they went flying in the cars. >> seven vehicles smashed together. in the middle of the heap remains of a pickup shattered in pieces. barely recognizable as what it was. another truck, the black one, that is the one witnesses say caused the crash. >> it was unreal. brad: is survivor of the crash barely. she says the truck raced past her on 202 out of control. >> bouncing off the guardrail. not the guardrail, the curve. bouncing. hit and then bouncing. he hit one more time at the median. >> the driver of the pickup truck taking the worst of it. hitting angela jefferson broadside at high rate of speed.

the injuries fatal. three others injured. juan sanchez facing charges for driving without a license causing a crash that could have taken many lives. >> you can imagine they are shook up. >> it looked unreal. it looked like a movie. i was scared. brad: maryland state police investigating the cause. they want to know why sanchez did lose control of the vehicle. one thing they look is whether or not that alcohol may have been involved. in largo, brad bell, abc7 news. alison: we are following breaking news out of alexandria right now. where the police tell us they made a second arrest in connection with a body that was found in beverley park. castro charged with murder. the victim was found in the park at the beginning of november. it's popular with families

that live nearby. the neighborhood was on edge after the body was found. two others were charged in connection with the murder. arlington police say there is a possibility of more victims. after two men were arrested for sexual assault. they arrested jose guevara-rodriquez and elmer lopez-velasquez on tuesday. the victim was an escort and they assaulted her at knifepoint. plain clothes officers working another case saw the men enter and leave later. when confronted they ran off but were caught by the officers. leon: we showed you these pictures live 24 hours ago at 5:00. firefighters losing the ladder to rescue people from the four-story apartment building in adelphi. now we are hearing the 911 call from the fire. diane cho is back on the scene to show us the damage and tell us more.

diane: they have been providing blankets, snacks and water and helping people get on their feet with a hundred people displaced here. it's not clear when they will be allowed to return. moments after the fire broke out, several 911 calls came in. jude considers himself fortunate today. >> i had gotten out with warm clothes and i had somewhere to go. diane: the day after they caught flames shooting through the building at the condo in adelphi, and jude allowed back in temporarily today to grab personal belongings. >> there was soot in the kitchen. next to the stairwell.

it took 85 firefighters 30 minutes to knock down the bulk of the fire while forcing them to rescue two people trapped in a balcony in a ground ladder. >> they did a great job. >> she had just parked her car. by the time the fire department came it was huge. >> it appears to be accidental in nature. five were injured but they have been treated and released a go fund me page has been set

up to help the residents. diane cho, abc7 news. alison: thank you. a live look outside. cold and calm around the area. doug hill has what we can expect later tonight. doug: i like the picture because you know, four weeks ago it was dark. it is clear outside the belfort furniture weather center. live look down the river at the torpedo factory along the potomac. the winds are light and calm. this is warmer than yesterday. 50 at reagan national airport. 53 in fredericksburg. 52 in hagerstown. by early tomorrow morning mostly clear skies. chill off but not cold. a pleasant morning. the clouds will increase. the cloudiness and the rain headed in our direction.

the clouds develop late morning and the afternoon. by tomorrow evening the rain will move in. this is going to mauve through overnight. tomorrow we should be good to go for the upcoming holiday weekend. story for the moment. clear skies, light winds and cool temperatures. enjoy. check out the next seven days in a few minutes. alison: thank you. well, three winning tickets as you likely have heard by now. they were sold in three states. waiting to see who will split the powerball. lauren is in a store with happy people in chino hill, california, where one of the winning tickets was sold. >> last night it was a party. >> today a million dollar payday for a store owner who didn't win the lottery but sold a winning ticket.

