stephen: let's get to what is happening right now. the big rigs in position. they have come to remove what we learned is a mail truck. it went out of control at 2:30 this afternoon. northbound g.w. parkway completely closed. since shortly after that accident. we have learned that the driver of the mail truck was seriously injured. was medevaced out. in last report in critical condition. we have rigs in position to move the mail truck but it could be quite some time before the truck is taken away. the investigation wraps up. northbound g.w. parkway reopens. so the evening commute out o d.c. northbound on g.w. parkway is not happening tonight. reporting live, stephen tschida, abc7 news. michelle: disturbing video out of baltimore. that is baltimore county police arresting a 16-y

school. police were initially called for a fight. they first arrested a 14-year-old girl who had a knife. then they say the 16-year-old you see here resisted officers. he calls it a reaction. >> i was scared. because of what he did, i thought i was going to get shot. that was all that was running through my mind. please don't shoot me. you can do anything, please don't shoot me. i was scared for my life. michelle: that 16-year-old is charged with assault and resisting arrest. baltimore county police say they are reviewing the force used in the arrest. the officers were wearing body cameras. jonathan: there is strong reaction pouring in across the country for the president decision to roll back production for transgender students. there was a protest outside the white house last night. today transgender students and advocates are speaking out. we spoke to a student at wakefield high school that allows him to use the bathroom for the gender he identifies with. local schools we spoke with don't

policies they put in place. the white house insists this move puts the decision in the hand of each and every state. michelle: the issue of transgender protections is one of many issues coming up a's the -- as republicans face criticism at their own town hall event. the biggest issue is the g.o.p. push to repeal and replace obama care. >> i don't deny that. a lot of other people have been hurt by it as well. >> we have to have respectful discourse. michelle: in districts where republicans opted not to have town halls sighting safety concerns many put up these missing signs on grocery store film cartons. jonathan: the atmosphere a lot different at national harbor. that is where the conservative cpac convention understoodw

strategist steve bannon used as a celebrity he took a swipe at the media in his interview. >> if you remember, the campaign was the most chaotic, most disorganized, the most unprofessional, no earthly idea what they were doing. then you saw them crying and weeping that night. jonathan: mike pence addresses the conference tonight. president trump is on the agenda tomorrow. michelle: today president trump spent much of his day meeting with the manufacturing executives. he brushed off any controversies. >> delivering on everything we have said. people have said they haven't seen so much happen in 30 days of a presidency. michelle: following today's meeting, the president said the u.s. doesn't have any good trade deals. jonathan: d.c. is removing the interim from the title of the top cop. mayor muriel bowser says chief peter newsham is the right man to lead the

forward. sam ford explains how the chief plans to keep the city crime rate on the decline. >> peter newsham as the next chief of police. [applause] >> it didn't come as a surprise since he had been interim chief for five months anyway. now that he all but has the job pending council confirmation what is the top priority? he told the gathering today "trust." >> when you have an interaction with anybody under any circumstance we want not only the person you are dealing with to feel as though you are the good guy but we want everybody who is watching to feel that way, too. sam: newsham was front and center on the september 11 fatal police shooting of terrance sterling that sparked demonstrations. he was head of the department body-worn camera program. >> establishing trust. this is how i explain it to the police officers we are under a microscope in policing. everybody is watching everything we do. sam: at age5

on the force, newsham has run several district, knows the city and the anticrime activists were among those today. >> he is out there. he has been in the frenches. he has -- in trenches. he has been accessible. >> he was in the running for the chief of fort myers, florida, and phoenix, bay area this is the job -- phoenix, arizona, but this is the job he wanted. the new police chief is a lawyer telling us he went to night school at the university of maryland and is a member of the d.c. bar. reporting from northeast washington, i'm sam ford, abc7 news. jonathan: newsham got a start as a d.c. police officer in 1989. in 2000, newsham was promoted taking command of the second district. in 2007 his predecessor cathy lanier tapped him to lead interim affairs and he was promoted there and took over from lanier in september. congratulations to the chief. a serial thief who uses a knife to threaten a clerk and

on the way home. the odd video coming up. michelle: four national monuments defaced and the same culprit appears to be hitting spots across the area. doug: middle 70ed today. tomorrow's high is 78 in washington. we have a shot at that. tonight, beautiful weather. we talk about the big changes coming over the weekend when we continue at "a

