about his charges which involves publicly exposing himself around children. the inmates reacted by physically attacking him. there were no signs of injuries on him. >> 39-year-old sexual offender watson told the judge he did not plan to testify in his defense. [indiscernible]. >> okay. >> the state says watson masturbated in public within 40 feet of children who were playing at the azela tennis courts last october. the eyewitness demonstrated for the jury what he saw watson doing. watson's charges are looter -- violence. the defense argued that no one ever saw watson homeless. >> he's homeless. he doesn't have a place to go. he has to lives. >> the state told the jury the

himself not necessarily whether anyone saw it. if watson is found guilty, the state will go to the jury again and argue because watson is a registered sex offender, his misdemeanor charges should be tougher. live, kathy bellage, channel 9 eyewitness news. breaking news in orange county where a semi-has tipped over into a store. sky witness 9 you see is live over the scene. this is on bum bee avenue near downtown orlando. it's causing a major traffic backup in the area as well. now, it looks like the trailer came off the truck it self. no one as we've been told so far have been hurt. we're working to get more information. we'll bring updates as soon as they became available. >> don't cry over spilled milk. we'll let you know. temperatures dropped 25

>> the chill came with wind though. big time winds blew -- meteorologist tom terry is tracking that. >> we can't make ice cream. here's what's going on. it's cooler. right now, we're 60 degrees in orlando. 57 in dalton. 54 at palm coast and you see -- you're 27 degrees in the negative column verses temperatures yesterday. we told you this is going to get cooler today, but until you felt it this morning, it's hard to believe we've dropped in the 80s. 54 degrees at 8:00. we have more cloudy cons showing up because here comes the cloud cover rolling in along the gulf coast or around the atlantic and running inland. that means temperatures will not drop quite as low as they were early this morning. it means a chance for rain, lots of changing, day by day over the next several. i'll

>> meantime, breaking news coming in the last hour, a case of zika has been confirmed here in central florida. health officials say the case was confirmed in osceola county and the patient became infected after traveling. this came after the cdc released guidelines to protect you from the spreading zika virus. there's a new problem to make those vulnerable even if they aren't bitten by a mosquito. we'll have the latest. we told you officials believe zika was transmitted sexually with -- they ask men to use protection -- a second headline today, the u.n. asked some governments to actually loosen strict laws against abortion because of the devastating birth defects zika can cause should an expectant

>> we're calling on the government to ensure that any effective public health response taking to [indiscernible] issues. >> international leaders asked women to delay becoming pregnant until this disease can be controlled even though a potential vaccine is still months or even years away. again, here in florida, a state of emergency was called in four different counties. there are 14 and possibly 15 reported zika cases in the state. all of the patients were infected while traveling to other countries and again, vanessa to reiterate, we have our first confirmed case in central florida. a person in osceola county. more later in this newscast. faculty members willsit in limbo after they find out if their information was leaked. 60,000

the wrong hands. potential victims told channel 9 kimberly -- telling kimberly ian -- parents students got a call this week warning about whooping cough. a case of the high lie contagious disease was reported in a male student at the school. channel 9 mark price asked school officials about the steps they're taking to protect other students. mark, that infected student was in school a few hours on monday. >>reporter: yes, but while he was inside, officials say he may have came in contact with hundreds of students, so they say when they found out about this, they contacted the health department and reached out to parents. >> on monday, we received a phone call, so i was panic stricken and called my husband. >> she was panicked when she got

>> one of our students have been diagnosed with a respiratory illness known as the whooping cough. >> she was worried when her found out her daughter shares a class with the student. >> he shouldn't be in school. >> they said the student infected attended school on december 21st and if your kid were there, they may have been exposed or whooping cough, which is a contagious disease. officials say flrz a vaccine against pertosis and if your child isn't up-to-date, see a doctor. 250 students possibly came in contact with the sick student. officials say they don't know how he contracted it and he hasn't returned to school. other parents admit the news was scary, but is -- >> it really was, but i hope they got control of it. >> the school officials say so

shown any signs of the disease. but health officials say it takes 10 to 21 days after coming in contact with an infected person to develop the disease. we'll keep following it and we'll have more as soon as we mark price, channel 9, eyewitness news. >> you can share this post from facebook.com/wftv. now, from orange county, five weeks into the new automated trash service and we're hearing from those with no service. this right here is last year's yard waste still sitting outside in yates road this morning. we did call the county and they told us they weren't aware of areas that needed service. >> the person at the beginning of the street, they had a big pile. and they just had there's hauled away because they were tired of looking at it. >> we're having to call the county solid waste officials to see what's going on up. we'll update you at 5:00.

