target. federal investigators found texts between the suspect and nolan asking the officer to run a license plate. >> even with the degree of skepticism and suspicion that surrounds you as law enforcement, i think they are generally satisfied it was an isolated innocent act on his part of obtaining information for someone that was under investigation. >> reporter: that remains to be soon. although not charged, the feds ask nolan to stay close. this week nolan's employer told him to stay away. baltimore city police fired the officer who was stationed in 9 northeastern district. >> the allegations are concerning. we work very hard not only to uphold the public safety but campaign the public's trust. if the allegations prove true, egregious violation of that trust. >> reporter: it's not the first time nolan was on the other side of the law. court records show several domestic abuse cases against the 37-year-old before he

became an officer. there was even a burglary and theft charge in 2000 which never went to trial. a record police say they did see before his hire. >> we can go through anybody's background, find things questionable. it's something the agencies struggle with all the time but at the end of the day the system worked, right? he was on probation and eventually eliminated. >> reporter: the u.s. attorney's office had no comment on this story. it remains unclear whether or not they can or will bring a charge against nolan. brian kuebler, abc2 news. >> thank you. police in florida are looking for the driver who hit a young man from baltimore county saturday night. 21-year-old jared paul jones of towson is a student at the university of miami and remains hospitalized with severe injuries tonight. it happened in coral gables, florida, not far from the campus. roosevelt leftwich has more. >> reporter: jared paul jones is in a coma, in critical condition of a a trauma center

in coral gables. witnesses say the elderly driver hit the teen saturday evening as he crossed the street near the campus. they said the driver got out, looked at the victim and drove away. police say they got a partial plate number from witnesses and description of the car but have very few leads in the case. jim jones is a junior chemistry major at miami and graduate of loch raven high school. his mother told reporters her son is an eagle scout, trained lifeguard, all around good guy. she pleads for the driver of the car who hit her son to come forward. >> he's critically ill and we would just ask, if you were the person that may have struck him please come forward, let us know. if you were in the area and you saw anything that could help us in any way, maybe if you're not even sure, please call the police. >> reporter: at this point authorities have few leads in this case. we'll have more on this story coming up at 6:00. roosevelt leftwich, abc2 news. >> thank you. all new at 5:00, a gruesome

discovery off route 70 in frederick county. maryland state police found a body in a box around 9:35 this morning. a state highway crew was working along westbound i-70 at mile marker 48 at braddock mountain when they spotted the box. the victim was described as an adult. they are awaiting an autopsy to determine the exact cause of death. the latest tonight on a crash that injured a soccer star. charlie davies, and left a baltimore county woman dead. the driver, espinosa pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter and drunk driving today. it happened on the george washington parkway in virginia last year. 22-year-old ashley roberta, a graduate of mercy high and university of maryland was killed. espinosa faces up to 13 years in prison when she's sentenced in february. police in annapolis need your help trying to solve a cold case. thursday will mark one year that this man, kenneth graham

was murdered. police say graham left the bar, the whiskey, which is in the 1,800 block of west street early morning november 18th after an argument. investigators say graham was later found behind the cherry grove shopping center with stab wounds. anyone with information on the case should call metro crime stoppers at 1-866-7-lockup. abc2 partners with local police to get more of these cases involved in our new series "maryland's cold cases." we're looking closer at the story of jenny claybrook. she was just 15 years old when she was found murdered not far from her bel air home in the spring of 1983. 27 years have gone by and family and friends still don't know what happened to her. >> those of us who have been here long enough to remember jenny personally, it really is very tragic, when we see her picture and know that was the only yearbook picture that was taken of her.