announcer: you're watching "abc7 news at 6:00". on your side. jonathan: take a look at this sticky mess. ew! it happened in redmond, washington. that is what 50 gallons of roofing glue looks on the roadway. police appreciate the oddness. they are warning and trying to be funny avoid the area so you don't get stuck. michelle: pipeline protesters are gone and now the job of cleaning up their camp in north dakota is underway. authorities shut down the camp yesterday and arrested a handful of people who refused to leave. now the challenge is to clean up the site before spring floods begin. the job will cost taxpayers $1 million. jonathan: a crime alert to share with you. after police say the same armed man robbed the same store twice. this is the first time, february 3. guy puts a knife in the back of the clerk at middle brook beer and wine in germantown. ten days

waves the knife at the clerk. again, empty register. but before he leaves in both cases he makes off with a botm of arbor mist wine. michelle: new developments in the vandalism of four area landmarks. abc7 found the same conspiracy theory messages scrawled on a park sign on national trail. they have seen a half dozen new cases of the graffiti on the street lines and utility boxes. tuesday morning the messages were found on the washington monumented. lincoln memorial. the world war ii memorial and d.c. war memorial. authorities in italy are encouraging people to leave graffiti on a famous landmark. but the catch is they have to it digitally. this is at the cathedral in florence. centuries of graffiti is being removed and visitors can use the text screen tehn

use digital message. jonathan: that's beautiful, too. a way to get paid just for taking your normal commute? of course there is a catch. michelle: a woman who police say faked a stroke to avoid a d.u.i. jonathan: also ahead, you have to see this. a man jumps a barrier to grab a confederate flag. what prompted a bizarre standoff. michelle: what this man told police sparking this bizarre chase coming up

michelle: a frightening scene in san diego. watch the red cab in the distance. that is a police officer being dragged as the cab sped off. you see him fall in the middle of the street. the officer has scrapes and bruises but will be okay. the cab driver arrested a mile away. jonathan: watch this video. as you are getting away. police say the man just threatened to blow stuff up outside of a courthouse.

end well for him. they tased him and arrested him. >> more video. tension boil over on dueling rallies over the placement of the confederate flag in south carolina. >> flag on the state house in 2015. you can see what is happening now. michelle: gone wild. the man jumps the barricade. he is actually the leader of the black lives matter group in charleston. the man waving the confederate flag is part of a secessionist party. both groups were protesting outside a speech by the woman who climbed a flag pole outside the south carolina statehouse two years ago. to pull down the confederate battle flag that used to be there. the man arrested was released today on bond and is charged with disorderly conduct. jonathan: police charged an actor. but the actor

work on stage but for what police call a stunt. kevin lewis explain what is she is accused of doing and why officers were less than amused. >> it was 1:00 a.m. when a speedy chevy tahoe crossed the gaithersburg railroad tracks and bottomed out. a cop stopped the survivor. edna of clarksburg behind the wheel. court record indicate the officer smelled alcohol. he took the 40-year-old to the district station where she asked for a lawyer and fell to the ground convulsioning. police called 911. they placed her in an ambulance. once the ambulance door shut she allegedly regained consciousness and explained, "are they gone? this is my third d.u.i. i am not going to jail." today by telephone her defense attorney told us his client has type i diabetes and is currently

he questions much of the police report. asserting officers may have jumped to an inaccurate conclusion. on the flip side the paramedics who treated her says her health readings were absolutely normal. she work here at the national institute of standards and technology as a health physicist is and now facing prison time. kevin lewis, abc7 news. michelle: breaking news. video in of a house fire in maryland. john gonzalez sent in the video. this is south main street. we are told one dog has been rescued. firefighters are hard at work but there is no fire hydrant in the area. you can see the flames still strong at this time. they are having to bring in water trucks to douse flames. a lot of added pressure to the firefighters out there trying to gain control on this. no word whether people were inside or if everybody is out.

