then a tow truck slams into this vehicle. the troop every trapped inside. then another tow truck arrives. a good samaritan see what is is going on. stops get out, hook up the hook to the vehicle that smashed into the trooper and pulls it away. so when rescue personnel rive they had access to the trooper to cut tree from the wreckage. we are told charges are pending against the driver. the one who left the scene and slammed in the trooper. that driver in the hospital center. the trooper is in bad shape. >> he is

condition. brad: i am told there is hope they can get two left lanes open in the next 15 or 20 minutes or so. we'll let you know. leon: how is it looking? >> it is rough to get around it. there aren't many options. this is a live look. you can see that a lot of the activity is confined to the right-hand side. so when they reopen the outer loop they will get the traffic get by using the left lanes. this is still closed. let's talk about how it is impacting you. seven miles north near the ritchie marlboro road to route 50

diverting traffic. we have a few options. but don't think the detours that you take mean you will get where you need to go quick. everyone is using them. once you exit at route 50 you can take 410 to 201 and continue north to access the outer loop. that will get you the green belt and college park. still a rough ride. horace holmes knows what a rough ride is. let's check in with him now. horace: the pictures tell it all. we are moving but bumper to bumper in outer look of the beltway. this is slow going and heavy traffic. the traffic is moving freely. but on the outer loop at 17 over 18 is very

back to alison. alison: we turn to the latest with the developing story and metro. they had to single track trains after a train got stuck in a tunnel. the train lost power at 3:00 this afternoon. it was stuck for an hour. the passengers say it became uncomfortably hot inside the train. >> you could hear the engine shut off. we're going in reverse. kept doing that. for a second i thought it was an earthquake. the engineer came on and said it would be a few minutes. alison: this was one of the new trains the 7000 series cars. everybody got off safely. it's not known why the train lost

the metro general manager wants to focus to get the fare gates to work well so he is scrapping a pilot program to let you pay to enter the system with your phone. brianne carter is covering metro tonight from the gallery place station with more. brianne: we found that in the what jurorty of the people here didn't know it existed. metro says they will stay with the old way to pay. >> i am focusing more to get things to work correctly. move in a different direction. >> they launched it last year to test the fare gates.

they added there were not enough riders to adopt new technology. >> the focus should be other things first. >> we can't expect everyone to have a smart phone. they were going to put the technology across the system. metro says will be used to approve the existing fare gates and the smart trip vending machine. >> scrap it now rather than later once we are $200 million in this program. >> the general manager paul wiedefeld said the market didn't dictate the need for these right now. he has heard from the stakeholders to get what they have working

sometimes he has heard from the riders and it doesn't activate. the money will be used to get all of these up and running as they should be. reporting live, brianne carter, abc7 news. leon: a lot of folks took metro to get to the national game against the braves. that coupled with the 7:00 p.m. start for the caps first playoff game against philly. that is a busy time on the green line. kevin lewis rocking the red at the verizon center tonight on what is turning out to be a busy sports dayment hopefully it will be a happy one. >> we have seen uptick in those sporting red. the caps are favored over the opponent. but the critics say this is still a pretty exciting matchup. >> there is a distinct rhythm. >> let's go, caps!

verizon center. tonight the caps take on the philadelphia flyers and game one of the stanley cup playoffs. a championship title that washington yet to conquer. diane used her lunch break to do laps around the verizon, mentally preparing. >> i'm very excited. i have bob sitting in section 495 every night since they moved here. this is our career. >> this afternoon the crews used hydraulic lift to replace banners for georgetown with those repping the caps playoff insignia. at nats park sunny skies made for perfect 4:00 p.m. game against the braves. still many baseball fans had washington hockey on their mind. >> maybe title town. >> the confidence is what the cap fans like william of canada are

>> ovechkin. for sure. it's their year. they haven't got through the second round since they lost in the finals but the fans now say it ends now. leon: coming up later in sports, scott thuman is inside verizon -- scott abraham is inside verizon center. he will look at what they said about the wizard parting ways with randy wittman today. alison: let's turn to breaking news. this is sout of montgomery county where a plea hearing has been scheduled now for the man accused of killing officer noah leotta. michelle marsh has details on the breaking news. michelle: in the last half hour abc7 news confirmed the hearing is scheduled for m

