now. a man accused of impersonating a police officer and then raping another man. nancy: a doctor in court accused of prescribing medication to people who didn't need them. michelle: but we begin with this. moments ago prince george's county police briefed the community on the arrest of the alleged police impersonator. richard reeve has the breaking update for us. rich? richard: yeah, you know we have seen the police impersonator cases before. thousand -- but this is horrific. we have a man here who not only had a badge and a uniform, police car and also he sexually assaulted a victim, another man. now take a look. this is the suspect police now have in custody. 36-year-old michael bell of upper marlboro. we are told he owns a security firm and also works for another security firm. last sunday around 6:15 in the morning the victim told authorities that he drove up to him, on the university boulevard. he was driving that

victoria that police released a picture of. he pulled up, told them he was in a dangerous neighborhood. flashed a badge. showed him a badge. you may be seeing here. it looks just like a police officer badge. it turns out it is his badge for his security job. padded him down. offered him a ride home. instead he drove him to a location and sexually assaulted him. >> our victim believes that bell is a police officer. he is intimidated and he is in fear. bell forces our victim to perform sexual acts. richard: now that victim was able to escape. very quick thinking. as bell was pulling away in the crown vic, the victim took a picture of the license plate and that is how police were able to track him down. coming up at 5:00, why police are so concerned that there

there. specifically what they found inside bell's car. reporting live, richard reeve, abc7 news. nancy: also breaking right now a doctor arrested accused of prescribing adderall to women who didn't need it. brad bell with the stunning information on this story. brad? brad: we left the court courtroom and the indictment was unsealed. we learned a lot about the case. his name is dr. william s. vaughn. he has practiced in this area for years. i want to go ahead right now and bring up his picture from the facebook page. his facebook profile page. he is probably going to be familiar to some people. accusation is that during a period of years. he was bribing drugs for people specifically at two hooter's restaurant locations in rockville and in

the amphetamine adderall is what he was prescribing. the allegation is he improperly gave out thousands of those pills. improper because he didn't do an examination and he was away from his office. the doctor worked for a period of time that we haven't been able to determine yet at a prompt care facility in potomac. he lost his license in september. he lost the license to prescribe. we just came out of court and we are still trying to put the story together and we'll be back at 6:00 with much more. in greenbelt, brad bell, abc7 news. michelle: thank you. now to the "7 on your side" i-team investigation faking the grade. students at ballou high school missing more than 150 days but still graduating. the consequences teens woefully unprepared for college. "7 on your side" government watchdog reporter nathan baca was the first to break the story. a staggering number of

u.d.c. students just not ready for the next step. nathan: that is right. 98% of the d.c. public school students who come here to u.d.c. still need remedial courses to catch up. now u.d.c. is a growing community college. and also growing in to ceremony projects. but d.c.p.s. relies on u.d.c. to make up for lost time and lost lessons with an overwhelming majority of the former students needing what the college calls development courses. we know about the 98% because the i-team obtained internal u.d.c. presentation to the state board of education outlining the numbers. we talked to the u.d.c. students who graduated from the d.c. public schools about the education they received. >> for d.c. public schools we don't get the right curriculum for us to be successful in life. so the number does not sound surprising to

>> coming up at 5:00, a state school board member says they are failing the students with the amount of the students who come here to u.d.c. needing to take remedial courses. reporting live, nathan baca, abc7 news. jonathan: thanks very much. only on abc7, a whistle blower comes former. a former teacher at ballou yesterday spoke to "7 on your side" exclusively about the pressures teachers like her felt. >> there was pressure. saying it would come off of our credit. there was pressure surrounding that because the whole thing like this percent of your kids have to be passing with a d or higher. and you have to have this percentage of the kids in class attending to get this score. you are putting the variables on the teacher. jonathan: we are posting the stories on the abc7 wjla news