>> even without the winner coming forward it has been a scene at the 7-eleven since the news came they sold a winning powerball ticket. the winner has yet to come forward. >> talk to us. we are here to help you. we want to help you start the wonderful journey. winning a cash prize should never be a nightmare. >> two other jackpot winning tickets were sold. one at melbourne beach, florida, public grocery store. >> we were informed at 5:30 that this location did sell a winning ticket. >> this is awesome. incredible. >> one sold in munford, tennessee, city of 6,000. >> good advice. find the ticket. enjoy it. >> millions of other powerball players today learn to accept they need no such help managing a new fortune. >> i tried. i tried.z >> if you caught powerball fever you can still play. they estimate the jackpot to be mere $40 million.

alison: so around here there are a few people who are a million dollars richer today. in virginia, two tickets matched all five numbers. in maryland, three $1 million tickets were sold at wawa in predrick. amaco in happen tall heights and 7-eleven in brady. the owner of that store says it averages $150 a day in lotto sales. this week is $3,000 a day. leon: how about that? that is not a surprise. amazing. for the big dollar winners to the debate winners. tonight the republican presidential candidate will face-off again. they are in south carolina, an important state for whoever wins the nomination. scott thuman is live there tonight. what can we expect tonight? scott: the folks here like to

point out they vote first. but the folks here will remind you they are the first primary in the south that has significance. it's not an accident that the second to the last debate before the votes are cast are in charleston. you will have seven candidates on the main stage in the 9:00 forum. supposed to be four in the so-called undercard event but rand paul said if he is not considered a top tier candidate he won't show. he did not. his supporters have shown up. ever since 1980 they have predicted the nominee. talking about a significance we heard from senator ted cruz about the politics. >> historically, south carolina has played an incredibly important role in

primaries. the role of south carolina to ensure the next republican nominee and the next president is a real and a proven conservative. scott: now one of the other things that keep an eye on tonight is that a couple of people who feel they have been pushed off to the side. they are trying to get back in front of the cameras for the most part. atop the polls. jeb bush and chris christie. they put out tough ads. we will talk about that and we'll hear from donald trump as he made other remarks there to get attention. all of that is coming up in an hour on "abc7 news at 6:00". reporting live from north charleston, i'm scott thuman. back to you. leon: all right. back to the grits, scott. talk to you in a bit. people wishing to vote in the virginia march primary will have to sign a loyalty pledge. federal judge rejected a bid by the supporters to get it

tossed out. they are requiring people to verify they are a republican to keep impendents and disaffected democrats voting for him. the fourth democratic debate is also in charleston, south carolina, this sunday. no change in the line-up there. on stage, hillary clinton, vermont senator bernie sanders and former governor martin o'malley. alison: from the political theater to hollywood. the oscar nominations are out today. who got recognized and who got snubbed? leon: what metro is doing to get you to the destination on time now. alison: is it a princess castle or an alley problem? we will tell you the local free house fight that has the neighbor versus neighbor. >> plus those who live in d.c. and work in d.c. are one step closer to getting medical benefits, the paid medical benefits that last 16 weeks. i'll tell you how much you can get and where it stands on the other said of the break.

alison: metro transit police arrested a 15-year-old for assault and robbery on the green line. a group of teens began picking on another teen last november.

when an adult intervened a 15-year-old girl allegedly punched a man. police say they identified the girl using the security cameras and witness statements leon: if d.c. approves a new paid leave proposal it would be the friendly and the employee friendly plans in the country. alison: with most thing there comes a catch and debate. sam sweeney at the hearing and live with both sides of the argument here. hi, sam. sam: good evening. this bill if passed it would give those who live and work in d.c. some of the best family medical leave in country. 16 hours -- 16 weeks in total. some were for it and some were against it. the primary debate is cost.

it would cost for 16 weeks of leave for adoption of a child, if you need to care for a sick relative or take care of one's self. >> those who support it will help those attract top talent. many of would would benefit the hourly wage employees. >> those at the bottom need full wage replacement. they are on the brink to begin with. sam: the bowser administration supports the bill but has concern about the cost and what it would do to the job growth. >> the proposed paid leave program would not be sustainable without changes to the structure or subsidy by the government. sam: most focus on cost. some say there is a $165 million surplus in the year but the ceo says it could run $400 million deficit.

