captions by: caption colorado, llc (800) 775-7838 comments@captioncolorado.com if this deputy had not made a split-second decision to pull around me, that would have been me dying. >> you know, we know his sacrifice wasn't in vain. >> it is a somber day in tampa as we prepare to say good-bye to a hero. the sheriff's deputy who collided with a wrong way driver to safe a stranger. >> we have live video of his services. ashley yore is at that church.

people in the bay area, ashley. >> reporter: lindsay, especially for his immediate family and law enforcement family. there is a private visitation starting in about an hour. right now, take a look. you can see a huge american flag just one sign honoring his life here. kotfila's father spoke with us remembering how tough it was to find out about his son's death last weekend but says his family is taking solace in his heroism, saving someone else. an eyewitness says she saw the wrong way driver first and kotfila sped around her to save her. his sister and father tell us kotfila deserves every honor today. >> i think it gives us comfort knowing that he did die a hero.

his life and was something to be celebrated. >> reporter: his dad spent nearly 30 years with the massachusetts state police. back out here live around 4,000 other people expected to come here and pay their respects. we're going to be here as family, friends, and the law enforcement community comes together to honor this man who did so much in his 30 years. of course we are also going to be streaming this on our web site, abcactionnews.com. we're reporting live. i'm ashley yore, abc action news. >> following breaking news right now out of clear water where police are investigating a deadly stabbing. a plan was stabbed early this morning after a fight at the ship wreck bar. the victim has not been identified yet. police do have a suspect that they are questioning, but no further details are being released at this time.

your help to track down a person they think stole a car while a toddler was inside that car. we have a look at the person deputies want to talk to. thursday afternoon a woman says she was watching her friend's 2-year-old, left the boy alone in a car outside of a pharmacy in mulberry. she says she was only gone a few minutes but left the keys in the ignition. someone found the car with the child inside about two miles away. the boy was okay. a lot of sunshine out there. no fog issues this morning. by the afternoon, we'll get from the low 70s to the 80s in the forecast. we check into clear water 68. brooks field 66. really no cold spots. that will remain that way. temperatures, look at that, low 80s by noon. we'll do this with comfortable humidity. it's not going to be terrible as far as the mugginess out there. it won't be dry, either. a couple of showers will be clipping the northern counties. then there's this front that will be heading our way with

saturday and lingering into sunday. we'll talk about a crash as far as the significant temperatures here. so behind you, look at that. what a difference a day makes. >> yep. >> we were socked in yesterday. not today. >> no fog out on the sunshine sky way. it has been wide open all day long, just nine minutes to get from toll booth to toll booth. i think drivers are happy that it's back open. that is now clear so bush is back open right now. your drive time is six minutes to get across the howard franklin as you head out the door. your drive times are 13 minute from the apex to i-4 just five minutes to downtown to the howard frankland bridge. this morning, we're learning why a firefighter is off the job. investigators say he enticed a

while he was at work. veteran firefighter aaron keye is facing charges. the text messages are too graphic to show you. he asked for numerous naked pictures of a 17-year-old she sent to him while wees at work between late december and early january. investigators say he asked for her to visit him at work multiple times. >> take advantage. tote a take advantage. there's people that worship. people in uniforms are supposedly the hero. that might be glamour 0 us to a 16 or 17-year-old little girl. it's sad. >> the fire department released a statement that says keye is on paid administrative leave pending the outcome of the sheriff's office investigation. a manatee county man won't be getting out of jail any time soon. jerry meeks faces serious sexual battery charges accused of abusing a 5-year-old girl.

taking a look at new video. deputies need your help tracking down the suspected thieves. deputies last week stole two bicycles and made their way into pasco county and stole a truck there. the truck was found in pinellas park two days aegg. search and rescue divers found a body in lake thonotosassa as they were searching for a missing man. a group of people were on the pontoon boat and say their friend jumped into the water to grab a noodle float but never resurfaced. >> most people loved him. he was a lovely guy. you know, i don't know what you think happened, but everybody misses him. >> we're waiting for the deputies to release the man's name and exact cause of death. >> and breaking news that we brought you all morning long.