>> you can catch jenny's story tonight on abc2 news at 11:00. there's some new information tonight in the disappearance of natalee holloway. forensic experts in the netherlands are testing a piece of bone. they are first trying to determine if it's human before they can compare the dna to holloway. the bone was found by a tourist on a beach in aruba. the 18-year-old disappeared in 2005 while on a high school graduation trip to aruba. jordan -- joran vander sleet is suspected in her disappearance. a rainy, chilly night. you're looking at downtown baltimore from one of the harbor cams. it's been pretty much a miserable day. wyett everhart joins us live from the weather center to tell us if it's going to get better or if we're just going to have to suck it up and deal with it. >> suck it up and deal with it, but just a couple more hours. into the the rest of the evening, it will be wet. things will begin to clear out

overnight into the day tomorrow. let's first look at maryland's most powerful doppler radar. show you where the rain is now. the answer, a lot of it around the baltimore, immediate baltimore area. the city itself getting plenty of rain. zooming in a little for you and you can see, if we can get this to go, you will see that right now we've got wet weather back, really, across through baltimore down through severna park. some of this wet weather moving through kent county now on the eastern shore getting pretty good wet weather there. part of a large rainstorm system, centered out in kentucky and tennessee. so the whole thing swirling up into maryland. bringing the rain and hey, you know, bringing that classic november weather. temperature not that frigid, upper 50s, will hover in the 50s the rest of the evening. cloudy and wet, our story tonight but there are some significant changes each day this week. we'll talk about those coming up. to a developing story, a house ethics panel found democratic representative

charles rangel guilty on 13 counts of breaking ethics rules. a full committee is expected to have a hearing on his punishment. tj winick has the latest. >> reporter: having served 20 terms in the house of representatives charlie rangel declared victory many times. today the congressman from harlem was declared guilty on 11 of 13 counts of financial and fundraising wrongdoing. >> any reaction? >> no. i really haven't studied it. >> can you talk to us afterwards? no? >> are you hoping for just a reprimand? >> i don't know. >> reporter: the house ethics committee will recommend a punishment for the 80-year-old rangel to be voted on by the full house. possibilities include a vote deploring his conduct, a fine and denial of privileges. even after the verdict many longtime constituents remain supportive. >> this stuff goes on in congress all the time. he just got picked out. that's how the game is played.

>> reporter: on monday rangel demanded the trial be delayed so he could raise money to pay a lawyer. >> 50 years of public service is on the line. i am entitled to a lawyer during this proceeding. >> reporter: the panel refused to postpone so rangel walked out forcing the trial to go on without him. he was portrayed as a veteran congressman who thought he could ignore rules on disclosing assets and who used official resources to fundraise for a new york college center named after him. >> charlie rangel is playing for his legacy. he has a long and proud legacy stretching back half a century. >> reporter: rangel released a statement saying he deplored the committee's findings and insisting he was denied due process and his constitutional right to counsel. abc news, new york. in our "consumer watch," the chevy volt is motor trend magazine's car of the year for 2011. they say it's a breakthrough by

offering low-cost alternatives for the purely gas engine. there's a range of 40 miles before the gas engine produces more electricity for driving. the price tag? about $40,000. burglars hit a nature center in west baltimore twice. there's a happy ending tonight. the complete details coming up at 5:30. and most of us all guilty of eating a little bit too much salt. now there's concern that teens have too much salt in their diet. results of a new study by the american heart association in tonight's "health alert." plus, a royal engagement. britain's prince william asked his longtime girlfriend to get married. all the details still ahead. [ male announcer ] are you paying more and more for cable,

