tt4w`t2n`qt"" on(l `]&x tt4w`t2n`qt"" qzh! `:td >> right now, a former elementary schoolteacher is in jail accused of molesting a young girl. >> and we found out it's not the first time he's been under investigation for his actions with students. >> a former teacher at apopka elementary school is being held without bond after a girl came forward saying he molested her years ago. >> the investigation into that allegation has been going on nearly nine months. channel 9's jeff levkulich has been looking into this and found it he had been

>> reporter: it took place here around the same time in 2009 at apopka middle school but there are still questions as to why the police didn't get involved until now. 66-year-old donald sharp appeared before a judge this morning for his initial appearance on charges that he molested a 9-year-old girl around six years ago. the girl, now a teenager, came forward after all these years and told a school resource officer back in may about what her third grade teacher allegedly did to her. >> apparently she had been going through difficult times in her life, and the parents trying to determine what's causing her underlying issues, that's how they learned that she had this experience. >> reporter: according to the arrest report, the teen told police sharp would whisper things in her ear. he would also allegedly take her down a hallway in the school and touch her inappropriately. while apopka police were investigating this case, they learned that orange county public schools were also

allowing students to sit on his lap. sherry, a spokesperson told me he was not reappointed in2009. he has not worked in our district since. when they tried to get information from the school. they were told they had to obtain the records through a public records request. tonight police are wondering if there might be other victims out there. >> it's a distinct possibility. we don't have any evidence that there is, but if there is we would like them to come forward and let us investigate it. >> reporter: now, we asked why it took so long for the charges to be filed. i'm told the state attorney was putting together his case and he filed the charges yesterday. reporting live in opop ca, jeff levkulich, channel 9 eyewitness news. >> the seminole county woman mauled by five dogs yesterday is still in critical condition. the responding officer found a trail of blood leading to one of the victim in sanford's stone brook apartments. five dogs were biting the woman's legs, arms and upper

the officer shot and killed all five dogs to stop the attack. a sixth was sheltered by animal services. >> the officer observed a femalestruggling for her life and he did in that split second what he felt like he needed to do, and the woman's life at that moment took precedence over the dogs' life. >> it is not clear if anyone will be held responsible for provoking the attack by the pit bulls. the school district is rethinking its hiring policy after finding out one of the teachers lied about equal if i occasions. bonny dixon is accused of using fake transcripts to get hired as an agricultural sciences teacher. her cover was blown when she failed a test to become a full- time teacher a year and a half into the job. >> my daughter had her. she enjoyed having her very much. it's a shame that her credentials weren't what they were. >> we spoke into dixon's attorney who told us he's reaching out to her for a comment. we're still waiting to hear back.

option toss deal with the city's homeless. we've been reporting on the dozens of homeless covering out on beach street. one local business owner had to close part of his restaurant and blamed the homeless for creating unsanitary conditions. the mayor says he has a plan put together with other local >> i understand their frustration but at the end of the day i think we're coming together right now and things are going to work out. >> county leaders meet tomorrow. they'll discuss housing the homeless in a tent off north street. new tonight an orange county father accused of child abuse for the second time in as many months just walked out of jail. >> the first case involved his stepdaughter. the newest allegations are related to his biological children. angela jacobs was there to question him. he didn't have anything to say to you? >> reporter: not a word, martha. he simply grabbed the hand of the woman we watched wait inside that lobby for hours for him to come out. they got into an suv and drove

>> todd, any comment regarding these charges against you? is bcf wrong? can you give us any comment about whether it's true or not? >> reporter: todd brisebois had no comment as he walked out of jail just before 10:00 p.m. free on bond from child abuse charges relating to his three biological sons. the 28-year-old was arrested regarding that alleged abuse on the same day he was cleared of charges of abusing his 5-year- old stepdaughter in december. in this latest case, i found out tonight he's facing two charges of child abuse, one aggravated. and also contributing to the delinquency of a minor. another accused brisebois of hitting his three sons with his hands, a hose, a vacuum and a water bottle. as he left jail with the woman who waited for him tonight, he offered no opinion of his latest case. >> do you expect you'll be