has a long history of domestic violence. we'll show you the picture right now. this picture holds this dent that you are seeing in the bulletproof shield from the gun that sonny chen fired at police. officers with are at his home responding to a domestic violence call responding to his long time girlfriend. chen's girlfriend said he called police after he threatened her and at one point grabbed her neck. >> he grabbed my neck. >> i'm going to hurt you! i'm going to hurt you! >> criminal records date back to the '90s that includes charges of animal cruelty, assault and domestic charges. today is a big morning for future doctors attending usf. >> in just a few hours, seniors will find out where they are going to do the residency. it's called match day.

hospitals or medical facilities noon today. usf health seniors will open sealed envelopes to find out where they'll spend the next three to seven years of their lives. if you are looking to do a little spring cleaning or home improvements, you'll want to head out to the florida state fairgrounds. abc action news is picking up the tab so you can get in for free. >> corey dierdorff is live at the home show showing you some of the exhibits out there. corey, you are checking out an automated grill cleaning system. sounds pretty cool. >> let me tell you, there's some great new technology out here. i am checking out the coolest things at the home show. this is the automated grill bot. give the viewers an idea of how cool it is. >> it works with the push of a button.

20 minutes or 30 minutes. >> set it and let it go. like you said, you close the lid and you go out and enjoy your food. this thing does all of the work for you? >> that's correct, yes. >> what's nice as you were telling me earlier are these brushes are dishwasher safe and pop right off? >> yes. the brushes pop off. right here. >> this is closer than you think and you put it in the dishwasher. brushes. >> tell me about that. and nylon. we were talking earlier that you can get a pair of these things and have them do the battle bot action in here. you guys were approached by the >> yes, we were. it's a lot involved with this but you know, no big deal.

down from $129.95 to $75 to the florida home show. make sure you come out and check it out. tons of exhibits here at the fairgrounds. live at the fairgrounds, corey dierdorff, abc action news. you know, it wouldn't be a week in florida without a gator sighting. >> we just had one actually. a huge sighting was seen crawling around. the alligator was seen roaming around at lakeland highlands road and went into the geneva parking lot. it went into a large crowd of kids, teachers and parents. >> coming up, a nun caught on camera breaking the law. what she's saying now after being caught red-handed stealing. >> plus, you may soon be able to see brand new hollywood movies at home the same day they are released in theaters.

developing this morning. a california student who went on a stabbing rampage was inspired by isis. the fbi says he became self- radicalized from terrorist propaganda. last november, agents say the 18-year-old stabbed four people at the university of california before police shot and killed him. his victims survived. communities in washington d.c. weren't the only people dealing with commuter delays. for the past few days, the power problems have been causing major delays for san francisco's train system. engineers say every time certain train cars passed over a particular section of track, they get zapped with extra voltage and shut down. the train cars that have been

fix. a nun in pennsylvania faces shoplifting charges after she was caught on camera stealing from a convenience store. police say the 78-year-old stole $23 worth of food and toiletries. on the video, you can watch as she puts items into a bag and rushes out of the store without paying. >> i was shocked, to say the least. i couldn't believe it that a nun would actually do something like that. >> the woman is charged with a minor criminal offense. if she pleads guilty, her punishment will only be to pay a fine. if you like to shop at ikea, you should hear this consumer alert. the swedish furniture campaign is recalling lamps to return for a full refund. we have exact models under recall posted right now on our web site. imagine being able to

release for your tv and watch the same day it's released in theaters. it could soon become a reality if hollywood producers come your way. john matarese has more in the don't waste your money report. >> imagine being able to download a brand new release to your tv and to watch the movie the day it's released in theaters. it could become a reality if some hollywood producers have their way. they are pushing the concept called screening rooms. it would let you watch the next "star wars" movie for instance the day of its initial release in the comfort of your own home. only downside, it won't be cheap. screen room would charge you $50 to stream a just-released film at home. $20 of that bill would go to local movie theaters to keep them in business. you could split the bill with