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britain's prince william has finally asked his longtimeend to get married. he's giving her princess diana's engagement ring. the royal palace says william and kate middleton became engaged last month during a trip to kenya. >> reporter: it's official. prince william and his longtime love, a commoner, kate middleton are to be married. >> we're very happy and i'm very glad i have her. >> reporter: they will wed next year, 30 years after the wedding of prince charles and lady diana watched by a billion people. diana was loved by the british and the comparisons will be there. >> my mother's engagement ring. very special to me. it was my way of making sure my mother didn't miss out on today. >> reporter: kate is her own woman, athletic, quietly confident and will be getting

married later, at 29 years old. she's used to life in the public eye. for years the paparazzi have been relentless. the on and off relationship, a constant but never a done deal. now, london is in a frenzy with the news. the congratulations pouring in. >> i'm sure that the whole country will want to part their very best wishes to the happy couple and wish them an incredibly long and happy life together. >> reporter: in this case what is good for the royals could be good for england. suffering from the blues of an economic slump. >> it's remarkable how similar it is to the moment when charles and diana got married, another time of tremendous economic depression in the 1980s this is happening again. i actually believe that helps to factor in to say let's employee it out with a royal wedding. >> reporter: rivalling of that of his parents in pomp and popularity. abc news, london. >> it's considered one of the most rare diamonds in the world. this 24-carat pink diamond you

see sold for $46 million at an auction. somebody says the buyer is a british diamond dealer lawrence grop. he was hoping the bling would snag between $27 million and $38 million. >> the bling? >> it makes my ring look pretty sad, doesn't it? >> $38 million. what do you do with it? you can't wear it out. >> i would be afraid to wear it. >> you would need armed guards. wet weather day but pretty fast-moving storm. we should see sun back mixing in tomorrow. >> let's get this stuff out of the way. >> as i look ahead to even next week i don't see any dramatic cooldowns. it will be chillier the end of this week but nothing with teeth. if you're not a freezing cold weather fan it's looking good right now. in the outlook. let's look at maryland's most

powerful doppler radar. still some rain depending on where you are. the heaviest is generally just north and east of the city. actually, there's some well south as well. to give you a look at some of this. right now if you look off to the north and east of us we've got some pretty decent rain coming down. on the live scan mode, again, down through bel air, cecil county, there's rain south and west towards dc but it's getting more and more scattered. so we'll continue to see rain tonight but i think the more significant heavier rains are going to be brief shots of heavy rain, then kind of clearing and misty weather. it will be wet out there tonight though, no doubt about that. right now, downtown, the rain still coming down. a couple of don'tlets on the lens as we put our storm wiper, the camera, harbor cam wiper in motion. 55 degrees, humidity awfully high, winds east at 7. rainfall totals, a

half-inch in some spots but it depends where the brief heavy downpours have been. edgemere quarter inch. over on the eastern shore more like 1/10th inch. temperatures now into those mid-50s out there and not a lot of wind chill factor to deal with. what we've been dealing with is this -- rainy, gray dreary weather. not that frigid though, and again, big changes on the way as we go into tomorrow. current winds have been relatively light. 7 to 10. we'll see winds come up a lot tomorrow. a south wind, a warm wi but it will be gusty. i think a mixture of clouds and sun through the day. right now mid-50s. highs averaging around 60 today. warmer on the eastern shore. i want to show you a look at the overall radar trend back to the west. more heavy rain, back into west virginia. some pretty large soaking rain system here. pretty big storm and as we look at the overall broad

circulation around the east coast it will take a while to get the last of this out of here but it's moving at a pretty decent little clip here. our weather pattern map, center of the storm, off to our west by a couple of hundred miles. out toward, again, west virginia. now, want to zoom in. our future forecast pinpoints the times. hit and miss rain possible tomorrow. but more likely rainy scenario will end by, i would say 7:00 in the morning. then clearing it out and chance for some clouds to mix in, into the day tomorrow. so, we'll see if clouds come back, a chilly day thursday but not frigid. the weekend really kind of begins to warm up nicely again. overnight tonight, 52. more rain, we see that taper off late tonight toward daybreak. as we check out your forecast tomorrow we'll go to the 2-degree guarantee of 61. milder, windier and variably sunny. tomorrow night, 38, breezy, colder. clouds on the increase. we could see a passing shower