advocates say the bill is worth the cost. >> this is great to do something vital and to set the stage around the country for a bill to make a difference. >> under this bill anyone making $52,000 or less would receive 100% of the pay for the weeks. making more than that would receive $1,000 a week and up to 50% of the pay up to $3,000. for those who live here in district and work in maryland or virginia, you will also receive the benefit if the bill passes. leon: thank you. enjoy benefit of a change in the weather. doug: nice segue.

leon: thank you. >> we have warm day and cold days and i will ride this gravy train to spring. give you a weather bug camera. maintain the clear blue skies. it's 51 in spotsylvania. the rest of the area has mild temperatures. 53 in fredericksburg. i want to show you the temperatures when you go farther west and north of the area. 46 in columbus. 55 in raleigh. 56 in charlotte. we will stay on the mild side of things for the next couple of days. this is a 24-hour temperature

change map. these temperatures in the red areas, this is how much warmer it is now than this time yesterday. it's 20 degrees warmer at reagan national. 27 in pittsburgh. 29 in charylston. a big push on the plus side. there is warmer air headed our way. we won't see a change in this tomorrow morning. we have the clear skies. but then the clouds are here and 6:30 tomorrow the rain is moving in. east of the metro area. this will quickly move out. saturday it's cloudy but saturday morning at 7:30 or 8:00, it's all cleared out. it will turn cooler. and colder sunday and next

week. this is a prediction of the rainfall estimate. the farther north and west from the district. give you an update on hurricane alex. we have a hurricane in the atlantic ocean. first hurricane to form in the atlantic in the month of january from 1938. the top winds at 85 miles per hour. it will weaken a little bit. but it is headed to greenland and it will produce wind and rain and the high seas over the atlantic ocean. look at the changes in the temperature. tomorrow, tomorrow is 53 with the clouds increasing through the day. 80% chance of rain and the evening. tomorrow night, predawn on saturday. partly sunny and pleasant. 51. it will turn cooler. then the colder temperatures that are arriving in the low 40's. martin luther king day is sunny with high of 30. 32 on tuesday.

>> thank you. still ahead at 5:00 -- the food you need to eat to protect your eyes from glaucoma. leon: remembers a british actor that appeared in some of your favorite movies. alison: leo and jen both got nominations but it's who was left off the oscar list that has people talking tonight. alison: from the big screen to the small screen. here is what is coming up tonight at primetime -- don't forget to be an abc7 fan. get show information and details about the abc7 contests in the inbox signing up for the fan blast.

wow. the internet is crazy fast here. i know, right? it's so nice to have everyone over. hi hey. mmm. i just laid an egg. does anybody want it? joey, you want some gasoline? yes, please. mom, guess what? i married a clown and we're having tiny little clown babies. mhm. i just bought a hammer.

with internet fast enough for everyone, your guests might get a bit carried away. get out of the past. get fios.

leon: forget about the powerball. alison: many actors woke up early on the west coast to hear good or bad news. we have michelle marsh with us. two got the oscar nod and those who got snubbedded. michelle: a lot of popular movies that people went to see, "straight out of compton" didn't get nomination. most of the actors left off the list are black.

>> i'm not afraid to die. michelle: "the revenant" leads the pack receiving 12 nominations including best picture. >> leonardo dicaprio and "the revenant." michelle: a fifth acting nod for leonardo dicaprio. fresh off of a golden globe win. >> leonardo dicaprio is going to win an oscar. he is a lock. kevin: -- -- >> i'm scared. michelle: brie larson is a favorite for best actress. she spoke to "good morning america" minutes after the nomination. >> it's the highest form of flattery in my field. michelle: she is competing against cate blanchett, jennifer lawrence, charlotte rampling and saoirse ronan. >> it should be pointed out this is a whitewash in the acting category. michelle: white actors represented all 20 acting nominations again this year. many questioning why will smith wasn't nominated. >> i've got something to say. michelle: "straight out of compton" was snubbed for best