>> reporter: brisebois then drove away released on $10,300 bond. at this time, brisebois is not allowed to be around that 5- year-old stepchild in that first case where he was cleared. a judge, however, denied dcf's request to keep him away from his 8-month-old baby. we're live in orange county at the jail, angela jacobs, channel 9 eyewitness news. new since 6:00, st. cloud residents got a chance to tell the city all about the troubles utility bills. for months we've been telling you those water customers believe they're being overcharged for water. tonight city leaders listened to public comment and said they would consider the input. we took a look at several utilities and found st. cloud often has the highest rate. we're waiting to find if a man who shot his friend while hunting will face any charges. we were there minutes after deputies got on scene in oak hill this afternoon. according to investigators, 56- year-old leeshawn sutton told

friend with a 12 gauge shotgun. right now we're working to find out what led up to the shooting. we'll let you know if new details emerge. orlando city agreed to pay the city $18 million over 15 years to buy the land in paramour where construction of the new soccer stadium is already started. that money will also pay for the infrastructure work already completed. the stadium was unveiled last summer with some artwork. more than 25,000 fans will be able to watch the game in a new facility when it opens for the 2017 season. you can now get a closer look what the inside of the stadium will look like. the team posted a virtual tour online. it gives fans a chance to kick on certain sections and see what their view of the field will look like. there's a live webcam showing the construction as it unfolds. to check out both of these new features log on to wftv.com/weblinks. two orlando police officers mysterious chase through the

made them the focus of an internal investigation. records show officers mike favorite and fred roll turned off their lights and sirens during a high-speed chase involving a stolen jeep. no one else at o.p.d. knew about the chase until after it was over. radio transmission show o.p.d. was asking the sheriff's office about its own patrol car after deputies spotted the chase. >> this is coming in from one of your deputies. we don't have anybody checked out. we checked on our channels. >> that's coming from one of our units. >> arriving off of golf club in pine chase. >> the officers report says they drove the stolen jeep from the county back into the city themselves to avoid potential danger from the suspects. they are still on patrol while o.p.d. investigates. new tonight, brevard county deputies arrested a man they say kept running into his burning home. these are pictures of the home on victor road in cocoa. deputies say once fire crews arrived, wendell joiner took equipment off one of their trucks. they tried to stop him but he kept running in and out of the home.

conduct and also roughed up when he was knocked to the ground. no one was hurt in the actual fire. orange county deputies caught this man red-handed as he was trying to burglarize a preschool. he was caught leaving the children's center on pershing drive in orlando. an employee saw what he was doing on a surveillance camera and called police. in december he was charged with burglarizing a different preschool. he's also suspected in several residential burglaries. tonight we are asking fire officials in orange county if a space heater is to blame for a fire that left a man dead. it hpd at a shed behind a house on gat land avenue on conway road. when fire crews arrived they found the man's body inside the shed along with a space heater. the chief was visibly upset because the victim was his neighbor. >> yeah. else?

fire marshal to determine if the space heater caused that fire. of course, we'll update you when we get more information. the marion county sheriff is encouraging licensed gun owners to carry their weapons. sheriff chris blair posted his comments online last month shortly after the san bernardino attack but they're getting new attention as the debate on gun control heats up in washington. blair says a lot can happen in the minutes before deputies arrive and believe someone prepared to take on attackers could save lives. he even offers training classes. >> we have capable citizens out in our community who are confident and able to defend themselves and others safely. >> the sheriff says the best ways to not become a victim in an active shooter situation are to run, hide or fight back if necessary. covering lake county, drivers can now take a trip down a major section of the what kief va -- wakiva parkway. they open the first portion of this toll road.

section open is from state road 46 to county road 435. this is expected to relievecongestion to these local roads. >> by january 2018 you'll be able to get from where the 429 ends now at 441 in apopka all the way up here to state road 46. >> when completed the 25 mile long parkway will complete central florida's beltway, a project officials expect to finish in the next five years. right now u.s. marshals are searching for an arson suspect in palm bay. tonight the whereabouts are still unknown but palm bay police believe she tried to burn down a motorcycle club that operates a food pantry. she is accused of setting fire to bikers in need off u.s. 1 back in october. police don't believe it was a orange county residents whose trash has been piling up since last month say it was finally collected after we started asking questions. >> hopefully the garbage doesn't get piled up like that again. >> the concerns they still have though about the new service.