suing saying he was illegal fired for having a gun in his car. dean worked as a ride maintenance technician at the park from 1993 until last year. he filed a law site saying he kept a firearm in his car work and says officials fired him in december after someone broke in and stole the weapon. the lawsuit says universal claims he violated work policies. a wild crane collapsed in new york city. >> one person killed and three injuries when it collapsed during rush hour. the video has gone viral. bob has been monitoring the update to find out how this could have happened and investigators are trying to figure out what caused this crane collapse. >> all they know is it could have been worse. these pictures at street level shows how massive the crane was. it stretched more than a block after the collapse. and people who live nearby say it felt like an earthquake when it hit. now, officials ordered all the other

secured in safer positions. >> it was a huge noise. and it just, like, went side ways, and we didn't actually see anything. >> did you feel it? >> yes, of course. you could feel. >> new york mayor bill abosia says winds forced officials to lower the crane into a more secured position, but the crane fell before they could clear out all the pedestrians and traffic from that area. one person sitting in a care was killed. >> the fact is this is a very, very sad incident. we've lost a life, but if you go out there on the street as i did and see what happened here, thank god it was not worse. >> more than 130 emergency workers rushed to the scene this morning at work street and west broadway. >> this is an area which normally would have had a lot of people in the area, rush hour, lower man manhattan.

winter advisory. utility crews are going building to building looking for gas leaks. he mayor doesn't expect the area to be back to normal for a few days. >> this area is going to be cut we'll make an effort to accommodate people. >> firefighters and building inspectors have been at the scene all day long. officials say the crane was used to replace generators and air conditioning equipment on the the law school evacuated and cancelled classes until monday because of the collapse. at the top of the hour, we told you about the concern for thousands of ucf student and staff whose private information may have been leaked. >> we wake up tomorrow and have five mortgages under my name. >> why they're asking for help. a mother asked -- the

prosecutors to cut a deal. we just got this wild video that recorded the moments when an elderly couple was saved from their house boat as it was wall. next, the rescue that one man helped pull off to save, tom. you don't want to miss this. >> onshore breeze, the clouds moving back in.

new this hour, we're hear from the good samaritans who jumped in to save an elderly couple before their house boat was crushed to pieces. >> this video is amazing. behind us you can see all that's left of their home floating in the ogali cause way. mel is on the scene. how is the couple doing. >>reporter: they're out the hospital.

when you think of the current conditions of their boat. cell phone video captured the early morning rescue on the cause way in melbern as choppy waves battled a 40-feet house boat. the elderly couple made it out safely. we caught up with one of them. >> we noticed a boat hitting the sea wall. so we turned around to see if anyone was in it and at first it didn't look occupied. >> jason wood said it wasn't long before he and his friend noticed there was someone onboard. they called police. >> immediately called 911 to get measure burn -- to get melbern police out there. the man wouldn't move. we didn't real ize his wife -- >> police were able to see a jeep and another good

>> they were able to jump onto the vessel and once secured they had to break out a window inform get them out and onto the shore. >> the couple were treated with minor injuries. >> they were on their two feet. that's good. >> it will be up to the owner to come out here and savage what he can at this point. we're reporting live in melbern, melody holt, channel 9, eyewitness news. tom will chime in on the winds in a minute. the video of the boat crash is unbelievable. you should check it out and wftv.com/video. despite bad weathers, a rocket blasted off from cape canaveral airspace station this morning. >> liftoff of the united launch alliance atlas 5 rocket. >> that launch happened shortly after 8:30.