18. we are hearing that 47-year-old will plead guilty. he could face seven years for vehicular manslaughter after hitting and killing officer leotta. the court record shows he had been drinking for hours before the crash. leon: in the last three hours the florida prosecutors made it official. they will not be pressing charges against donald trump's campaign manager. corey lewandowski. he was charged last month after the video you see surfaced. after reviewing this tape, the prosecutors say they didn't feel there was enough to convict lewandowski.

alison: doug hill has a check on a frost advisory. on a frost advisory. doug: at night it gets cold quickly. once again another frost advisory. the water is calm. 63 at the reagan national airport. full sunshine across the region. other temperatures at 5:00. 63 in fredericksburg. 36 in fredericksburg. 61 in baltimore. the frost advisory in effect 2:00 to 79:00 a.m. west of i-95. there was frost this morning. mostly through the 30's but the low lying areas before sunrise could drop close to freezing. tomorrow another day like this. sunny and seasonal in the low to the mid-60's. the seven-day forecast in a

few minute. alison: coming up at 5:00 -- surveying the damage. where a strong earthquake knocked down houses and buckled roads. leon: a look at what to expect from the tropics. we take you to the tropical weather conference. alison: we hope you will join us saturday for the national cherry blossom festival parade. it starts at 10:00 a.m

kids: he came here from rocky married 27 years. raised 6 kids. including 5 boys. he had grandpa move in with us. glenn: we loved having him as part of the family. it's what you do. kids: in congress, dad will protect president obama's legacy. he'll fight for jobs and protect social security and medicare. glenn ivey will never quit on you; and we should know, we're his kids. glenn: i'm glenn ivey and i approve this message. i'll take on the republicans for all of us.

leon: right now the phone line are not working at the office of alexandria. 911 is still working. if you need to contact a city department, don't worry. don't lose patience if no one answers. the phone lines should be ringing by midnight. alison: they are out to lunch together. interesting weather day. doug: six weeks from today that hurricane season begins. because of that, they are gathering at the national tropical weather conference in south pad ray island texas.

colorado state forecasters have an idea what might be coming our way this time around. >> they do have an idea. last year they predicted we would have a below average season and they were right. this year they predict an average season. >> high winds, floods, damage, all signs mother nature is a force to reckon with. we have had what some consider luck. this year they are predicting an average hurricane season. >> atlantic doesn't look conducive for the hurricane formation. alison: colorado state university lead hurricane analysis is calling for the 12 named storms this year. five will be hurricanes and two major hurricanes. >> there is still four months for the peak of the huri

season. a lot can change. >> meteorologists across the country learn more about the hurricane outlook at the 2016 tropical weather conference. experts predict people in florida have 49% chance to be impacted this year, texas 32% chance. louisiana predicted with a 29% chance. north carolina is 37% probability. mississippi has 10% likelihood >> a lot of people moved in the threat area. they have no idea what it is like. >> they are warning you not to let your guard down even though they predict it's an average season. they will update the forecast until august. hurricane season ends november 30. reporting live from south pad ray island,

doug: thank you for the update. if the numbers are accurate it will be a light season. this is turning into a splendid day. monday morning showers and clouds. crystal clear since then. 63 in winchester and martinsburg. 61 in baltimore. sunny skies and mild temperatures. clear, cold, dry, light winds. ideal conditions. west of i-95, possible frost tomorrow morning. that is why the advisory is up. forecast is sweet. chilly overnight with the light and the variable winds. the temperatures are warming up in the west. very mild temperatures. high pressure over eastern canada. e

keep an easterly component to winds. but monday winds turn from the southwest. we will have highs in the upper 70's. that is large and in charge. friday, friday night, saturday. the easterly component to keep temperatures below average and keep the clouds far away. but it will warm up briefly as you will see. 43 in the morning. the next seven days more sunshine. saturday morning in the 40's. for the national cherry blossom parade. it will warm up close to 70 on sunday. 77 on monday. we turn cooler but not a drop of rain in sight. leon: we are