picture that includes eight films this year. "mad max: fury road," among them, receiving ten nods. "star wars: the force awakens" was also nominated five times in technical categories. the academy is bringing back chris rock as the host. 11 years after his first run on the oscar stage. i'm looking forward to him hosting. he is a hoot. he is always tough on the folks in the front row. so i feel for those folks if they are sitting up front so he can see them. of course, abc7 is the oscar station. our own kidd o'shea will be headed to hollywood for all the glitz and the glam. you can watch the oscars on abc7, sunday february 28. if you are like me you have a lot of binge watching to do. leon: yeah. we were thying about what chris rock might do or say about the lack of the black actors in the categories there. interesting. okay. we'll see what happens. alison: thank you, michelle. leon: the entertain world woke

up to sad news. alan rickman died at the age of 69. two of his most recognizable roles are the bad guy in "die hard." and professor snape in the harry potter series. other films were "robin hood: prince of thieves" and "sense of sensibility" and "love actually." he had been battling cancer for some time. alison: talented actor. he will be missed for sure. still to come at "abc7 news at 5:00" today -- if you feel like you have a powerball hangover. you are not alone. we have a look at the people emotional roller coaster now that there are winners out there. leon: a princess castle or a nuance. why the tree house is causing a neighborhood stir. >> what does your smart trip card has to do with how metro tracks if your train is on time. i'm brianne carter.

leon: metro is setting a goal to improve travel time for riders. alison: that is music to the metro passengers ears. how do they propose doing that? brianne carter joining us from the rosslyn metro station. hi. brianne: we often see social media fees fill up with riders

talking about delays. now a new way to track on-time performance has to do with this. the smart cards. how do they do it? from the time you do this. you pass into the system and come through. to the time that you do the same thing and tap out of the system at your final destination. this is a change from what was previously done. previously metro was tracking the headway or the travel time between the trains. the riders say it doesn't go with the experience and what it is. the train may show up on time. there could be other instances from the system to make us late to get to where we need to go. paul wiedefeld says this is the right way to do things to go more with the customer experience. >> real information about how

their world work. we are making sure we look at it from the customer eyes and not what we do. coming up tonight at 6:00, why wouldn't this work on the buss? we have more tonight. leon: always a catch. prince george's county police arrested a man in homicide. marvin vazquez-juarez is charged with murdering his ex-girlfriend. alison: the driver suspected of causing a fatal accident in largo is now in police custody. juan sanchez was driving without a license. the crash killed angela

jefferson. springdale. leon: a hundred people are out of their homes following a fire at the condo in adelphi. they think the fire started accidently. alison: three winners will split the record powerball jackpot. the winning tickets sold in chino hills, california, melbourne beach, florida, and munford, tennessee. none of the winners have step forward to claim the prizes. leon: police in italy arrested a man in the death of american artist ashley olson who was found murdered last weekend. the d.n.a. matched a man named diauw. the investigators say they believe the two men at a nightclub the night she died. alison: we have breaking news in the newsroom. the husband of singer celine

dion has died. renee, also her manager, died at his home near las vegas. he was 73. he had been battling throat cancer. the coroner said he died of natural causes. they had three children. the singer recently put her career on hold to care for her husband. singer nick carter is free on bail. he allegedly punched a bouncer after being denied entry and was upset about it. charged with misdemeanor battery. leon: still to come at "abc7 news at 5:00" -- we know that the green, leaffy vegetables are good for you. now we hear about a serious disease it could help fight off. alison: coming up tonight at 6:00, two men in custody after an armed sexual assault in arlington. tonight police want to know if other victims are out there.

the investigation happening now.

steve: i'm steve steve rudin. grab an umbrella as you head out the door. later today is the shower and the periods of rain by tomorrow night. look at the extended forecast. 51 on saturday. morning showers come to an end. for martin luther king day the temperatures are cold for some time. around 30 for a daytime high. take you out and look at the next seven days. a few added clouds on wednesday. back to 40 for thursday next week. stay with us. "abc7 news at 5:00" continues after this.