soon as you open it. you can share your stories directly through the app available on google play and at the app store. nancy: if you have information on what is happening at the dcps classrooms, absenteeism or grade inflation or other issues the "7 on your side" item wants to hear from you. you can e-mail us at tips@wjla.com or call on the hotline 703-340-3170. okay. we are less than an hour away from one of d.c.'s best traditions. the first family flipping the switch for the national christmas tree. abc7 has team coverage with meteorologist steve rudin and anna-lysa gayle. go straight to steve, though, for the forecast tonight. it looks like such a nice day outside for this. steve: a nice everything but there are showers on the back doorstep. we will get this in just fine no problems at all. take a look behind me. it's beginning to fill up and the sta

however in an hour or so, it will be alive with the band and the president, the first family and, of course, a lot of special guests. take a look at the forecast for you. temperatures out there right now in the middle to upper 50's. well above average for this time of year considering here we are. the last day of november. the christmas tree lighting forecast, the temperatures will fall through the lower 50's and maybe the upper 40's once the sun goes down. a chill will make its way back to the area as we move through the early evening hours. but we are tracking the showers for you. we'll have more coming up in a few minutes. but first we had up to the riser and the own anna-lysa gayle. she has a different vantage point and a lot more. anna-lysa: what beautiful view. the weather is gorgeous. this is the first time that president trump and first lady melania trump will light the national christmas tree that is 28 foot and features

l.e.d. lights. look at theed cro right now. up to 15,000 people are expected here. this is the 95th annual christmas tree lighting. a very special tradition here in the nation's capital. kathy lee gifford will host and there are performances. the president will flip the switch around 5:00 p.m. the performances will then follow. people in the audience stel you they consider themselves very lucky. i talked to one lady that said it took her up to four years to get tickets to be here today. if you miss it this everything, you can watch it on the hallmark channel on december 4. anna-lysa gayle, abc7 news. nancy: it looks festive. thank you. house speaker paul ryan formally invited president trump to give the "state of the union" address on january 30. this is president trump's first "state of the union." you can expect complete coverage right here on abc7. michelle: from "state

state department. reports that administration is thinking of ousting rex tillerson and replacing him with the c.i.a. director mike pompeo. there are reports that tom cotton would take the lead at the c.i.a. trump said the secretary of state is working today while the administration confronts the delegate situations across the world. jonathan: one of the nations is north korea. tonight we are getting our first look at the isolated nation first missile launch in two months. kim jong un and the military leaders watching the icbm launch. experts say this particular type of missile is capable of reaching anywhere in the united states. michelle: the tampa serial killer appears in court and the reward money is delivered up next. jonathan: this child is not playing around in the store. he is working for the woman in front of the counter. the heist you have got to see

>> clear skies ahead for american airlines? they are scrambling to fill the flights with pilots in december. we will tell you the latest coming up from reagan

michelle: tracking breaking news in fairfax where skytrak7 is over the scene of the house fire. the flames are out at

herbert springs road. firefighters rescue and performed cpr on one person. that person is alive and was air lifted to the hospital. no word what started the fire. jonathan: all right. happening now american airlines says crisis has been averted. nancy: yesterday, we told you about a computer glitch that put thousands of flights in jeopardy of cancellation. michelle: today the skies are looking brighter and friendlier. sam sweeney is live for us at reagan national airport with the latest update. sam? sam: overnight the airline was scramble to staff their planes with pilots for the month of december. also dealing with a p.r. nightmare. the union still says thousands of flights are unstaffed but american says that is disingenuous and they believe everything will be okay. by yesterday afternoon, american airlines was trending online. >> you wouldn't know if you have a flight or not. that is scary. sam: social media lit up after reports that computer glitch offered vacation to too many pilots around christmastime. 24