sponsoring the parade. we are in it. alison: did you know that? doug: are you in the float? alison: we're hosting it. leon: the crew is out there to pull a balloon down constitution avenue. we will talk about them. alison: we appreciate the good weather. leon: thank you. alison: moving on to this. chimpanzee making a break for it. see how it turns out in the end. leon: plus -- >> we are troubled greatly by this but we are also bound to follow the policy of the school and the school district. leon: what female high school swimmers did that left the school system's hands tied. >> iconic landmark in washington, d.c. undergoing earthquake repairs. i'm suzanne kennedy. leon: we are keeping a close eye on the breaking news out of lanham. crash that has the outer loop of the beltway closed down. this is

road. we let you know when the lanes reopen. alison: look at what is coming up on abc7 --

delores kelley: although we were all one maryland, our schools weren't treated the same way. narrator: with neighborhoods getting unequal funding for schools, something had to be done for our children. kelley: it didn't matter where chris was from. he knew that we couldn't leave a child having less

in a region that was poor. joanne benson: he has not just talked about it. he is going to stand tall for all children to succeed. i'm chris van hollen, and i approved this message. i'm chris van hollen, ifor all the wrong reasons.gical you may be muddling through allergies. try zyrtec® for powerful allergy relief. and zyrtec® is different than claritin®. because it starts working faster on the first day you take it. try zyrtec®. muddle no more®.

alison: two people are dead after a powerful earthquake in japan. the preliminary 6.4 magnitude quake struck this morning in the southern part of the country. rescue crews are working to free people believed to be trapped inside. two dozen collapsed homes. an aftershocks there continue. le: speaking of the earthquakes now. the one we had here lasted between five and ten seconds. that is less than the amount of time it takes to walk from here to get over here. repairs are still underway and will be for years to come. phase two beginning. suzanne kennedy has a front row seat.

suzanne: the demonstration is interesting. this is not secure. this is the next phase of the project. >> it causes a crack. >> five years after the magnitude earthquake damaged the cathedral and small fraction of repairs is complete. this will involve work on. >> four to be assembled. we have to put them

>> ill dud $34 million in damage. the first phase was exterior repairs but only 13% of the total outside restoration work. 23 $23 million needed for the iconic building to be made hole. >> the stone work carving them is difficult. suzanne: you can see work that will be done here to secure them. >> they will drill a three-inch diameter hole that is 21 feet down in the pinnacle. a special grout will be bumped into the hole. suzanne: perspective you don't get all the time. you are looking

cathedral grounds. that crane will come up to lift this off the ground. this phase is going to take four months. >> suzanne will win the selfie contest. >> coming up, dotting the it's and crossing the t's. we wrap up your taxes. we look at deductions that you may have overlooked. alison: the white house reveals which school will get the president as a commencement speaker this year. find out the locating university making the grade. sam: what would you do if

car in front of your home to live in it for the next week? i wi the nra and its campaign cash are what stands between us and gun reform. "every time i think about those kids... it gets me mad" chris van hollen met with nra lobbyists to craft a loophole that would let the nra skirt a new campaign finance law and block gun control. but democrat donna edwards said "no" to the nra loophole and stood up to the gun lobby. and she would ban assault weapons. democrat donna edwards, maryland's next senator.

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for a cup of coffee just because you're a woman. so why does congress think it's ok that women get paid 20% less than a man for doing the same job? i'll fight for pay equity, to protect planned parenthood, choice for women, and expand paid and family leave. now some politicians will belittle this as a women's agenda. more proof that we just need more women in congress. i'm kathleen mathews and i approve this message.

leon: there are people at the convention center who have seen suspicious car in the neighborhood for a while. they want to know why it is

there. sam ford went to the neighborhood to find out what is going on. what did you learn? sam: i'm in the 900 block of m street. it says two-hour parking. this car stayed this week. towed away not by the but by the car owner. >> for more than a week the spray painted car sat in front of 900 m street and irked the neighbors. >> is it a permanent resident? sam: talking about 29-year-old kyle pedigo who lived in the car except for the time he spent in the d.c. jail. for why he is in d.c.? >> make sure that the president is safe and the white house and d.c. is not under attack. protect those that serve. >> were you a