twitter picture. onboard was the 12th and final military satellite to be carried in space by a ua rocket. the sath lie will improve military signals and aviation. there's a fight against heart disease. >> 1 and 3 women die of heart disease and stroke. red day is to call attention to the health condition. the event promoted research for cardiovascular disease since 2003 and doctors say the disease is preventible 80% of the time. marty spoke with dr. james with heart institute and he described how heart attack symptoms are different for women than men. >> we associate heart attacks in men with crushing chest pain and sweating and nausea. in women, they're less intense. they may get symptoms in the jaw, in the

have a general feeling of unease. >> 44-year-old kim strong who was fit and fabulous suffered a heart attack nearly four years ago. marty is sharing her is story with you during eyewitness news at 5:00. >> well, we're sporting our red, again, just to remind folks. get that checkup and be aware. >> fix a small problem before it becomes a big problem. >> exactly. it's windy out there. >> the rough surf where the boat capsized. >> we had a nice gentleman call when he saw our forecast with 40s in the morning. it's so warm right now. how can it be so much warmer in the morning. this is february, things happen fast around here. mother nature is not waiting on anybody. 55 with north breeze -- downtown orlando, we're clear and clouds rolling in tonight. that will mitigate our temperature plunge, if you will. we'll slowdown

our daytime high of 60. the north breeze will make for a wind chill which i'm still working on new graphics for in the next half hour, but it's going to feel cooler. 52, that's as cool as we've gotten. the north wind. mostly cloudy, not as cool tonight with clouds moving into lake county. 45 the villages. 45 in mount dora. warmer as we head towards the beach s es due to the cloud-- beaches do you to the cloud decker. through -- low 50s including a much milder 50 degrees in cocoa beach. here's this onshore breeze. note this cloud deck right now, this is a marine cloud deck which can have light spritz or sprinkles with it. that's all we're expecting through the early morning hour. future taft

it doesn't have a way to show sprinkles. there's a big spot or blog. we'll see a few sprinkles along the coast. a light shower or two around 10:00 in the morning. you can see the clouds. that's the dominate feature for tomorrow. that and the fact it's going to be on the cooler side. we'll be in the upper 60s. but our rain chances will go away early on sunday morning. perhaps a shower around day break and it goes out of here. 5-day forecast, the weekend in view, 60 for superbowl sunday as temperatures will stay cooler into next week. a pair of 50s. talk about wind vanessa. the port orange couple who lost their home and $100,000 in second chance. >> coming up, what happened

plus ooeb pleadreuben -- plus reuben pleaded guilty. a man who says a woman who responded to his craigslist ad left him homeless and broke. >> it's nothing out of the

it has been more than 6 months since a jacksonville toddler disappeared and today the man police have always guilty. channel 9 anchor marty has been following this case since the beginning as many of our viewers and marty, reuben will spend -- >>reporter: today ebron pleaded guilty to aggravated man daughter in exchange for a 20-year-old sentence. they say this is the best out come.

>> his lawyer read a lawyer to the court. ebron apologized to lonzie for not protecting him. angela corey discussed the decision at a news conference. >> there was only one person to lead us to lonzie's grave. one person who can make sure that lonzie was recovered from an unmarked, isolated, shallow grave. >> 21-month-old lonzie barton disappeared last month. for five months, investigators searched. ebron's attorney worked out a deal and he took investigator to lonzie's remain. >> we wanted him to take us to the little boy. >> he said it was an accident. he said the toddler drowned in a

>> he stated he panic and hid the child's body off phillips highway and staged it. he said he was remorseful for his actions and he wanted to take us to the child's body. >> cory said that since the medical examiner could not determine the cause of death, the plea deal was the best option. lonzie's mother was charged with child neglect and lying to police. she was set to testify against ebron. greg. >> at least closer for that little boy owe closer for that family. what deputies did to help those without homes. this mailbox was included. coming up , why the mayor says he plans to move it. the phones are lighting up here at ucf has students and