of the 200,000 flights it will operate this december only a few hundred still need pilots. "airline weekly" editor believes everyone will get to the destination with no problem. >> it sounds like it will be fine. i understand that anyone holding tickets for american airlines around the holidays doesn't want to hear "probably" but it sounds like they are rapidly getting people to cover the flights. sam: american is offering the pilots time and a half to get them back in the cockpit and has reserve pilots ready to go. american says they have not preemptively canceled any flights. they still have days and weeks to get it handled. again, only a couple of hundred flights still need to be staffed. reporting at reagan national airport, i'm sam sweeney, abc7 news. michelle: thank you. update today following the arrest of the tampa suspected serial killer. howell donaldson was ordered held without bail. he made no comments in the first court appearances and he could face the death penalty. jonathan: the mcdonald's woe

donaldson's arrest is $9,000 richer tonight. tampa man promised that reward to anyone whose tip led to an arrest in this case. >> i mean, i can go to sleep knowing i'm doing my best to help make the city safe. jonathan: the worker is also eligible for $80,000 in additional rewards from several government agencies you be it doesn't come until there is a conviction in the case. nancy: take a look. to most people it looks like a small child exploring while his mom shops but police in arkansas say the woman was directing her son on what jewels to steal here. when they realized what happened the family as well as $30,000 in jewelry had vanished. >> this is a real tragedy that they would use their kids to commit this crime. for us, that is the most heartbreaking part. nancy: the jewelry store says the theft will have a real impact on the bottom line this holiday season. it's offered a reward in hopes of getting

merchandise back but the police are still looking for the family. jonathan: it's students that the teachers normally have to warn about running in halls. yeah, surveillance video from middle school in mississippi shows a deer running through an open door and sliding through the hallway. don't run. that is a rule. he got on his feet and ran to the woods. nobody was hurt and nobody at the school that was hurt as well. the deer made its way to the door and out. kind of a good exit when you think about it. watch. slide. all the way to the matt. boom! back on the feet and gone. that is good work. michelle: i was a hall monitor in high school. i would not want to see that happen. jonathan: watch, watch, watch. i got this. slide all the way down the hall. michelle: 45 minutes away from getting the big show started on the ellipse. the first family will light the national christmas tree. we can't wait for the moment. it will be exciting. nancy: there are showers coming on later in the night but ho

away until the tree is lit up. >> exactly. it works out in our favor. the temperatures will stay mild as the rain on the way. then it gets here for everything to be cleaned up. jonathan: no snowshowers. >> no snowshowers. jonathan: people at home are watching a white christmas. >> we have a month to work on that. not saying it's impossible. working our way through the everything it will stay warm enough and that is not a problem around here. rain is likely to move through. really light quick shower. a lot of what you see here on the radar will break up on its way. this is part of a cold front. once the cold front moves through it will be chillier for us working our way to tomorrow. see the rain now getting to part of west virginia. just about there, crossing 79 with the heavier showers. we will take longer. most of us are looking for this in the next four or five hours to move through. at 4:30 we will run through the future class. the clouds are building in here for us. not showers even to hagerstown until c

we fast forward to 8:00, 8:30. that's when we get the rain but it won't last long. by the time we get to 9:30 or 10:00 it's out of the metro. ed a midnight, this has moved to the bay. on friday we start off with more sunshine. but it will be a cooler day. so turning mostly cloudy for you throughout the evening. 52 around 5:00. we are looking at 51 degrees by the time we get to 7:00. then the rain chance moves in later. overnight 35 to 43. so not dipping down to the freezing mark. we don't have to worry about the wet roads turning slick or anything like that. just staying a little on the chilly side. not hitting the freezing mark. 52 for tomorrow around lunchtime. 53 for you by 4:00. then temperatures drop as we work to friday night. by the time we get to saturday it's a high of 52. on sunday we bounce back a little bit. look for 56. both days stay dry and still even though this is our cooler air, this is our drop off from where we have been.