everyone would just pay $10 or $12, normal movie prices. don't send out invitations yet. the national association of theater owners is opposed to the idea due to the risk of people making and selling copies and the fact that theater owners sell most of their money selling cokes and popcorn. when you are just minutes from having a baby, the last thing you are probably worried about is looking like a movie star. >> i didn't. >> apparently somebody did forget to tell that to a new york mom to be. her name is alaha karimi. social media went crazy when she posted pictures of herself doing her makeup while in labor. she said the labor lasted for 12 hours and needed a distraction. it took three hours to get this look. that's her full look. she says she was picture

daughter sophia was born. lashes and all. >> i could barely do lashes when i'm not that labor. >> i know! [ laughter ] >> unrealistic, you know? >> that's more makeup even than i've seen in the makeup room. >> exactly. >> we made it to friday. let's take it to your photo to pasco county. look at that nice sunrise coming up there for the holiday hashtag #no filter. good for you. we don't like the filters. look at the temperatures the last couple of days. low 70s right now with plenty of sunshine out there. the dew points were dry. that is our air mass right at the surface, dry air. the temperatures didn't match and didn't sat right. 70s right now that we're back in the 80s.

so the entire week pretty much dry. no surprise here if you have been watching. the frontal boundary with winter heading into early next week. right now, we have to contend with the name that is ongoing here. we have a few batches of rain. the first one comes through tomorrow between 11:00 and 5:00. then the front itself moves in saturday overnight and into sunday. so i think the better of the two weekend days will be sunday. by midday, i think we clear out and a gusty, cold wind takes over. close your eyes if you don't like winter. take a look at this. 30s. that's the windchill, not the actual temperature. that's what matters and how it will feel when you walk outside on monday morning. be warned. that is a shock to the system after temperatures in the 80s. 85 and a little humidity out there. keep in mind. we have that transition through the weekend with the showers and storms saturday and heading into early sunday.

deal with cold. the 72 is mostly because of a lot of clouds around. then sunday evening, we can't forget the wind kicking up. by the time we wake up on monday, overnight temperatures are widespread in the 40s. then the gusts will feel like upper 30s on monday morning. likewise on tuesday, cool, not as windy. it's still very chilly for this time of year. by the way, spring begins on sunday, so we'll kick off the first week of spring with temperatures that are more common in january, let alone heading into late march. then we do warm up, it is march. talking about temperatures wednesday and thursday in the low 80s. 7-eleven is kicking off spring's season with bring your own cup day and fill it one your favorite slurpee for $1.50. this year, bring your own cup day with ill happen two days in

there is one restriction. the cup can't be more than 9 inches wide and 11 inches tall. still ahead, this sweet little guy right here, he's in our abc action news studio. actually, she, forgive me, she is looking for her forever home. we'll introduce to you bella, our pet of the week. >> she's been smelling my cuban sandwich. we have your positively tampa bay. if only we have smell-a-vision. the aroma of cuban sandwiches is in the air as we preview this weekend's international cuban sandwich festival. you'll meet the team here from

. >> it is friday. that means it's time to introduce you to our pet of the week. vicky anders is here now with bella who has to be really

>> bella is a beagle. she's a pure bred beagle and she's absolutely gorgeous. she's a little on the fluffy side. she's got a few extra pounds but that's okay. >> fluffy's good. >> we carry it well and so does she. can you stand up, bella? there she goes. >> better than we do. [ laughter ] >> for sure. she's only two to three years old and she does need someone to give her moderate exercise. they overfed her. they overfed her, you know? she loves treats so they give her food. one thing to know if you are going to own a beagle, they will follow their nose wherever they go. so they love to go for walks, but don't go in a hurry because they need to sniff anything.