40s, i'm tracking some warmer afternoon temperatures and then our next chance of thunderstorms. plus, the state approved ward this man got on a new

new tonight residents in an orange county neighborhood are finally trash free after weeks of not having service. >> trash had been piling up since last month. the trash was picked up within

to the county commissioners. >> they finally showed up and picked up the trash. >> reporter: paul no longer has a pile of garbage outside his apopka home on this dirt road. >> right after christmas was the last time they came out and picked up the garbage. >> reporter: his mom contacted eyewitness news for help. we talked to her earlier about the eyesore. we even obtained email messages from residents to county workers making them aware of the problem and the trash still stayed piled up. and some people still don't have their new garbage bins. we then left the neighborhood to take the concerns straight to the commissioner who represents this district. >> they still don't have their garbage cans and commissioners, county leaders all have their garbage cans so why don't they have theirs? >> they don't know where i live. advantage waste doesn't know where i live. they just put my cans, delivering everybody else's in the neighborhood. but yeah, there's no excuse for that. >> reporter: nelson admitted to getting his new one back in november. >> there's no excuse for us not

everybody in the county long before january 1st. >> reporter: after our interview, we arrived back to the neighborhood to find the trash gone, even at the home where they have yet to receive their new bins. ty russell, channel 9 eyewitness news. >> a county spokesperson told us the bins in that neighborhood were delivered last month, but the delivery driver missed a home because he thought the property was vacant. the state has banned some words from florida license plates for being offensive and insensitive but a local man says one word that made the cut should have been on that list as well. craig lucas who is gay said he and his partner bought a new volvo in winter park and were issued a license plate that spells out the word gay. lucas says he believes there were other letter combinations the state could have picked. state officials vetted the plates and saw no issue with them. >> i just don't think it's necessary. there are plenty of combinations of letters and numbers out there, we don't need to be picking words like gay to put on license plates. >> a florida department of highway safety and motor

given to a number of car dealerships in the orlando area. an effort to trap and relocate coyotes near brevard county park is over for now. the city of indian harbor beach says the state doesn't consider them a nuisance and florida fish and wildlife says even if it did they wouldn't be removed from gleason park and relocated elsewhere. the agency says the coyotes can be captured and euthanized under rules for fur-bearing animals. the city is still working to try and find another solution. >> somebody has to take responsibility for it. and it shouldn't be the people that come to the park and they don't know anything about it. >> swc is planning to provide workshops to residents on how to deal with the coyote encounters. they look scary. i don't know if they run away from you if you came up to them. >> i wouldn't want to try. >> me either. >> we have bears, alligators, sharks. >> really everything. it's all fair game. temperatures all over the place as well.

>> great weather. >> pardon the pun by the way, >> good one. 39 degrees right now in ocala. the 30s in marion county and near 30s, at 40 in palm coast. 47 in sanford, clermont and orlando. a thin blanket of clouds. you can see it here, especially south of orlando drifting overhead. this is associated with the jet stream. they're shooting across there. that's our southern jet. here's our next storm system. 1,000 miles away this does a couple of things. brings thunderstorms to florida on friday afternoon. it brings all that snow that your friends up north are talking about for friday and saturday, littering your twitter feed. down to the 30s by morning in ocala and the villages, it's 42 in leesburg. mid-40s, orlando, sanford. by morning 41 in daytona beach. this is where frost will be possible. there's a lot of frost this morning. we're not going to see nearly as widespread of frost tomorrow

george, northern lake sumter and marion county some patchy frost where temperatures will be able to sneak into the 30s. in orange county overnight, not as cold as last night and this morning. apotch ca 44 -- apopka 44. seminole county, sanford and winter springs, 43, 44 degrees. a little more mild. into volusia county, new smyrna beach and sugar mill around 43. deland your early morning temperatures. we'll warm up 30 degrees between the morning and the afternoon tomorrow. our high tomorrow 75. 72 in lease wurgburg. 7 -- in leesburg. 72 in titusville. we have clouds tomorrow. the sun shining through to warm us up to the mid-70s. friday will be a very interesting day. we'll wake up humid.