average. extended outlook, the sunny skies tomorrow to friday. this enthe cloud cover moves back in saturday and -- then the cloud cover moves back in saturday and sunday. warms back up monday to tuesday. with the warmer weather we are tracking wet weather as well as we work our way a little bit later heading to the end of next week. thursday, friday and saturday and sunday. that is when we will start to see the much cooler temperatures. highs topping out in just the mid-40's. we have to enjoy the 50's while we have them. jonathan: josh, thanks. the only girl on a boys hockey team. wouldn't you know it? she is one of the stars to the little caps. >> there are times i don't get taken seriously. jonathan: but once they see her play she is taken seriously. how she uses it to her advantage. you meet the team player up next. michelle: coming up at "abc7 news at 4:00" -- the biscuit baker with the takedown. we show you why he had to step in and help the split.

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michelle: being the only girl on a team full of boys isn't easy. nancy: no. but maddy has become another member of the little capitals and welcomes the competition. erin hawksworth has more with the team player. >> let's go! >> they treat me like one of the guys. erin: maddy has always been the only girl on her hockey team. >> there are times i

taken seriously. but i mean, luckily that is not the case a lot. erin: currently she plays for the little caps. and at 13 years old she just made the jump from double-a to triple-a. >> i only had one goal this season so far but that is probably my favorite. everyone was there. as soon as i scored, a big group. everyone was supportive. it was really cool. erin: maddy's coach just so happens to be former nhl star mark messier's son lyon. >> i don't think there is a better team player than maddy. she is making the step up and it is taking her time but she's better each and every day. erin: she hopes to play hockey in high school and college and has olympic aspirations. >> one of my main goals i would like to play for the

erin: congratulations, maddy. you are this week's team player. michelle: congratulations to her. wants to play on the olympic team. nancy: we will cover her, then. jonathan: that is awesome they underestimate her and she goes and skates circles around them. coming up, matt lauer's apology a day after nbc fire the "today" show host. while more former coworkers are coming forward. >> an attorney who represents employees who have been sexually harassed says calls have doubled in the past few months. coming up, we get information on what you can do if you are being harassed in the workplace. nancy: new at 5:00, amazing progress for the maryland woman shot in the head in the rampage in las vegas. the latest on tina frost's recovery ahead of her birthday when i join you back here at 5:00. when you're clocking out. i'm the one clocking in...

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call a medigap specialist now to learn more. and get the support to find the answers, to every fearless question. carefirst medplus. live fearless. announcer: you're watching "abc7 news at 4:00". on your side. jonathan: so we are now a half hour away from a d.c. tradition. the first family lighting the national christmas tree. michelle: this is exciting times. big show on the ellipse. we have team coverage. anna-lysa gayle and stormwatch7's steve rudin are both there. let's begin with

this is a star-studded affair. very exciting anna-lysa: very excited. it's warmer than it was last year. this is a very special moment for a lot of folks here in the d.m.v. we are less than an hour away from the lighting of the national christmas tree. it's 75,000 l.e.d. lights. take a look at the crowd right now. a lot of excited people here. up to 15,000 people expected this evening. this is the 95th annual christmas tree lighting. a special tradition in the nation's capital. kathy lee gifford and dean cane will host and there are per forrens mass the beach boys, steve gibson. the president will flip the switch around 5:00 p.m. the performances will then follow. people in the audience say they consider themselves so lucky to be here this everything. >> is

>> yes. >> what do you think about the experience so far? >> it's really fun. >> what are you looking forward to? >> i don't know. >> the lights, the music? >> lights. >> the lights. okay. so you have come four different times. >> i have. easter roll three times. anna-lysa: now we are going to go to steve rudin with a look at the forecast. steve, i can tell you, i love it. steve: i know, considering how cold it has been the last couple of years i remember coming back with frozen fingers and frozen feet. not the case this year. let me first start off by showing you stormwatch7 radar for you. way to the best of us. just entering western maryland, garrett county. that is where the showers are located right now. fingers crossed. we'll keep the showers out of here and we will get this awesome event in with no problems at all. but look

