we do have some video of that boy earlier this afternoon. he was at day care this entire time. so here is what happened. detectives say they got a call from his mother and also the mother's boyfriend, claiming that their car had been stolen and that that child was in the back seat. but the police chief told us that was all made up, that was a lie. that child was never in that back seat. in fact, that child was always safe at the day care. now, they did track down that ford fusion luckily because device. 19. the car was going the wrong way. it ended up crashing. but what we know so far is that the chief of police says that this stems from a drug deal. he says when they got that call at 1:30, claiming that there was a child that was missing, they put all their resources out there.

we all recognize that. we were able to take a risk for a 4-year-old kid. we shouldn't put ourselves at risk or even have to do things that put the public at risk over a lie. >> reporter: we also do know that several people are going to face charges. we do have video of a man that was removed from a house that could be the mother's boyfriend. because we do know that the mother is about going to face charges, as well as the mother's boyfriend. we are trying to identify who into custody. we know that at least two people are going to face charges and also a third person, the person that was driving that ford fusion. again, this stems apparently from a drug deal. that child was never in any danger. that child was always at day care. and detectives are still sorting through this. again, a relative is going to pick up that child here at clearwater police within the next hour. reporting live, marisela burgos, abc action news.

strong feelings about this story online, asking why did the mom lie? some of you saying that she should be arrested. renee saying what is wrong with her? why would someone fake something bad happening to their child? another person, jerry, says take her kid away. that may or may not happen. another person saying, listen, maybe there is more to the story we still don't know. jamison. >> new tonight, florida taking steps to tackle the massive back log of untested rape kits. the state senate passing a bill that sets new guidelines for how the evidence is handled. dna evidence must be submitted to a crime lab in 30 days and the kits must be tested within four months of submission. a companion bill is expected to go before the statehouse next week. it was recently found there are more than 13,000 untested rape kits all across florida. officers across the state

sure that sex offenders and predators are where they are supposed to be. eric waxler went along and show us how deputies are working to keep your family safe. >> i have lost everything. and to be truthful with you, i feel, you know, that my life is [censor] >> reporter: johnny driver's choices in life have left him here, living on the streets, sleeping behind a grocery store in new port richey. >> if it's raining, i find a shelter or a cardboard box. >> reporter: it goes back to 1987 when he was charged with sexual battery. he understands the system and the laws that have him on the offender registry but it has been impossible to keep a job. >> i want to be productive. i want to be productive. i want to prove, you know, that i'm not what they -- what this piece of paper says. they read a piece of paper and the wrong thing.

more than 900 registered sex offenders in pasco county. deputies are paying them all a visit as part of a statewide plan known as operation predator to verify the addresses of all offenders and predators. >> anything new to report. >> no. >> reporter: last year pasco county toughened the ordinance, barring certain sex offenders from living within 2500 feet of a school or places where children congregate. >> we're trying to keep our kids safe. >> reporter: driver has never committed a crime against a child, despite what people offender registry. >> i have nieces and nephews and you could go and talk to any one of them. >> reporter: to keep track of any sex offenders in your neighborhood, go to the fdle's website. eric waxler, abc action news. >> incredible video continuing panhandle. a drone capturing these images of the breath taking destruction caused by a tornado in pensacola.

that plays out in the storms. we have seen it many times. fall on it. right next door, the other house is demolished. their own. they will jump over housing areas or they will jump over the house that you're in to destroy the house next door. that's what this tornado did. we believe it's about a two- mile wide. >> three people were injured by that tornado but their injuries are believed to be minor. going in depth on severe weather here in florida. newly released data shows florida is ranked 7th in the u.s. for tornado and high wind claims in 2015. according to state farm, those claims nearly doubled last year, going from just over 2700 in 2014 to more than 4400 in 2015. and according to the national weather service, the number of tornadoes we have seen this year is three times higher than the average. you're probably getting the push alerts we sent out

tornado warnings were issued for the bay area. i want to turn to chief meteorologist denis phillips to see if we have anything else to worry about tonight. >> we're good. i think the sheriff hit the nail on the head. tornadoes have a mind of their own. that's right. they really do. today we had a tornado watch until 10:00 this morning. then it dropped. it was canceled. then for two hours all is quiet. then all of a sudden with no watches out, we started seeing development across the extreme southern counties. most was south of sarasota county, charlotte county and port charlotte, but still we had to worry about that and keep our eyes on it. that is now over. and that same system that brought in all of the rough weather today is now bringing in cooler temperatures. so while the skies will begin to clear, temperatures will begin to drop as we see the mercury drop down to the 40s and 50s over the next few days. we will tell you when we will hit the 30s coming up.