>> yes. >> they need a home that's a sweet home. >> we're going to hear from you. it's at 40522nd street. let's give bella a home.

drawing to a close. hulk hogan's $100 million sex tape lawsuit could be in the hands of a jury within hoursp. >> then an urgent warning this morning from a zephyr hills family. what they want people to know about septic tanks after theirs nearly killed them. good morning. thank you for joining us on this friday for abc action news

>> not looking all that great. >> well, you know, it is the weekend. i heard it's friday, by the way. traffic's been a mess. weather-wise, though, we've been nice and warm. temperatures have been in the 08s. right now, we're still checking in, in the lower 70s. we'll be in great shape for later this afternoon. so a repeat of what we've had over the last couple of days. a little cooler inland sections and taking us to 80 by noon and back into the low 80s with hartley cloudy skies if we could just repeat for tomorrow. we're not going to. a couple of showers and sprinkles later this afternoon. then we have this. the front comes in, heavy

a corrections officer is facing child abuse charges. the pasco county sheriff's office arrested ryan ferguson. we are in contact with those deputies. we'll let you know as soon as we get an update. closing arguments have begun in the hulk hogan sex tape lawsuit. lawyers attempted to see the inconsistencies in hogan's character. gawker's lawyers may point out there are differences in his personas in their closing. an urgent warning. check your septic tank. a family barely made it out of the home alive when theirs exploded. a heat source got too close to the tank and the methane caught fire. the family is living in tents in the backyard as they work to

they tell us they are taking it day by day. >> we try to be good people. we know we will survive through this. >> she is urging family members to check theirs. make sure your tank isn't anywhere near a heat source where the methane can explode. turning now to democracy 2016, the new push to block donald trump's road to the white house. we learned about a secret meeting among members of his own party plotting ways to take him down. that meeting happened yesterday. while trump is far ahead of his competitors, he still has to win less than half of the delegates otherwise we end up with a split convention. the big names still being tossed around is house speaker paul ryan. as of now, he insists he will not enter the race.

the constitution and the natural rights it enshrines. >> they are saying they hacked donald trump posting social security number, cell phone number and other sensitive information online. trump is now calling on the feds to track the hackers down. marco rubio says he's not interested in being any of the candidates' vice presidents nor will he endorse anyone right away. >> he spoke for the first time since suspending his campaign earlier this week. he preferred trump not get the nomination. >> hopefully, this time to still prevent a trump nomination, which i think would fracture the party and be damaging to the conservative movement. >> he's not planning to run for governor in 2018 and he is looking forward to finishing his work in the senate. we turn know to the democrat three day as the latest round of primaries as hillary clinton made tuesday a clean sweep. the final results are in for

race between clinton and bernie sanders has been way too close to call. in the end, clinton won by just 1500 votes. sanders says he won't request a recount. sanders, though, has a lot of ground to make up if he wants to be the democratic nominee. he's headed to utah. those states head to the polls next week. a new tampa bay business journal hit news stands today. as always, alexis milner is here with some of the biggest stories. you come with interesting news here. a big week. >> huge week. they were bought by a private equity firm, and it's actually a brewery called oscar blues funded by fireman capital. they haven't said what the price is, but there have been reports that it's up to $60 million. this is a great local success story.

with the idea of creating a craft beer scene. so it looks for ways to reach a point where they can't grow their business alone. they are not going anywhere and doesn't affect day-to-day operations. apparently, the equity firm loves craft beer and understands the essence of it all. it's an exciting week. >> $60 million. >> they haven't confirmed that, but that's what's being reported. >> you know, it's big this week. now we talk about legoland. >> my goodness. five new attractions, the water rental. they are doing the jog by, i think i said that right. they have the creative cove where they can build boats. they are building a vacation rental across the street, which is a sign that there's a lot of pent up demand to be able to stay and to create new businesses around legoland. >> everything is awesome. [ laughter ] >> absolutely. >> let's go.