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thousands of ucf student and staff have been told their personal information may be in the hands of heckers. >> somebody could be out there trying out my credit buying things or selling my social security number. >> and now they say the only help they've been given, a 1-800 number isn't enough. >> it can take minutes or it can take hours. that's what thousands of potential victims of ucf data breech victims found -- some students and staff told kimberly edan they hang up -- what are these victims supposed to be doing now. >>reporter: for some of the ucf --

created a delay in answering your call. >> it's more frustrating after finding -- >> someone could be running up my credit or selling my social security. >> alex says the chances are high here's one of the 63,000 current and former students and staff compromised by the data breach ucf announced yesterday. but marcotto doesn't know for sure because after two hours on hold with the call center hired by the university, he hung up. >> i didn't have time to stay on the phone for two hours, so i had to hang up. >> you don't know if you got hacked? >> no. >> he's not a lot. we want to put the wait times to the test. i'm calling the same number given to student, staff and alumni. >> thank you for calling the central of university phone line. >> i just got off the phone with bill at the call center. it took us 25 minutes to get him on the phone.

why it took so long to get through to him and other call takers made to help potential victims. >> we heard the feedback that the times are too long. we're working with the company to bring in more operators. we want to reduce the wait times. >> he couldn't say how many calls came in, only they're picked up as soon as possible. kimberly eden. >> they have -- they mailed out letters today to everyone effected and have set up a website as well. if you think you could be risk, visit wftv.com/web links. a student news organization will not have to pay the university of central florida's court fees in a public record ez despite. night news incorporated sued ucf saying the university didn't corporate with their record's request and refused to share information on students board hearing. an

were policy arguments, but ruled the school was justified: the couple referred to as the real bonnie and clyde. >> they were wanted on kidnapping and arm ed robbery charges in georgia, missouri and alabama. when they were spotted in pensacola, they led police on a 3-hour chase and tried to get into someone's home. once they were surrounded, a gun fight ensued and fitzgerald was killed. harper was injured, but expected to survive. there's thousands of dollars -- the box has been the center of an ongoing controversy over public records. michael is live. the mayor says he plans to move the box some where else. >>reporter: greg, the mayor says he's not sure exactly where this box will end up, but he plans to remove it by this weekend after council members raised concerns about liability.

for this box on his own and in this case raised questions about what becomes a public record once it gets dropped inside. the manager's mailbox is intended to be a unique way for the taxpayers to talk to the city. instead it has turned into a legal act. >> it turned into something as a -- >> former council member erickson sued the city and mayor johnson last december. it claims that the mayor failed to make surveys. just this week, the city agreed to a settle where its insurance company will pay erickson $10,000 without admitting guilt. >> all he had to do was hand over the documents. >> one of the big questions in this lawsuit is whether the surveys dropped in this box are public records. this comes as lawmakers are considering big

office law. >> a judge will decide whether government agencies who violate the record's law will have to pay a penalty. the change will remove the teeth from the law and hurt advantage citizens. >> if not for the lawyer, i would have made a request for a document i wouldn't. >> the mayor says he wanted residents to feel like they could be honest. he'll have to make the documents public. >> erickson says he'll use the money to cover his legal fees. we did reach out to the mayor today, but he says he's out of town and couldn't do an interview. michael lopardi. we've been telling you about la view -- we told you about volusia county. deputies went into the woods a

into warm, dry clothes after he was found shaking because he stayed in a flooded area. they do this so the homeless know they can call for him. there's 36,000 truck heavy tires that can fail and cause crashes. it covers 2.2 fire stone -- code fs561. they were made in 2015. the company says the tread on the tires can separate and cause a loss of air pressure. no injuries have been reported so far. this afternoon, we're hearing from passengers who are on an american airline's flight out of orlando that had to make an emergency landing. >> the plane left hawaii in the morning for charlotte north carolina. the jet liner was over south georgia when pilots noticed an electrical smell in the cockpit. one passenger smelled smoke and was anxious for the plane to land.