alison: encouraging news for those with a.l.s., lou gerhig disease. a study shows harvesting bone mar roy and inject it to spinal cord fluid can slow the disease projection. johns hopkins neurologist said not a breakthrough, per se, it's a step in the right

direction. >> i wish i could say it's a break through but it's not. this is an important advance to different a.l.s. cell based therapy. alison: his concerns are about the study short duration. it was just six months. 30,000 americans suffered from the degenerative and the fatal disease. january is glaucoma awareness month. a new study that finds eating leaffy greens can decrease the risk of getting the degenerative eye disease. it comes from the women's hospital and hartford medical school in boston. it tracked 16,000 people from 1984 to 2012 and the rearmers found those who -- researchers found those who ate the most vegetables had lower rate of glaucoma. leon: back off on the carrots now. coming up, just ahead a game of epic "horse." on the basketball court. power house here.

see what he did to our man robert burton. took him to school! do you have a powerball hangover today? we are talking to people about how they feel now that there is a winner and it's not them. we'll have it next at "abc7 is a winner and it's not them. we'll have it next at "abc7 news

wow. the internet is crazy fast here. i know, right? it's so nice to have everyone over. hi hey. mmm. i just laid an egg. does anybody want it? joey, you want some gasoline? yes, please. mom, guess what? i married a clown and we're having tiny little clown babies. mhm. i just bought a hammer. with internet fast enough for everyone, your guests might get a a bit carried away. get out of the past. get fios.

leon: if you are like many of us, you played the powerball but you still had to go to work today. alison: jackpot was drawn 20 times before a winning tibet hit now. the disappointment for some of us is setting in. cheryl conner takes to us a northeast store that sold the $50,000 ticket. reporter: a day after the drawing the money is shuffledded around. the store is lucky. it sold a $50,000 ticket in wednesday night's historic jackpot. customers who played and lost are back to play again. >> you don't hit a number. a number hits you. >> in that case, darrell is waiting to be smacked in the face. he invested $30 a day with the pick three and the pick four in the powerball game. he has won and lost. in the end he breaks even.

they are relentless. people are coming in to buy lottery tickets but the owner of dave brown liquors says he doesn't see any extra money from selling that $50,000 ticket. store owners get commission on selling and the cashing of tickets but the big money only comes if they sell the numbers that hit all five plus the powerball. >> the excitement is people come in to ask me questions. the excitement is the lottery boys are doing something to make it look strong. reporter: signs are up at the store. people are coming back. >> aren't you sick of playing? >> no! if i don't play, my numbers come out. reporter: remember with the jackpot reset to $40 million, your odds of winning stay the same. >> overall odds to win something is 1 in 24. overall odds of winning the great big prize got longer. reporter: the game-changer means we could see more megajackpots. >> i'm not sick of playing. i know the number going to hit me one day. reporter: northwest d.c., cheryl connor, abc7 news.

leon: today we asked on facebook if you won money in powerball. if you did, what are you doing with your cash? a few of the answer we got here -- alison: wendy's and starbucks. out on the town. leon: they are not alone. alison: no. d.c. youngest giant panda cub getting ready for his big public debut. all eyes will be on bei bei starting saturday. look at the live picture there. see, there is mom and bei bei in the picture now eating bamboo. 20-pound cub now. of course, at the smithsonian national zoo. the panda house has been closed since bei bei was born on august 22nd. but soon, he will be hanging outside like the rest of the family. so they have to cub proof the

yards. >> we want to make sure that it's safe for him. we feel like bei bei is calmer, more easy-going than his sister. alison: public debut is saturday between 9:00 and 9:00. so 9:00 a.m. and 9:00 p.m. the zoo says to avoid overcrowding visitors may be allowed in the panda house in small groups. only on a first come, first serve basis. leon: looking ahead here at 6:00 -- a sexual assault investigation in arlington. plus, metro looks to improve in the on-time performance. the proposal on the table to do that. we will be live in south carolina counting down to the g.o.p. debate. all that coming your way just ahead at 6:00. in the meantime check the roads with jamie sullivan. alison: starting off, we have a crash near nasa goddard that

is gone. leaving d.c. heading north. jamie: 95 is a little better. heaviest stretch through laurel. but still, if you have to head to baltimore my advice is take 95. still jammed up on the inner loop of the beltway. starting in virginia you approach the american legion bridge. we are going to continue to slow for eight miles toward connecticut avenue. from the 270 spur in 75 will take you 30 minutes. in d.c., no crashes to report. but take a look. we are in a single digit now on 66. we take a live look outside it will give you a better ideas of what to expect. this is near sycamore street. we are inching along. a crash just past this point. we have a lane blocked. so if you have to leave arlington and you live in fairfax or centreville, get ready for the delay outbound to 66. if you want to avoid g.w. parkway it's okay right now. that is a look at traffic. back to you. alison: thank you. leon: nice break with the weather. alison: nice and mild. leon: great outside.