out there. middle to the upper 50's. now that the sun is about to set in less than 15 minutes, the temperatures are going to come tumbling down. the forecast for the d.c. metro area. temperatures fall to 50 by 7:00 to 8:00. after 8:00, we are going to look for the shower to start to push in from the west. josh knight will have more on that in a few minutes. but as we look behind me, there is plenty of open seats. i have a feeling everything will fill up nicely as we move closer toward the 5:00 p.m. hour. jonathan? jonathan: thanks. looking forward to it. other news, russell sill mons is the late -- russell simmons the latest man facing sexual accusations. he is stepping away following the accusation. a screen writer says he intimidated her to having sex in 1991. he says he remembers the night

insensitive in some situations and apologizes. and john conyers will not step down is the word from his attorney. he faces multiple allegation of sexual misconduct. nancy pelosi and top democrats are calling on him to resign. tonight conyers is hospitalized reportedly for a stress-related illness. michelle: more allegations against former "today" show host matt lauer who was fired over claims of inappropriate sexual behavior. nbc has now heard from at least two more accusers. maggie rulli has the lauer apology issued this morning. maggie: the phones are ringing off the hook. he is an attorney in northwest who represents employees who have been sexually harassed. following the allegations against matt lauer that spanned years, we asked him what employees can do -- maggie: former nbc power house matt lauer glaringly absent from the iconic free lighting last night. >> welcome, everybody, to christmas in rockefelr

the long-time "today" show host was fired after a female colleague accused him of sexual misconduct. this morning his former co-anchor savannah guthrie read the statement live on air. >> some of what is being said about me is untrue or mischaracterized but there is enough truth in the stories to make he feel embarrassed and ashamed. i regret that my shame is now shared by the people i cherish dearly. repairing the damage will take a lot of time and soul searching and i'm committed to beginning that effort. it's now my full-time job. >> late wednesday, two more employees came forward. one telling the "new york times" that lauer summoned thor the office in 2001 in a work day, locked the door and sexually assaulted her. >> the women were scared because he has so much power. >> another exposé, "variety" details the current and former staffers one

reporters that lauer gave her a sex toy as a present and a note detailing how he wanted to use it on her. another saying he exposed her in his office and reprimanded her when she didn't engage. >> this is behavior he didn't do on his own or away from nbc. nbc execs saying this is the first time that they'ved a complaint about lauer. there are questions what they knew then and that more steps should have been taken sooner. jonathan: the tough part is speaking up. that is what an attorney told us and hopes that the numerous accusation of the sexual assault leave victims having the courage to do so or come forward later. cheryl conner has more on the steps to take if you are harassed in the workplace. cheryl: he says his phones are ringing off the hook. an attorney in northwest who represents employees who have been sexually harassed. following the

against matt lauer that span years. we asked him what employees can do if they are harassed at work. >> the first step is make sure that the harasser is aware and you say to the harasser that the con duct is unwelcome. don't joke about it. >> he says the victims who are typical women are often scared of the consequences if they take the complaints to human resources. but the company should be brought in the conversation. >> it's embarrassing. humiliating to talk about to the communities. >> they estimate 75% of those harassed in the workplace choose not to report it. she says that needs to change. >> he believes the complaint about lauer along with the russell simmons who just stepped down from his company following the recent accusations are only the tip of the iceberg. he says the harasser is often if a position of power so the

colleagues who witnessed similar complaints before going to the human resources. >> if you can go to h.r. with somebody that can corroborate your story or witnesses, then it's an even better situation. >> keep notes on the harassment. in northwest washington, cheryl conner, abc7 news. michelle: a double shooting in prince george's county. two men are being questioned. richard reeve has an update on what happened. >> this is a developing story. but boy, oh, boy, what a morning at the landover gas station. there are still questions about the case. take a look. this is the scene from the morning. the wounded men were brought here in this car by a third person. they received a call of a shooting from a few miles away from here.