land soon and hope nothing blows up. >> investigators met them on the tarmac. rebooked. american airlines issued an apology. hurt. that's the bottom line. there's a plan to take -- house republicans are giving -- but not everyone is onboard. gorge kolly found out if the switch can make it safer for all of us to fly. >>reporter: air-traffic controllers are in control -- controllers falling asleep, not staffed adequately. profit corporation. >> house republicans wants that traffic control. they said it experience. >> we believe it's going to make it less delays.

changing the role of the faa >> it allows the faa to focus on safety where it belongs and separates the two functions which over 50 countries in the world have done that. >> other supporters include the national controller's association, but not everyone in the aviation industry is onboard. >> to make a wholesale change has too much risk to a safe system. >> tom hendricks leads a group with -- >> we just don't think that you've got to completely break off the part of the fa that works the best which is the air traffic control system to address these issues. >> congress will take up the debate next week. from washington, joerm colley, channel 9 eyewitness news. this traffic operation will be controlled by airline border insiders. a florida man who landed a gyrocopter on the white house

hughes landing the copter. he called it an attempt to call attention to the influence of big money in politics. while he waits to be sentenced for that incident, hughes said he wants to go after the seat debbie shultz. a judge says he needs court approval to go anywhere else. it seems like we're reporting on recalls from takata. there's another 5.7 million cars. 2 million here in the united states. 11 people have died because of those faulty airbags including one woman here in orlando. speaking of cars, drivers could be the one to end up paying for a new tax. the president was proposing for oil companies. the president is set to announce the $10 per barrel

officials say the bill generates new forms for transportation owe -- republicans exposed to oppose that. bus -- central florida express way launched a toll probate program. it offers a 99% rebate for public school buses carrying students traveling on cfx. express ways that include school buses for orange, seminole osceola lake will be included. that's a lot of quarters -- these funds could be better spent in classrooms. waiving those tolls. we're three days away from the big game. who are you taking? >> you know how i feel about both teams. the fbi and homeland security are working hard to make sure the event runs smoothly.

pack levi stadium. they'll be bomb sniffing dogs and instead the stadium, x-ray machines are scanning to beyonce's wardrobe. when they say everything, they mean everything. >> how do you feel? >> i feel the same about them both. >> i like them both? >> no. a south florida boy arrested for attempted robbery. he was 8-year-old. >> how he got the gun he used to holdup the grocery store and the punishment he's facing. tom. i'm updating winter on the way in seven minutes. they lost their home in an h

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a positives jobs report had a negative -- they might raise interest rates. the dow dropped 200 points and the s and f 500 fell 35 points. the port orange family who called action 9 after their home was sold won't be kicked off. >> they lost their home after association fees. todd is here to tell us how they got their house back, todd. >> the couple's attorney filed a motion to invest indicate as a long shot. after our story aired, the hoa and the new buyers offered to settle outside the courtroom. >> it's not right. it's disgusting. it's pride. >> two days after our story aired, a dramatic turn around for kaitlyn and her family. the

port orange home at the hoa -- it's a costly penalty for failing to pay just $1900 in association fees. but far better than being evicted and losing $100,000 in equity since they had owned the home out right. >> we want to make things right. >> kaitlyn and her husband lost jobs and say that's why hoa fees weren't paid and didn't know an hoa could foreclose. hoa legally can, but -- >> to foreclose on small amounts is ridiculous. it cost the association thousands of dollars. >> attorney barbara stage has represented many hoa's and says foreclosures should be a last resort, and an association plans earlier on. >> there's a better way. work with the homeowner. >> kaitlyn says the association

but says there were two notices that the couple should have responded to far sooner, and that won't ever happen again. >> that's where we made the mistake. >> so their losses with legal fees will come close to $20,000. a punishment say some fits the violation far better than the foreclosure and a $100,000 loss. greg. >> todd, good job helping those folks. >> getting results. police in west palm beach were shocked to learn the suspect in an attempted grocery hold store was, get this, 8-year-old. >> investigators say the camera was roll -- when he approached the cashier with the weapon, other employees took the gun there and called police. the boy's mother was at home when she realized something was wrong. >> you know, i knew i was missing something. where's my gun. i said i hope jaden don't have my gun.