person's statement house is known around the country and now they've got a really nice national honor. >> they do. they are finalists in the james beard awards in the wine category. james beard "new york times" calls them the dean of america. they have been responsible for maybe even all of the foodiness that we all love and enjoy. this is a coveted national award. to get to the finals in that category and anybody who knows burns knows you go and have an incredible wine cellars on site. they have it before but it's an affirmation of the importance of burns in the global sphere. so congratulations and it's just great to have an asset like burns and see them get recognized. >> burns, and lego land. >> there you go. >> yeah. a great place to live. >> always good to see you, alexis.

if you are looking for spring cleaning, you'll head to the florida state. >> abc action news is picking up the tab to get in today. admission is totally free money corey dierdorff is live at the home show to show us some of the exhibits. the 900 exhibits out there. just a few of them. what do you have right now? >> yeah, good morning from the florida state fairgrounds. the largest home show is in the expo center. hanging out with the comfort solutions. we're talking pest control, one of the biggest problems you have outside especially in the zika virus now. tell me what you guys have now. >> we built this beautiful backyard that we can't enjoy them with the screen enincludes you're. we have a system that you can put in your backyard. it will most automatically at the time that the mosquitoes are most active.

will spray out of the nozzles that you strategically place around your face. they can be sprayed by remote control any time you want to. >> speaking of misting, we'll come to one of these great outdoor solutions. we get a little warm in summer and a little chilly in the wintertime, as we call it, us floridians. >> we use patented technology. it's turbo cooled. the system was designed specifically for hot human i'm. who wants that experience while you are out on the patio. it will drop the temperature about 10 to 15 degrees. >> admission is pre-today so people need to come down. >> we have more.

all kinds of stuff to make sure long. >> that's right. >> guys, you need to come to the hearthest home show today to check it out. we'll have more action news

video. that is a car crashing right through the front of a south florida pizza restaurant. the driver actually hit two people that were waiting for the food. the woman behind the wheel lost control. luckily, the two people weren't seriously injured, just scrapes and bruises. he was sitting in the back of the deputy's vehicle with curlers in her hair. a fire breather is recovering in the hospital after he caught on fire during a routine at a pep rally at a delray beach high school. >> here's a look at what happened. as part of the stunt called the inferno challenge, once it runs through the basketball net and dunk the ball, the person blowing the fire accidentally caught himself on fire. stunned students screamed watching flames consume his face. >> wow. atlantic high school parents

going on at the school and think it unnecessarily put their kids in harm's way. >> i seened video and it looked pretty cool for the kids. it was very unprofessional the way they set it up. hopefully next time they can learn from it. >> the school district said it is looking into policies about who can perform on campus. several students complained of respiratory issues. all of them are okay. you might have noticed a lot more military aircraft than normal flying ash the tampa bay area. >> we've got a core perspective from one of the planes that you will see as if you go. an at-6 advanced trainer. they used to entertain and write messages in the sky. they will oh soar and zoom through the skies over the bay area. this weekend.

it's free and a lot of people come out and this is a real >> it's cool. we'll post all of the info you need to know. at abcactionnews.com. weather. >> blue skies. oh, my goodness. >> you can get a little sunshine for sunday. >> saturday doesn't look great tomorrow. we'll have a few showers and storms coming in. the front is on the way so we'll talk about that as well. it will bring us very chilly temperatures. as we take you outside right now, it is gorgeous stuff. so get out there and enjoy it if you can. it's not going to be a complete washout. it's got rain right through sunday night. it will have showers and thunderstorms. we'll show you the sunrise earlier. checking in with the gorgeous picture there. temperatures right now in the 06s and0s.