>> no, i'm undercover. >> now i'm more uncomfortable. sam: the d.c. police checked him out. no arrest. but the secret service did search his car after arresting him outside the white house for acting strangely and finding out he had a warrant for indiana. >> they locked me up for three days. sam: when did you get out? >> tuesday. i got locked up four or five days actually. i was stressful. sam: he showed us some of the d.c. tickets he received. the car needed an alternator and ignition. about $250 worth of work. mid-afternoon lisa a neighbor photographed the private tow truck pulling his car away. >> so as it turned out d.c. took no action.

he has been released and he is somewhere in the d.c. area trying to get the car fixed. the neighbors home he doesn't come back here. reporting live from northwest washington, i'm sam ford, abc7 news. alison: interesting one. okay. new developments in the shooting of a deputy constable in houston overnight. the officer was wearing a bulletproof vest and he is expected to recover but someone shot the deputy four times from behind ambush style in a traffic stop. police detained a man matching the suspect description but he has not been arrested. leon: a woman is facing charges after she allegedly shot a man in a domestic dispute in sterling. police called to 400 block of east dartmouth drive this morning and left a man with serious but non-life threatening injuries. police say the suspect fled the scene in te

arrested in prince william county. emily king. alison: abc7 fighting back against crime. one way we are doing that is with this. our spot crime man. to see what is happening in your neighborhood. just go to wjla.com. click on the on your side tab. leon: students in an iowa high school swim club will not be facing punishment despite hiring an adult entertainer for a banquet. the swim club holds an annual private banquet organized by the freshman students and is not attended by any school staff. but this year one student asked an adult relative to hire a male tripper who came and performed in a rented room of a social club. despite the embarrassment, the principal says he really can't punish anyone. >> we are troubled greatly by this. but we are also mound to follow policies of the school and the school district. they did not violate any code of conduct policies because no laws were broken. believe it

were broken. leon: the principal says moving forward the school will assume strict oversight of the swim club leadership activities. alison: you know what? if you think of the synchronized -- you don't think of the synchronized swimming club as that raucous. do you? leon: maybe the breast stroke team. i don't know. alison: good one. leon: you know i had to go there. alison: okay. let's move on. "7 on your side" as we get closer to tax day. even though tomorrow is the 15th you may know this, the district observance of emancipation day means you have until monday to get everything to the i.r.s. "7 on your side" consumer investigator kimberly suiters look at seven deductions you may have overlooked. kimberly: some of these will blow your mind. because we are "7 on your side" we are giving you serve of the top overlooked deductions to make you wonder can i really deduct that? if you have a victim in accident of theft or embezzlement of the businesses the

if you are traveling and you need cleaning services that is a write-off. if you are looking for new job, any fees for the resume prep or the job placement agencies is deductible. you can conduct contact lenses, glasses, hearing devices and contraceptives if bought with a prescription. the worthless p.c. in your living room. that depreciated value actually counts. if you have a safe deposit box to hold investments those fees are deductible. this got me. gambling losses are tax deductible. leon: wait a second. alison: you need to adjust your tax return? leon: so if you are a professional gambler they are deductible? kimberly: i think if your losses are greater than your winnings. check with your accountant. for the list of all 50 head to wjla.com. alison: thank you. leon: thanks. president obama will deli

howard university on may 7. it will be his third commencement address at historically black college or university. alison: coming up at "abc7 news at 5:00" -- we are not sure but we will tell you what we know about what you are seeing here and why it has scientists

steve: i'm steve rudin at the national mall. beautiful evening here. look at the forecast for the weekend. a lot going on. the national cherry blossom parade going on. we will rebound to the 60's. the next seven days shows the middle 60's to the day on

by monday and tuesday we are back to the 70's. beautiful stretch of day ahead. no rain in sight. but a cold front late monday night. look behind me. this here is a trivia question for you. what president drove this to the white house for the first time in 1

kids: he came here from rocky married 27 years. raised 6 kids. including 5 boys. he had grandpa move in with us. glenn: we loved having him as part of the family. it's what you do. kids: in congress, dad will protect president obama's legacy. he'll fight for jobs and protect social security and medicare. glenn ivey will never quit on you; and we should know, we're his kids. glenn: i'm glenn ivey and i approve this message. i'll take on the republicans for all of us.