store and will have to enter a deversion store. he won't face charges. >> my goodness. that's disturbing on a lot of levels. >> exactly. our forecast. winter is not dead yet. >> this is -- this is more of a real winter. >> yeah, february. >> we don't have a lot of seasonable changes. it's hot or it's not. >> and it's not now. >> it's not now. we've dropped considerably from yesterday. 60 degrees in orlando. we're down to 57 in daytona. daytona beach, look at the wave action. that's going to get more so a little higher, if you will, by sunday as yet another front is going to come cranking through the state. so for tomorrow into sunday, the water and the waves seas two to three feet. statements up and be cautious. it's not a bad weekend. more sunshine on sunday. both days on the breezy to windy side.

15 to 20 miles-an-hour, gusty. temperatures pretty much colding station -- much colder stations. it's going to stop tower temperature drops in the upper 40s and 50s and holding steady through the early morning hours. over by osceola and -- 48 in orlando. it may warmup a little bit as we head towards day break as the clouds roll through. had 2 in ocala. and 53 in titusville. here's the cloud developing offshore. this will get pulled in and it's showing rainfall. there's nothing showing up on radar, so our forecast model, very sensitive to light rainfall that i don't think is going to be there quite tonight. but as we head towards tomorrow morning, 7:00 a.m., we will see some coastal showers especially on our northern coast, daytona and showers working inland during the day. and we'll watch a low pressure

coast of florida. this low hasn't developed over the gulf and moved over the state. instead, this is developing off the east coast and pulling away. so we'll see a chance for a tower early sunday morning, and then the sunshine returns. here's your highs tomorrow. tomorrow, the warmer the two days this weekend will be in upper 60s across from orlando down south, maybe near 70 if we can get a peek of sunshine. look at superbowl sunday, 50s near 60. we're going to get the sun back, but it's going to feel like winter again. 5-day forecast with the weekend in view, rain at 30% chance. we're going to favor saturday night and sunday night for the best chance of rain and another front rolls through on sunday. we have your weekend event forecast. it's going to be a good day for some chili in downtown orlando. >> i'll be there.

daytona beach is violating her rights. what the adult entertainer hopes to change while suing the teacher. a math teacher is accused of damaging a child's dental work by ripping out a lolly pop out her mouth. i'm asking officials why it has taken three years to take action against her teaching certificate. it's the time of year ahh...

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says you should expect to be asked extra questions when you meet with your tax preparer. >> it's going to take -- florida is part of a pilot program that offers an identity pin. >> it means if somebody has your social security number, they can't use it to file your return because you have your special pin. >> the irs is working to implement multi factor authenticity. >> you'll identify yourself through your iphone or land line and we have a way of communicating with you for you to say who you are. yourself. >> they need to protect themselves and when they're online, they have to fire wall and virus protections. >> one of the biggest scams is the phone scam. since 2013, millions of taxpayers have been duked out of their money.

not hearing from us. >> if you get a call from someone claiming you need to pay or else, hang up the phone. >> the one thing that could confuse you is starting next year, the irs is contracting with private bill collectors to come after you if you owe the irs a debt. anyone who gets contacted by a -- you know you know you owe the irs because you'll receive information in the mail. firefighters exposed to dangerous he is possess toes. plus you saw a break if you were watching a 4:00, a patient tested positive for zika. we're asking what's being done to make sure the virus doesn't spread.

>> this is channel 9 eyewitness news at 5:00. coverage you can count on. >> breaking right now, firefighters who continually put their lives on the line say they were put in even more danger by their own department. tonight, 9 investigates uncovered crews working in a building filled with dangerous asbestos. >> orange county says the orlando fire department didn't even inform them there was asbestos in that old apartment complex. >> training was stopped wince jim berry started asking questions today. steve is live there tonight. steve, you spoke with one firefighter about his concerns. >> reporter: yeah. that's right. his concerns come from this right here, martha. this is an asbestos survey on this apartment complex you're looking at right here. it says there is asbestos in