in michigan. gm will launch in other u.s. cities later this year. they will open rental hubs where people can rent vehicles. well, tonight a blaring horn and frightening explosion. next at 5:30, how an 80-year- old woman escaped this fiery ride. i'm bill logan in apollo beach where the manatees are back, a sure sign of winter. we will look how many are back.

>> live from the station taking action for you. this is abc action news. >> now at 5:30, anyone who battles all of the traffic tie- ups will be happy to know that public transportation is expanding. >> i'm laura harris. the latest project, a new bus connection between hernando and pasco counties. as ashley explains, it could lead to more public transportation options in the future. >> reporter: the ribbon is cut and counties are now joined. >> this is a very big deal because it opens up so much more for so many people. >> reporter: tanya marsh is one of those people who relied on the bus for years to get to, would. now she can use it beyond hernando lines. >> with the bus you have hope and it gives you that moment to know that, oh, wait a minute i do have hope and the means to get somewhere.

approach has high hopes for ridership.