about the victimsment they believe they were shot in a street robbery. it's unclear if they were targeted or a random crime. the gas station manager was alerted by a customer about the car and the wounded men. and called 911. >> the other two looks like -- they couldn't move. one guy came out of the car and dropped on the floor. >> they picked up two men. they are questioning the two men and also the driver of the car. still very much of an unfolding story. the good news is the two victims are expected to survive. in landover, richard reeve, abc7 news. michelle: it has been three years since u.v.a. student hannah graham was killed. jesse matthew later pled guilty to her murder. graham's mother says if his d.n.a. was collected and authorities were alerted to his previous crime, her daughter would still be alive. >> but it's something

feel i have to do to protect other women in virginia. hannah would be proud. michelle: right now graham is urging virginia state crime commission to take action. jonathan: surveillance video capturing a restaurant employee tackling a handcuff man running from police in west virginia. a good takedown. officers have taken the guy into custody for vandalizing a hospital. that is when he bolted, handcuffs and all. that's when redman stepped in. >> dodging cars like he was playing frogger. i sat there and i was patiently watching. jonathan: customers at the tudor biscuit says he is always ready to help. the man in handcuffs wasn't hurt and he received a ticket possessing drug paraphernalia. michelle: you want a guy like that on your team. jonathan: redskins have a lot of guys hurt. maybe they could use him. jim nabors died.

announcement. you might have known him from the andy griffin show. he was 87 years old. coming up next for us at 4:00, a youth soccer ref quits but not before ranting about bad behaving parents. that is the tip of the iceberg. michelle: record cyber monday means this could be porch pirate wednesday. with the two-day shipping offers. coming up, it may be too late today. "7 on your side" protecting the holiday shipping. >> a first look at how to start tomorrow with "good morning washington" on abc7. >> tomorrow we look at the phenomenon surrounding the "mean girl" mentality and break down the female friendship, behavior and how to successfully avoid being bullied. plus, we are live at national harbor for a preview of this saturday's toys for tots event. >> wake up with us for traffic and weather every ten minutes

michelle: during his year as a soccer ref in beverly hills he called penalties. >> but now he is blowing the whistle on parents that he calls entitled. >> they argue everything. i should not be admonished from the sideline that i shouldn't be doing this because it's a g

12-year-olds. i said safety first. >> he expressed the frustrations and more in a letter to the league announcing the resignation. he hopes to referee in the future after taking time off. this is a problem. i coached my son's little league game when he was 8 or maybe 7. michelle: they are intense. jonathan: parents get worked up. they never played the game. relax, let the kids have a good time. michelle: think think it will lead to a scholarship. jonathan: not that early. every shop is looking for an edge when it comes to holiday sales. michelle: how about a door busterred a vent calendar. it looks that way if you look behind us. jonathan: if you bought it, you would be broke. michelle: best buy has 20 days of deals counting down tomorrow. jonathan: each day will be a different category. and compete with the likes of amazon or wal-mart or target, they are doing free shipping with no minimums. you got that going. michelle: get folks in the door. jonathan: i know. homeownership horrors. new builds but big problems. that is until "7 on your side" steps in.

they'd buy the house back. jonathan: next, we go back a year after complaints were raised. the fixes and the look thereof with a warranty warning for you. >> if you shopped online this cyber monday you may have a package waiting for you at home this evening. hopefully. i'm mike carter-conneen. coming up, why police say a security camera is not enough to prevent being targeted by porch pirates. >> ♪ this is thriller ♪ thriller night michelle: forget christmas music. it's all about "thriller." on this day in 1992, the album dropped with seven top ten singles. including "billy jean" and "beat it." it is still the best selling am bum of -- album of all time. jonathan: turn it up. let's listen! >> ♪ thriller ♪ thriller night

jonathan: "7 on your side" with a consumer alert. the wall street winning streak continues. for the first t