alison: back with this. research team off the coast of panama found a swarm of thousands of red crab. they were more than 1100 feet under the water. the species has never been found this for a south. they are typically found off the coast of baja, california. trying to figure it out. leon: okay. alison: interesting. leon: a male chimpanzee back behind bars after a brazen escape from a zoo in japan. this happened at the zoological park. the 24-year-old chimp there named cha-cha did the cha-cha off the electrical pole and tried to elude capture hanging high off the wires there. zoo officials had to use sedative to capture him. zoo officials say they are not sure exactly how he escaped. this is a tough guy. he yanked the needle

his leg. i don't want to ride down with him. alison: no! he tried to make a break for it. coming up at 5:00. >> i'm scott abraham at the verizon center. game one caps-flyer

leon: on the hill protest and arrest continue for a fourth straight day. the sit-in and the rallies are part of the democracy spring movement. members on the hill to demand congress take immediate action to end campaign corruption. they want to ensure free and fair elections in the u.s. hundred of people arrested in the past few days. alison: maryland voters head to the polls. you can cast the ballot until thursday. leon:

the greenhouse that were assembling component for the fist sophisticated warships in the world. alison: not many presidents get to drive around in the white house but before or after they live at 1600 pennsylvania avenue plenty got behind the wheel. steve: we have a fantastic car. >> thank you, welcome. we have a 1909 white steam car. steve: this is fast. in the day how

>> something that makes the car specs is in 1909 he brought it to the white house lawn. >> right. he wanted to make sure this is the future. >> looking at the wheels and the wood frames. a craft that is going/way. >> this historic car the work done on them don't know how to do it anymore. it is harder and harder to find the people to work on the cars. this is a good example. >> thank you so much. the car is on display until 19 of april. 24/7. lit up cool with the neat l.e.d. lights. come on down. this is across the street from the air and space museum.

leon: thank you. >> that is the issue from the outer loop of the beltway. the accident happened after 2:00. the outer loop has been closed. this is near route 450. we have tow trucks now on the scene that are putting the car on the flatbed. they were estimating that it should be reopened by 6:00. so in ten minutes. we are hoping it will be around this time. it's still closed. this backup is still slowing. that is the rubber neck delays. if you exit route 50 take 41 to 201 to access the beltway. move to the waze map. you can see the

reporting northbound through prince george's county. we have a six or seven mile backup. alison: thank you. abc7 and the web team proud to announce the launch of the d.c. refined.com. the online magazine hit the web this afternoon. this is where you get information on the website, real estate and the destination in the area. follow it on twitter and instagram. leon: folks out west got a surprise when they woke up. this is near sacramento, california. light snow fell overnight. precipitation began as the rain turned to snow at higher elevation. the snow disappeared after the sun came up. it is always beautiful going away. alison: and not here. leon: exactly! alison: all right, doug. but there is a frost advi

for tomorrow. doug: the most we deal with is the frost. the same energy and the system in sacramento headed to the rockies. it looks like over the weekend denver and the front range could get 12 to 18 inches of snow this weekend. yikes! here we have a warmup with more sunshine like we see above montgomery college in rockville. we will take it. the area for the frost advisory du jour. this is west of the i-95 corridor. a lot of counties for overnight hours before the sunrise especially. overnight it's 34 to 44 with the clear skies and the light and the variable winds. three-day outlook shows a slow warming trend. 64 with mostly sunny skies on friday. wall-to-wall sunshine on saturday and sunday.