remember you can get severe weather alerts no matter where you are using our storm shield app. it's available for apple and android phones. congressman david jolly is fighting to make sure that the planes to keep us safe during hurricanes stay in the bay area. as we first told you last year, the air force has ordered noaa to remove the specialized planes by july 1st of 2017. jolly telling the u.s. secretary of commerce, he will work with both organizations to make sure that the hurricane hunters and their specialized workforce stay right here in our area. hurricane hunters have called mcdill home since 1993. the man who police believe is responsible for killing a brandon mother in front of her children now in danger of losing his own life. tonight the state attorney's office is confirming it will seek the death penalty for darrell williams. investigators saying he shot

outside her home in brandon. just finished celebrating halloween with her 17-year-old twin daughters, both of them witnessed that murder. a man accused of killing two palmetto store clerks wants to plead guilty but a judge is refusing to accept the request. the judge says he cannot accept the guilty plea just yet because she still hasn't decided if prosecutors will be allowed to seek the death penalty. we're taking action for your health tonight. the flu. some in this area. florida at the second highest level regionally. why the flu is hitting us so hard right now. >> reporter: >> sudden fever, sudden cough, body aches, chills. >> reporter: flu symptoms we

tampa bay medical experts are seeing more with this year's delayed flu season. >> in previous years it has been earlier in the season from october to december. we have seen an uptick in flu cases especially the last two weeks. >> reporter: that's at tampa general hospital where they have seen 110 flu cases since the beginning of 2016. children's hospital has seen the most cases this season and st. pete says they expect the number of flu cases to increase in the next few weeks. >> you can say yes, we're seeing a lot of uptick in flu cases. but we're not even halfway to year. >> reporter: this year cdc testing shows the h1 # n1 strain we saw in 2009 is back. this time we're prepared. >> this year it seems like all again. so people that have had the vaccine, it is a good match. protected with.

reports are no surprised. health officials have been waiting for the hit. more populated areas have more cases. >> it's hard to predict how high up our peak is going to go or are we hitting the peak now and it's going to taper off. >> reporter: it's not too late to get a flu shot. but once you do, it takes two weeks to protect you. in tampa, i'm ashley yore, abc action news. >> doctors say don't forget to stay home from work if you have flu symptoms. of course wash your hands often and sneeze and cough into your arm, not your happened -- hands. a heart attack that caused an inspirational spirit to fight the odds. the reason that an officer shot an 8th grader and why he is still walking the halls. looking outside, a lot of clouds out there.

over, with the exception of a come of counties in our southern viewing area.

>> florida parents outraged after a middle school student is tased by a cop. two students got into a fight. a resource officer used a taser gun when he couldn't pull the fight was escalating. the police department is sticking by the decision. some parents think the force was excessive. >> i don't think at any point child. enough. >> orange county school officials are not commenting about the policy to use taser guns on school campuses. the investigation into the use of force is under investigation right now but the officer remains on active duty at that school. a heart attack cannot keep a clearwater barber from doing what he loves. as jacqueline explains, an

left that man without any legs and something else critical he needs to do his job. >> reporter: this clearwater barbershop is abuzz but not why you think. roger has been cutting hair for the past 40 years. not even a massive heart attack can keep him from what he loves. polk is standing tall despite the heart attack claiming both his legs. placed in a medically induced coma for three weeks he was given a blood thinner which caused air rare reaction. he now has prosthetic legs. his walker and canes always nearby. >> i like standing on the god given legs. >> reporter: another complication of his heart attack. he lost the fingertips on his right hand. holding scissors is no longer possible. >> there's no way.

clients a day. his limitations now costing him clients. his dedication to not give up is reflected by long-time clients who refuse to give up on him. >> he is so motivated just to get back to where he was instead of laying back and quitting. >> reporter: polk's insurance won't pay for prosthetic fingertips calling it not necessary. >> you have to do something. you can't lay down and quit. >> reporter: despite having lost so much, he's been able to hold on to his sense of humor. >> the same people who did my legs did a dolphin tails. i figured if i couldn't walk, i could probably swim pretty well. >> within the hour, space x will launch a falcon 9 rocket from florida's space coast and try for a fourth time to land it on a platform in the open

it opens at 6:46 tonight. it successfully launched and landed a rocket on solid ground last month. accomplishing the same feat on a drone ship has ended in explosion so far. the question is how is the weather going to play out? wind. we had some rain. >> rain won't be an issue but wind will. wind at 21, 22, gusting to 28. i think the criteria is 16 or 17. >> that seems high. >> they may have to force it. rain was the issue earlier on. now the majority of the area seeing nothing but this. a lot of clouds. actually it was interesting because mid morning skies cleared across the northern counties. all of a sudden the front got energized and created a couple of tornado warnings across the southern counties. no damage. most of it was south of the viewing area. still we were tracking it through the afternoon. the only rain showing up on