dow closed above the 24,000 mark. a whopping 300-plus point rally. you can see for yourself, nasdaq is up 49. s&p 500 up 21 points. all right. for new homeowners they are happy, very happy they called "7 on your side" with the issues. michelle: each family had some major headaches when they moved in and the builders were not making things right until i-team investigator scott taylor came to the rescue. >> enough is enough. "7 on your side" checking back with four new homeowners who last year were struggling to get the builders to correct what they claimed to be issues that popped up before their home warranties expired in their homes. we reached out to each builder. d.r. horton and lennar, even though all the home warranties had expired. two homeowners' issues were quickly addressed. including lennar covering afternoon hvac pipe where a snake and mice were entering a house in waldo

d.r. horton regrading a flooded backyard in white plains. d.r. horton told us the satisfaction of our homeowners is a top priority. lennar said, "we take seriously any concerns expressed by our homeowners." tony's flooded backyard took nine months to repair. but lennar got it done. remember, miram brooks' house in white plains? covered with blue pieces of tape pointing out issues with her builder lennar. a year later, lennar has corrected multiple issues but some blue dots remain. and her driveway is now a problem. lennar tells us they have a long track record of resolving issues under warranty and have made more than a dozen issues to the home this year to address numerous issues. >> at this point i just wish they would buy the house back. scott: here is how you protect yourself. double check promises from the builder are in the contract. very, very important. and address any

before your home warranty runs out. remember, some contracts do not allow you to sue the builder. scott taylor, abc7 news. michelle: the average 30-year fixed rate loan is 3.9%, well below where we were this time last year. jonathan: fewer people signed up for unemployment help last week. another sign that the job market does remain strong heading in the holidays. 238,000 people enrolled for aid. anything below the 300,000 mark is pretty good sign. overall the unemployment rate is at a 17-year low at 4.1%. more work could translate to more spending. consumer spending jumped a solid .3 of a percent in october. that is nearly identical to a boost in income according to the labor department. economists are banking on the trend following the critical holiday sending season to new year. michelle: after record breaking online a

hitting doorsteps today. as mike carter-conneen reports, it's the most wonderful time of the year for porch pirates. >> as santa sell evers make special deliveries this holiday season, some on santa's naughty list are following the tracks. >> we do see an uptick in the thefts from people's doorsteps this time of year. >> prince george's county police released the footage of a so-called porch pirate swiping a package from the camp springs home. the d.c. police are investigating at least two recent package theft cases. in northwest and northeast. >> we would take it. it's gone. you are stuck in limbo. >> it happened super fast. no one notices. >> what to do. there is the new high-tech amazon key lock. many online shoppers are leery about delivery drivers entering their home. but there are easier solutions. possible pick up the ordered item at the store. ship it to your workplace. ask a fabe to keep an eye out

or send the item to a friend who is home in the delivery hours. in general, report suspicious activity. >> give us a call. if you see people walking around the neighborhood you don't recognize. >> surveillance system or video doorbell might help with the investigation after the crime but it's not always enough to discourage a thief from targeting the home. with the recent cases caught on camera proving that. >> a large box could have paper towels in it or it could have 12 computers in it. that is the risk the thieves are taking because they don't know what is in there. >> they suggest to ship the item to a ups, fedex or post office location. another tip require a signature for each delivery. >> in hyattsville, mike carter-conneen, abc7 news. michelle: a busy stormwatch7 atlantic hurricane season coming to a close today. there were 17 named storms. six of those developed into major hurricanes. that is a category three or higher. half of those made l

states. the estimated damage from harvey, irma and maria range from $300 to $475 billion. hurricane nate was not a major hurricane around was still $1 billion storm aswell. so that proves it doesn't have to be a major category three or higher to create significant damage. jonathan: knock on wood. we had one of the years here in district that was nice. mild. josh: everything stayed to the other side and worked out to sea. it's wild. this is the busiest season since 2005. so going back 12 years to find anything like that. we are looking for wet weather tonight. but that is really about it. the timing predominantly later this everything. you can see the line of showers working its way in from off to the west. a few showers now for us to western maryland. but that is about it. what i want to do is switch to future cast and time this out throughout the evening. we are watching as the clouds build in for us but the rain really at 7:30. we get there. really night. part of loudn