in to the newsroom from john gonzalez. when we get details about anybody in the house we will pass it along. jonathan: metro riders can look forward to fare hikes and service cuts, two bad things as far as riders go. board chairman jack evans said out could happen when metsla new budget takes effect in july. evans opposed raising fares and cutting service but changed his mind because of the agency bleak financial situation. the board has to figure out how to close $300 million budget gap. they will vote on a new budget next month. michelle: commuters could soon cash in on all the time spent sitting in traffic. the virginia tech transportation institute is looking for commuters who drive daily on the beltway, i-66, route 29 or route 50. to qualify your car must have adaptive cruise control. that lets your car adjust to the speed of the car that is in front of you. qualifying drivers could get up to

study. we have details about this and how you can sign up by going to the website wjla.com. jonathan: the official start of spring a month away. you would not have known that today. that is what we expect mid-may. that looks like the cherry blossoms already. the trees are confused. doug: they are. but not much longer because by sunday it will feel like late february. the daylight hours get longer each week. they said 75 and that was the magic number at reagan. that is a few degrees short of the record but the high at washington dulles was a record. the stories side-by-side. 75. 77 beat the old record easily.

degree. as far as what happens this evening. not much. a pleasant evening. the winds are light and temperatures are warm at this hour. we hold in the mid-to-the upper 60's. 64 degrees later tonight. winds out of the south at 4 to 5 miles per hour. there is a chance at a touch of fog in places overnight and the morning but it will turn to a sunny day and a warm one. we call for a high of 75 in washington. if the wins turn westerly component tomorrow we could be close to the record high of 78 degrees. it will approach 70 on saturday but then it changes. tomorrow, partly cloudy skies, warm weather. mid-70's across the area. in the nighttime hours the skies are partly cloudy. sunshine on saturday. the temperatures could hit mid-70's in the day. then a cold front comes

through. there could be thunderstorms coming in. if you have any plans to go out on the bay or the local rivers on saturday there could be high wind gusts. 45-mile-per-hour gusts out of nowhere. along the waterways. watch that. you don't want to take a chance. if the water is still so cold. it's still middle of wintertime despite the recent temperatures. it will clear out late saturday night. sunday it will feel like late february. 80% chance of storms on saturday. we look to next week is it getting cold? i don't think so. the only temperature on the map, on the chart for ten days that is anything close to late february or wintery is on sunday. so we go to 75, 70 on saturday. 45 and 55 to monday. warming in 60's. cooler next week and 50's for next weekend. stay with us. "abc7 news at 6:00" continues af

creating a cleaner environment by using cleaner energy sources like solar, wind and natural gas. we've reduced carbon emissions by nearly 25%, which is the equivalent of taking close to two million cars off the road. cleaner air and cleaner water. it's good for all of us. dominion. depend on us for more than energy.

erin: nationals ace stephen strasburg around for the start of the season last year but not the end. after 14-0 start he dealt with injuries. including the season-ending

but the good news he did not need surgery. he watched washington lose in the nlds without being able to help. i caught up with him yesterday and i asked how his arm feels now. >> my arm is doing good. i worked hard to get in shape. they kept doing the program for the end of last year. keep it going through the year. >> would you say it's 100%? >> everything is feeling great. just normal progression this time of spring training. erin: hopefully he can stay healthy all year. now the newest member of the wizards was at practice this morning. he joined the team from the nets and the small forward will have fire power off the bench. >> it will be an adjustment for me. in europe i started many ti

>> before the nba trade deadline passed the mavericks traded for norell noerlens noel. we'll get to see that tomorrow. doug: tomorrow 75 degrees with the sunshine. the record is 78. turn cooler and 70 on saturday. the afternoon storms and breezy and chilly on sunday. tonight at 11:00 we more about the record heat tomorrow and time out the showers and the thunder for the weekend at 11:00. michelle: sounds good. "world news tonight" with david muir coming up next. jonathan: thank you for watching. see you at 11:00. have a good night.

♪

know you have a dedicated advisor and team who understand where you come from know you can craft an investment plan as strong as your values ♪ know that together, you can establish a meaningful legacy with the guidance and support of your dedicated pnc wealth management® team.

tonight, president trump calls it a military operation on the border. the immigration crackdown. but his own homeland security secretary, general john kelly says that's not the case. the white house late today is asked, is this a military operation? protests erupt after an off-duty officer fires his gun. young people running for cover. the new images here. do they offer more to the story? the runway scare. the passenger plane coming in for a landing. the landing gear fails. the female jogger killed near her mother's home. what the dna reveals. authorities asking for your help. and the major storm hitting tonight from 60 and 70-degree temperatures to a blizzard. the nightmare commute tomorrow for millions.