doug, of course, the question is, is it going to last? doug: a couple of days. we were 20, 22 degrees warmer than yesterday afternoon. the temperatures will stay above average until we hit late sunday afternoon and monday. it will get cold again. look at the numbers now. the current temperature reading is 51 on the campus of gallaudet university. it's 49 in aspen hill and 47 in dale city. we head through the overnight hours we will stay mostly clear. temperatures overnight. 28 to 35. that is the mildest night we have for the past few. we are like in the teens, 21, 22. pretty good stuff. all because of the light southerly winds. in time, tomorrow, the southerly winds transport cloudiness in. rain, high pressure. giving us, the clear weather moving off the shore. that is the system in southern louisiana we will track through the day tomorrow. sunshine in the morning. clouds increase through the day. by the late afternoon and the early evening, rain will be overhead. by 7:00 tonight. as we go through the late night hours 10:00. element of heavier rain south

and southeast of washington. good news is it will move out overnight. may have a few clouds early on saturday morning. rainfall chances not a lot to see. tenth of an inch in the green areas. south and east of the city. maybe four, five, six, eight-tenth of an inch of rain. seven days side-by-side. tomorrow, noon early. increasing clouds. evening rain. 53. 51 on saturday. sunday turns cooler to drop through the 40's. partly cloudy skies. then we round out the dr. martin luther king jr. holiday on monday. cold. 30 with the sunshine. cruise through tuesday, wednesday, thursday, still sunshine. just a little bit, a little bit of a warmer trend in the end of next week. that is the latest. back to you. alison: okay. leon: you know we have been waiting for this all day. alison: he told us he would do it last night. i can't wait to see how it went. robert: i'm just saying, i'm not bending over like this to be cool. i'm tired. i'm exhausted. four months ago we introduced

you to leesburg's own basketball prodigy noah cutler. the fifth grader has gone wild again. the reason why is this. look at steph curry. pre-game warmup. he finishes with the reverse. 11-year-old noah. we showed you this that execute steph's move flawlessly and finishes with the reverse as well. team at abc7 sports said how about a game of "horse"? this is how it went down. first game, i gave a little razzle dazzle behind the back. between the legs and whatever. be clear. he didn't pull out his real moves until the second game. i think he was feeling me out. i won the first game. the second game is when he pulled out the steph curry move. if you think this stuff is easy, you are very wrong. he is not playing around anymore. he wins the second game. as you see here. i can't shoot. so it's tied at a game apiece. then for the tie-breaker he just took it to the next

level. leon: he didn't. robert: he pulled out two balls. even started to hit three-pointers. so 11-year-old noah cutler beat me in a game of "horse." we sat down with noah after the match. how long are do you spend a day in the gym? noah: two to three hours. robert: why do you think you have to spend that long in the gym? snowe: so i can be consistent -- noah: so i can be consistent every day. robert: you know kids don't live this lifestyle. a lot of them would rather play outside at the playground. noah: that used to be me. robert: that was you? noah: yeah. robert: you don't want to do it anymore? how come? noah: i find basketball more, i have more fun with basketball than i do with that stuff. robert: he has skills. skills. leon: unbelievable. robert: sunday at 11:30 we debut the new sports show, abc7 sports sunday. get your sports fix on abc7 sunday night at 11:30. you might see noah again.