saturday make your way downtown for the parade. cool, low 50's but it will warm up. later in the afternoon, the d.c. united will play host to toronto. partly sunny skies. game at 5:00, mid-60's and it will be delightful. a bonus on the temperature trends as we get to monday. 77 degrees. then a cool front will come through. no rain in the forecast. just more sunshine if you can stand it. back to you. alison: we can stand it. leon: the nats can stand it. they have an afternoon game. caps are getting ready to kick off a big night. alison: find out what is going on in sports with scott abraham. scott: i am rocking the red. nothing like the playoff atmosphere or playoff hockey. the passion and energy is amped up ten notches. a big night tonight. game one between the caps and the flyers. this game will set the stage and the tone for the rem

a new season, the caps journey toward the stanley cup has arrived. >> it doesn't matter what we did in the regular season. no one will let us waltz in the finals. we will earn everything we get. >> historic regular season on the back burner. >> it doesn't matt hear you do in the regular season. scott: they are no stranger to postseason play. they have been here before. >> we are building year by year and more comfortable. at the same time nothing is easy. hoping that the play here and there will become more second nature than before. >> the caps are concerned with the flyers they are also looking into the mirror. >> we have to play our game. we have to stick to our style.

be patient. do our thing. opening face-off set for 7:00. no surprise the wizards fired head coach randy wittman. wittman out the door with a winning percentage under .500. the decision to let him walk. there are reports surfacing that the oklahoma coach of the thunder scott brooks could be the top candidate. reporting inside the centreville. leon: a lot going on. alison: yep. coming up at "abc7 news at 5:00" -- leon: why a local mosque opened the neighbors with open

in annapolis, she battled republicans joseline peña-melnyk for congress... yes! and the nra to pass the toughest gun safety legislation in the country. i'll take on the tough fights to expand social security and keep the doors open to planned parenthood. my mom is so tough she's willing to fight anyone who's going to pay him more than us for doing the same job. i'm joseline peña-melnyk, and i approve this message.

but sierra club chooses jamie raskin for congress they all talk about climate change. because only raskin wrote laws to reduce our carbon footprint and is leading the fight against fracking in maryland. raskin: i'm jamie raskin, and i approve this message.

alison: today the leader of islamic center in falls church brought together different faiths to try to grow as one community. cheryl conner takes us inside. >> a sign on the front door reads "all bags are subject to search." during friday prayer armed guards stand at the islamic center in falls church following violence and the threats made against muslims. inside a luncheon today no one is against the muslim community. people of different faiths got together to strengthen their bonds. >> it is an opportunity for us today to reassess all of our collective assets. >> the mosque hired two outreach members to continue the work of serving those

sarata is the director of the inner faith conference of melt washington. >> bigotry that puts one group of citizens against another is strike destructive for the american values. >> the trees that line the islamic center are bigger than beauty. there was public outcry 35 years ago. people were concerned about a mosque in the community and so the trees hide it from drivers along route 7. >> muslim women have heard the hatred. >> back home, why are you hear? what is this accent? >> mosque goers and the people of faith are less inclined to turn to violence? they are in a community. >> imam malik wants people to look through the trees to see what he calls a tremendous asset to the area. >> every wave of immigrants in america has made america better. >> in falls church, cheryl conner, abc7 news. alison: okay. that is all for us at 5:00. "abc7 news at 6:00" starts

maureen: we begin with the breaking news from the outer loop of the beltway in maryland. the lanes began to reopen and maryland bureau chief brad bell has been on the scene since the crash at 2:45. we would like to know how are things now? brad: traffic is an absolute mess. but they have started to open some of the travel lanes on the beltway. we were told and we reported it would be happening and it appears as though it is. now in the last few minutes, we learn some new information. i want to go back to the video. our helicopter shots of this accident. so that you can understand what is going on. we have learned the name of the maryland state troop

his name ezra nanda. 26 years old. he has only been a state trooper for 15 months. working out of the college park barracks. tonight, he is in critical condition at the shock trauma center in baltimore. suffering injuries in a terrible chain reaction crash. you can see in the video the cars are really badly damaged. just a short time ago we heard from a state police spokesperson how it all happened. take a listen. >> there wud a crash that happened nearby, south of the location. the vehicle that initiated that crash left the scene. traveled up northbound 95. made his way from the fast shoulder to the slow shoulder and continued to travel northbound 495 outer loop and struck the rear portion of the