or two thursday as we check out the 7-day forecast. and western maryland, one or two of those showers could feature flurry action. i mean west of frederick towards hagerstown and beyond. it will be a few flakes flying out that way but nothing in the city. kelly? thank you. in tonight's "health alert," let's face it, most of us eat too much assault. it's a habit we pick up early in life. now research shows it's a habit we're better off to break. here's dr. timothy johnson. >> reporter: even those in their teens may be hurting their health when they reach for the salt shaker. u.s. dietary guidelines say most people should eat no more than 2.3 grams of salt a day. but most americans eat much more, almost four grams. anded a less yentsz consume more than other age groups. adolescents. over nine grams. a new study looked at the longterm effects of cutting that intake by 1/3 among

adolescents. researchers project that getting an early start on reducing salt consumption pays off later in life. they say if teenagers eat less salt their risk of high blood prsure would fall by up to 63%. heart disease by 12%, heart attack by 14%. , stroke 8% and overall death, 9% . the authors specifically called for reducing salt in processed foods which accounts for most of the salt consumption in teens. they conclude cutting down on it when you're young will improve your health dramatically as you grow old. with this medical minute, i'm dr. timothy johnson. you can make this holiday season a little brighter for those in need. the salvation army's red kettle fundraising campaign kicked off today, hopes to raise $600 thowfers in the baltimore region this year. and they really need your help. >> we have nearly 6,000 children or angels that need to

be adopted before christmas. and we're just trying to get the word out. we need everybody's help. come join your army. >> in the baltimore area the salvation army has more than 100 kettle locations. it runs through christmas eve and all the money raised will provide thousands of children with christmas gifts and clothes. and listen to this -- if you love ice cream we've got a sweet deal to tell you about. cold stone creamery is giving away three-ounce slices of its new eight-layer ice cream cake until 8:00 tonight. you can try cold stone's quilted coffee caramel or cake batter layers. i'm going. if you're flying out of town for the holidays or any other time, you know air travel is expensive, but you can get more fordown money. coming up, five ways to get an upgrade for free. >> want to know where all my drugs and money were. i said, boy, did you break into

the wrong house. >> robbery not typically a laughing matter but one woman managed to turn it into a comedy. at 5:30.

if you're going to travel this thanksgiving get ready for crowded airports and busy highways. aaa says more than 42 million americans are expected to travel at least 50 miles from home this thanksgiving. that is a huge increase from last year. when 37 million people traveled over the whole five-day period. there's a good chance that you'll be flying out of town for the holidays between now and the end of the year. travel is expensive. so in tonight's "take 5", charlie crowson gives us five

ways to get an upgrade for free. >> reporter: ann banis with smarttravel.com says there are plenty of secrets to move up in style without paying big bucks. >> a lot of travelers think upgrades are for vip's or celebrities. average travelers can get them for airfare, car rentals and hotels if they know where to look. >> reporter: first, with airfare, look at the type of coach ticket you're buying. make sure it qualifies for upgrades minus fees and make note, the best day for upgrades is saturday. that's when fewer elite travelers hit the skies or try your luck in the offseason. second, check for new routes. >> a lot of times there will be announcements. >> reporter: third, get to the front of the cabin by shopping around for deals and promotions. >> look on-line and sign up for each airline's individual newsletter. >> reporter: though experts say it's rare asking nicely may do the trick for international

flights. it worked for jeffrey on a recent trip to south africa. >> the agent said, well, mr. ward, there are no upgrades for sale today but we're pleased to offer you a complementary updpraid. >> reporter: experts agree, loyalty programs will always pay off. >> whether you travel a lot or a little. that's because most of them are free to enter anyway. free to become a member of. they don't expire. >> reporter: jeff is a member of several loyalty programs but will never forget his free airline upgrade. >> i felt pretty darned special. >> reporter: that was charlie crowman reporting. to get the best upgrades, you have to arrive early. could the beatles could coming to your i-pod? coming up new at 5:30, apple makes the big announcement about the fab four.

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