i want to say i feel sorry for any other 11-year-old who try to guard him on the court. leon: i'm a man of my word. i said i would pay to see it. robert: you brought the cash. $1. $1. leon: that is what it was worth. [laughter] robert: my performance was worth a buck. gosh! that's why i didn't make it to the nba. alison: you were not letting him win to be clear? robert: no, no. be very clear. he was going easy on me. because if he wanted to end it, he could have kept doing the two-ball stuff. back to the one ball. he was going ahh -- leon: who started first? who got the first shot? robert: the first game he got the first shot. the second game i got the first shot and the third game. leon: we was ponying with you. robert: he was! i'm not ashamed to say. this kid is a prodigy. leon: this may sound like blasphemy if lebron's 8-year-old gets a scholarship at his age why can't he.

robert: he has an offer to a prep school. leon: he does? robert: prep school in south carolina. leon: keep an eye on him. alison: that's fun. thank you. leon: hit the showers. alison: all right. still ahead on "abc7 news at 5:00" -- >> a place for playtime has become a lot of work for a d.c. couple. i'm mike carter-conneen live on capitol hill. coming up, how the treehouse became the focal point of a neighborhood disput

alison: some capitol hill residents are up in arms because of a neighbor's house in a tree. it's a tree house. it sits on the edge of a small wrap-around alley that is too narrow for most cars. that is where mike carter-conneen joins us live with the back and forth that is happening between neighbors. you are up in the treehouse, mike? mike: i'm living a childhood dream. we got permission to come up

here tonight. the owners of the treehouse called a princess castle built for their young daughters. the neighbors have other names for it. ever since it was built this summer, it's source of a dispute. meetings and debates. inspection by ddot and opposition by neighbors. >> we are not on speaking terms. it's not productive. >> ellen says her 3 and 5-year-old daughters love playing in their treehouse. located along archibald walk, u-shaped alley on capitol hill. >> we have had request for birthday parties from the neighborhood parents. >> since it was built in september, it has grown on some neighbor's. >> it's a pretty quirky part of the neighborhood. people in this neighborhood are quirky and it fits right in. >> many overs say it intrudes in the public space only to benefit the owners and it's incompatible with the hisser rake nature. >> things that affect

everybody ought to be decided on and discussed together. >> annan arborist avoided builds it here to avoid an oak tree. >> we didn't hear from the neighbors when we built it and we notified them. >> they reach it out to the dcra and ddot for the proper permit, facing opposition now she says the structure should be allowed to stay because it hangs over a tree box. >> that is considered unusable alley space. you can't walk on it, ride a bike or drive a car on it. >> they will do whatever they can to preserve the structure, even go to court. the thinks that d.c. needs a treehouse ordinance. >> without rules on the books it's subjective process. that troubles me. mike: d.c.r.a. says they confirm it's 50 square feet or smaller located on the private space do not require permit. but this structure as you can see hangs over the alley. the fate could be decided at a

ddot public space hearing this month. reporting live in southeast d.c., mike carter-conneen, abc7 news. alison: glad you got down safely, mike. thank you very much. all right. well, coming up on "abc7 news at 6:00" -- a sexual assault investigation in arlington. police trying to find out if other victims may be out there. plus a woman killed in a serious crash along largo road. why one driver is now facing charges. we're hours away from the next republican pathial debate. what is at stake for the iowa caucus? "abc7 news at 6:00" starts now. announcer: "abc7 news at 6:00". on your side. leon: up first at 6:00, a sexual assault assault at a hotel in south arlington. and the person who did it had a gun. tonight, two suspects facing charges. maureen: now police want to know if there are other victims. they are releasing new information about the men and

who they may have targeted. leon: jeff goldberg is live with the top story. jeff: the investigators are looking into the possibility it could be connected to the sex trafficking. the arlington police say the victim was an escort and non-english speaking woman. both factors they believe the suspects likely knew when planning and carrying out this attack. so, too, now is a feeling of fear in the neighborhood. >> i'm surprised. it is a safe neighborhood. >> she lived off columbia pike for 25 years. to hear a woman was raped at a nearby hotel is shocking. >> i'm just going to be careful and tell my female friends to be careful. >> on tuesday night after 7:00, while conducting a separate plain-clothed investigate they witnessed two men acting suspiciously outside the motel. arlington police say one of the men knocked on a room door