and back into the low 80s. we'll widen out the shot and take a gander at what's going to be coming our way. this is what is headed down to the south and east and an unusually cold shot of air for this time of year and certainly for the first day of spring on sunday. all this cold air will mix with moisture and eventually if you are headed up to the northeast, by the way, they're expecting a good blockbuster storm there. for us, it's going to be the moisture ahead of that front that is stalled out right now across the southeastern u.s. we'll continue to see a couple of showers about 20% coverage. not too concerned today, especially across the north. that would be as much as we get, about 20% coverage and the front beginning to sag down a little bit. that's when we get into more widespread showers and storms.

less heavy and lingering showers. get into the cold air and windchills. temperatures will be in the 40s but it will feel like it's in the 30s with a gusty northwest wind. it will continue and make it feel very chilly on monday. enjoy the nice weather for now, about 82 degrees with a mix of sun and clouds. by the way this weekend hello, for my cubanos out there, all of the cuban sandwiches and all of the activities you can participate in, but saturday and sunday, keep in mind sunday is the better of the two weekend days as you have rainfall coming in. we clear out and cool off big time. next week, look at this, upper 60s for highs. we'll keep it in the 40s tuesday morning before a gradual warm-up beginning in earnest. >> just that picture of the cuban sandwiches. pressed or not pressed? >> pressed.

what is the best way to make a cuban sandwich? we'll introduce you to the team from england to the unique

good morning, everybody. abc action news is a proud

cuban sandwich festival in ybor city. the festival has gone international. we'd like to you meet brothers omar engazi shakur. they are the team from london, england coming in. if welcome. how did two british brothers end up making cuban sandwiches? >> well, we went to cuba a few years ago and fell allove with the food, culture and everything. -- fell in love with the food, the culture and everything. yeah that's why. >> so you all are the only ones, i understand, making cuban food in london. you call it cube be street food? >> yeah. >> so what's the response for folks? >> people love it. we're the only and the best as well. one guy told us it was the best

>> i just can't get over it's great to hear it. you have this fabulous british accent. >> it must sound quite weird. >> a little bit. >> tell me about the three different types of cuban sandwiches you make. >> we named this 'em. one is the traditional one. then we do the miguel, which is a beef one. and then we do chicken one which is with sweet plantain. >> which one is your favorite? >> i like the tito. >> i like the jose. >> which one sells the most? >> the traditional. >> the floridian has been wonderful enough for people from bay pine to bring in all of the ingredients so you wouldn't have to do any cooking this morning but they wanted us to show our viewers the different ingredients that go into it. what do you think is the secret to making it really taste good?

halfway there. the other ingredients are important but the bread is most important. >> when you were invited to the think? >> super excited. >> we're going to learn a lot as well. it's going to be exciting. >> we want to test ourselves against the best because we competition. >> so are your friends in england expecting you to come >> with the trophy. >> the pressure is on. let's see what happens. thanks for coming in. welcome to tampa bay. if you would like to join us at the cuban sandwich festival, folks, it is two days of wonderful fun. the biggest cuban sandwich will be made tomorrow at 11:00 a.m. at hillsboro community college. then we're all judging the cuban sandwiches on sunday morning, march 20th at

a nice kickoff to the weekend. saturday look goods with a few showers and around 11:00 i will be in ybor city, i believe, right? >> that guy will be there. i feel like we should start now. >> yes, lindsay and i will be there. >> it smells so good. >> we have continuing coverage now. >> fab life is next.

>> today on "fablife"... >> how to deal with the royal pains in the butt in your life. >> i hate my hair! ruins my whole night! we are bringing back our sad attempts at acting. (laughter) >> diy handyman scott mcgillivray. >> it's almost impossible to screw this up. however, you are making a few mistakes. (laughter) >> and we're about to rock her world for a surprise birthday paparty. >> surprise! >> (screaming excitedly) (cheers and applause) >> (laughing) >> welcome to "fablife." there is so much exciting stuff to get to today, including an amazing makeover surprise for one of our unsuspecting viewers. now, we'll also be joined by "income property" and real estate guru scott mcgillivray, who's here to help us with our diy dilemmas. >> nice!