now, in terms of overall rainfall, check out the totals. close to 3 inches of rain doppler estimates in the last 24 hours in south tampa. pinellas county, also two and a half, three inches of rain. yet, look at fas co- many parts of pasco county, none. no measurable rain at all. light across hernando county. so you see pretty much from i-4 south is where that line really came through in the mid afternoon hours. and that's what spawned a few funnel clouds. one unconfirmed report of a tornado down south and a couple storm spotters saw a tornado in southern sections of manatee county as well. now skies have cleared and temperatures are cooling from the up every 60s and low 70s. tomorrow morning we will be waking up to the upper 40s to low 50s. it won't get much warmer than

we will top out at the 60s in the northern counties. st. pete, clearwater, tampa, checking in the middle 60s under mostly cloudy skies. tomorrow. that will set us up for two nice weekends in a row. this one is going to be a lot different than what we had last weekend. we were near 80 degrees. 75 today before that front came through. it's about right. normally we should be at 74. the normal low is 56. so there is the satellite. strong storms came in. around lunchtime down south and extreme southern counties. areas from port charlotte, back toward north port, that's where no reports of any damage. while. then as we went through the afternoon and evening, skies cleared. tomorrow with the strong northwest wind, that will bring a little moisture in from the gulf. we get gulf effect clouds and maybe even a sprinkle or two at some point in the morning. once we get rid of that later

friday, saturday and right into the weekend. but that's when temperatures begin to drop. forecast highs only around 60 to 61, 62 across the metro tomorrow. then upper 50s for the highs, you throw in a wind out of the northwest and it will feel colder than that. not as cold as this. friday morning, you will be waking up in the low 40s. low 50s closer to the beach. saturday morning will be the coldest morning. that's when we will see lows in the 30s across our northern counties. don't think we see a freeze, but it will be pretty close. stay tuned. a couple days to keep our eyes on that. 64 downtown tomorrow. maybe a sprinkle. otherwise mostly cloudy early. sunshine late. then the next 7 days after that look great. sunny. 60s over the weekend. but back into the low and mid 70s monday and tuesday and near 80 by wednesday. hello, folks. today is the first day the media tries to get a read on what nfl teams plan to do in

we think we know what they're thinking but do we. dirk koetter and jason light took the code podium at the nfl compine. light is optimistics that the buccaneers will resign them. they probably will unless tennessee or dallas go after him in free agency and that will be there. i'm not so concerned with losing martin because i do think that charles sims is a doug martin who was not playing for a contract last year. sims' yard per carry average was the same as martin's and his receiving average was better. sims scored four touchdowns to martin's six. and sims comes in at a much better price. don't forget, sims was brought ins aa plan b every down back because of martin's previous injuries. >> we think the world of charles.

complimentary role. role. charles is a guy that can do a lot of good things, not only if you hand it to him but when you throw it to him. when charles was drafted to tampa, the feeling was that he could be an every down back if need be. >> all right. many think the buccaneers will take defensive end noah spence. this kid is a heck of a talent and exactly what the buccaneers need. but the bucs may take a pass. jason will explain why tonight at 11:00. the bolts are getting ready for a four-game road trip against the devils. john cooper says he expects him to rejoin the team on the trip. as for defenseman jason garrison, let's just say cooper is cautiously optimistic that garrison will return some time

ends on march 3rd in ottawa. florida state has officially extended the contract to men's basketball coach leonard hamilton. he will be around for at least the end of the 2018-19 season. this move might give them a shot at landing cacatholic tampa phenom knox next year. we're back in a minute and

>> all right. one more look at the 7-day. tomorrow morning, not as cold as friday morning. yes, it will be chilly tomorrow but don't wake up thinking you will have to bundle up. upper 40s to low 50s. the high only around 60. saturday morning is the coldest morning of the week.

degrees and back in the 70s next week. >> keep the sweatshirt nearby. >> yes. >> we have the latest stories on abcactionnews.com.

breaking news tonight. we're on the scene of a deadly tornado outbreak. several states, homes destroyed. a dangerous night ahead from south carolina all the way up through new york. also breaking tonight, the race for president, and donald trump, now marching to super tuesday. his landslide win in nevada. and the major republican now predicting a trump surprise. the abc news exclusive tonight. my one-on-one interview with apple's ceo, tim cook. for the first time, cook on why apple is refusing to help the fbi break into the iphone used by the san bernardino killer. new details tonight on the pilot in that deadly chopper crash. what he was trying to do. and the famous sports reporter, the "dancing with the