will be building and then showers and thunderstorms develop late morning into the afternoon. we could have a little bit of lightning here, but it's not looking to be quite as strong as our last round of thunderstorms. of course, we'll be updating things with tom terry tomorrow night. right now we're looking at a few scattered downpours and lightning. the main threats a lot of people getting less than a half inch on friday and a slight risk for strong winds with with some of the strong thunderstorms that can develop on friday afternoon. here's what on expect. the next couple of amps in the 70s. friday afternoon it rains. saturday we dry out but that high of 56 is misleading because with those cold, gusty winds it will be blustery, then down to 37 sunday morning. martha? george, parents say parents are putting their children in danger as they get on and off the school bus. coming up the concerning number of drivers who illegally stop stopped school buses in just one day. getting you ready for your thursday morning. i'm brian shields. tomorrow on eyewitness news this morning i'm going to have the new information on the

the big chill moving in this weekend. all your latest news on eyewitness news this morning

stopped school buses in one day here in florida. a report compiled numbers from school bus drivers who watched cars drive around their flashing lights and stop signs. parents say the number is concerning. >> the safety of them comes before wherever you're racing to wherever you get to. three teenage boys are facing charges tonight for stealing a car and leading daytona beach police on a chase. here's a look at dashcam video of the chase. you can see it sideswiping police chief mike chitwood's cruiser spinning him out. one of the three teenagers got out of the car and was arrested before hitting his car. the other two were caught when they were stopped. no one was hurt. covering orange county, tomorrow a decision may be made about the future of the theater's expansion project in maitland. these are new renderings of what it may look like some day.

they want to add two new theaters, a kitchen, lobby, bathroom and concessions. a polk county company fighting the state over licenses to produce medical marijuana will get a chance in april. knox nursery in winter garden was chosen for our region grow healthy and lake wails is one of 13 applicants now challenging the judging. lake wales finished second. they were directed to produce cannabis oil. a hearing before a state administrative judge is set for april 25th. leaders in volusia county are celebrating the construction of an outlet mall in daytona beach. the 350,000 square foot mall is expected to be completed by black friday this year. the company plans to introduce more than 75 big name brand stores like levis and express. they have other outlet centers around the united states and a lot of research went into choosing daytona for the 43rd outlet. the citrus bowl is being

the turf was being covered in dirt. plastic. monster jam is expected to fill fans this saturday. you can see more pictures of transformation. head over to wftv.com/. christian here and a busy night of basketball. >> magic and ucf both in action tonight. >> both should have come away with wins. both did not come away with wins. magic were home against the 76ers. philly with just five wins on the year, the lowest total in the nba. in the first quarter they go on a 13-1 run to finish the quarter. how about that? philly led by 2 after the first. second quarter, you've got to love this from the magic. alfred peyton, the two youngsters hooking up. that put the magic in front by quarter strong. okafor nice move.

magic down 6, under 4 to go. harris the flush. we've still got a ballgame. on the other end isaiah drills it. embarrassing effort overall from the magic. they've lost 8 of the last 9 and that look says it all from coach. >> our defense has been poor. tonight it was poor. you know, we couldn't really dig down and get stops as a team. we couldn't get consecutive hurt us. >> as for ucf knights got qaintd with their rivals from tampa tonight. they made the short trek to 14 days. by 11. up big. first half, chance mcspadden, love that name, gives the knights the lead. 12 points for the freshman. downtown. he had 15. bulls bench 34-10.

one of the starters shows up. a.j. davis the strong take. he led all scores with 22. knights win 64-54. they're 4-1 in acc play. meanwhile florida state looking for a second straight win over a ranked opponent. first half, you're going to see this on facebook, twitter, instagram. donovan mitchell skies for the put back. for the second look, third, fourth, fifth, cardinals dominate from the jump. 84-65 your final. finally, 15th ranked miami also in action looking to snap a two-game losing streak tonight. boston college, started to pull away in the second half and they stayed there. mcclellan nails it. he had 19. miami gets back on track with the 14-point win. finally the buffalo bills hired the first full-time female coach rex ryan named katherine smith the special

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