frederick county. then we will continue to move through. as we get to 8:30, that is when we get light rain across d.c. as quickly as it shows up, it's out of here. 10:30 a few showers hang on in southern maryland and otherwise we look dry. throughout the first part of the night, the temperatures stay constant. hanging around the low 50's. once that rain in the front moved through, that is when we drop off by tomorrow morning just in the upper 30's to the mid-40's around the area. the highs tomorrow just don't rebound quite as muchment looking for 53 degrees. sunny skies for us, though. saturday and sunday is partly cloudy and the temperatures will start to bump back up for us. that 52 is one degree above normal for this time of year. on saturday, come join us at the national harbor. we will be there collecting toys for toys for tots. from 11:00 to 3:00, the temperatures work their way up to 50 degrees. all in all, not a bad weekend. really a chilly night. but a nice night to get out for the alexandria boat parade.

days days in a bit. jonathan: thank you very much. making your list, checking it twice. but a gift card is an easy fallback. so you think. coming up next on 7, we are on your side with five reasons you are wasting money buying a gift card this year. michelle: as we go to break, a live look at the ellipse we are now just minutes away from the national tree lighting. ♪

michelle: gift cards are a good cop out if you don't know what to get for a friend or family member but maybe you should hold off. john matarese has a warning so you don't waste your money. john: the next few weeks american shoppers are buy tens of millions of gift cards to go into envelope and stocking for holiday gifts but before you grab some there are a few you might want to avoid. the easier gift for aunt sophie? walk in the super market and grab a gift card from the big rack and send it with love. newly report from dailyfinance.com may be the last the gift card is ever seen. the report says common card down sides include a store that the recipient rarely shops at or is too far away for them. inactivity fees that eat away

recipient loses the card. or the recipient forgets they have the card. from the doesn't that stink file the biggest gift card down side, the store or the restaurant goes out of business before your recipient can use the card. doesn't that stink? giftcards.com says cards are in critical condition because they are for stores that filed for bankruptcy in 2017 and could close stores next year. they include toys r us. pay less shoe stories, american apparel. bottom line if it's a restaurant you are not sure they will visit or the store closing a lot of locations you might want to choose another card so you don't waste your money. i'm john matarese, abc7 news. larry: right now at 5:00, a man arrested for impersonating a police officer. what he is accused of doing as a fake cop is much worse. >> there is a lot of pressure

>> the "7 on your side" digs deeper in the ballou absence and the grade fixing investigation. tonight reaction from the suants who went through the system and -- students two went through the system and on to college. american airlines has a new message to thousands of passengers worried about the holiday flight getting cancel ed. announcer: from abc7 news, this is a breaking news alert. larry: tonight the police believe impersonated a police officer and sexually assaulted another man. nancy: richard reeve is live in pauker park as the police try to find out if there are any other victims here. rich? riches -- richard: we have seen these cases before but this man masquerading as a police officer and sexually assaulting a man. this is the suspect, 36-year-old michael bell of upper marlboro. police say he owns his own security firm, works at another. the victim telling officer he was walking along un

boulevard in langely park last sunday morning. bell rolled up. flashed a badge. told him he was in a dangerous neighborhood and offered him a ride home in the car. a police model ford crown victoria complete with the police lights. instead, detectives say he drove him to a nearby location and sexually assaulted him in the backseat. >> this young man was preyed upon. and the manner in which bell presented himself didn't allow for the victim to offer any questions. he came up to him. i give me your i.d. pats him down. richard: he faces assault charges and the victim took a picture of bell's license plate as he drove away. that is how they tracked him down. inside the car they found two other driver's licenses. they are concerned there are