paterno. he's fighting lung cancer. first tonight, an 18-year- old parkville man is facing charges of impersonating a police officer after allegedly using his access in the youth explorer program to steal the tools of the trade. jeff hager joins us with more. >> reporter: a raid of the teen's home turned up badges, a bulletproof vest and even a handgun. as a kid who set his sites on becoming a police officer allegedly turned thief to look the part. a cop took notice when he spotted a teen with a police radio. later, police spokesman set the suspect, walter oliver, took his charade even further assuming the identity of a police cadet as he took a job with a local security company. >> he was seen on video wearing not only a baltimore police badge but in possession of a handgun, what we believed was a handgun. >> reporter: a s.w.a.t. team raided oliver's home in parkville and turned up a

virtual locker room full of stolen police items. >> strobe lights, patches, uniforms, all very, very concerning that an individual would have this type of equipment in his home. he was immediately arrested and charged with impersonation of a police officer, charged with handgun violations. >> reporter: handcuffs, uniforms and even a pair of bulletproof and armored vests. police in both baltimore city and county learned oliver used his position as an explorer, a youth understudy to allegedly steal from police lockers under their very nosesp. >> this is certainly an anomaly for the program and we would not want this incident to cast any type of negative influence on the program itself because this is an excellent group of children. >> model student, once entrusted to see the inner workings of police departments, now finds himself on the other side of the law. >> the suspect was around 19, 20 years old and could have had a great career as a police officer. i think he made poor decisions that now unfortunately he'll never be able to be a police

officer. federal, law enforcement, state or local anywhere in the country. >> reporter: in one instance, he watched a pregnant officer put her badge in her purse before stealing it as she went to the rest room. he later led investigators to the same badge where he tossed it in a storm drain in front of his home. jeff hager, abc 2 news. three incidents in a matter of minutes all in north laurel where people were reporting a group of teens intimidating them. one involved kids on a school bus. cheryl conner joins us with more on how the community is fighting back. >> reporter: a group of 20 teens tried to indim date residents but well over 100 people are pushing back. the fear has lingered since november 3rd. you are looking at the town home and apartment communities off old lantern way where each incident happened. police say within less than an hour. a woman reported to police that teens were banging on her car. about a minute later, a school bus driver said the group started hitting the side of the bus and one of them tried to get into a door.

she was able to drive away, though. then it got physical when a teen approached a security guard. >> one of them actually shoved a security guard, made the neighbor obviously very nervous. called 911. we responded and were able to make an arrest. >> we'll have to bond together is the only thing i know, you know? if you see anything, report it. >> reporter: a 17-year-old was arrested and charged with assaulting a police officer. a community meeting was held last night to update people in north laurel on those incidents. coming up at 6:00, you'll hear more from the community on how they are taking a stand against teens trying to intimidate them. cheryl conner, abc 2 news. a 25-year-old has been arrested and charged in a string of burglaries we told you about last night involving crimes in hartford, cecil and baltimore counties. michael was taken into police custody just after 7:00 last night. he is accused of robbing the exxon at the maryland house travel plaza back on november

9th. police believe he also committed several other armed robberies of convenience store and gas stations in the days that followed. he was arrested during a traffic stop after being identified by a tipster who saw surveillance pictures of him. weather-wise, things nice and clear. we had great sunshine all day before a nice, early sunset this evening. you can see not a cloud in the sky except well offshore tonight. to that's looking good for us weather-wise. temperatures will be dropping tonight with winds letting up. it will be a frosty one overnight. we've got 41 at bwi and easton now. so the rest of the evening through the 30s we go, chilly with a light southwesterly breeze dying off. we'll talk more about how the weekend shapes up that our sunday and into thanksgiving coming up. the oklahoma state university community is in mourning tonight after the death of two women's basketball coaches in a plane crash last night. head coach curt budtke both

died when the single engine plane they were riding in crashed in arkansas. the pair were on a recruiting trip. the accident is the second to hit the campus in the last decade. in january of 2001, ten men connected with the men's basketball program were killed in a plane crash. >> when something like this happens, and god forbid, it happened again, we have to pull together as a family. we've got to try to do that. i think this is the longest i've gone without tearing up. >> the cause of the crash is under investigation. the ntsb has sent investigators to arkansas. it could take up to nine months to determine the official cause. tonight we've learned joe paterno has a treatable form of lung cancer. his son scott broke the news

earlier today. abc 2 news roosevelt leftwich is here with the latest on that investigation and some disturbing new accusations about another high-profile team. rosie? >> reporter: the ncaa is now investigating penn state and a ninth alleged victim has been presented to the attorney general's office. a local attorney who represents one of the original eight accusers is speaking on his behalf. the attorney says in sandusky's latest interview when he denied the abuse, he says it could lead to as many as 100 new accusers. >> the numbers of contacts that have been made with us at our office have really ratcheted up dramatically. >> while the penn state university community is still trying to come to terms with the accusations about the staff and former staff, another college campus jumped into the headlines. this time, the focus is on

bernie fine. he is on administrative leave as police open an investigation. two men who were ball boys say fine inappropriately touched them. >> well, he did go to the city police ands with blown off by the city police. a detective said, look, kid it's beyond the statute of limitations, there's nothing i can do. >> reporter: the head basketball coach says fine has his support finding that years ago the allegations were unfounded. roosevelt leftwich, abc 2 news. and an ad for a job on craigslist led to a shooting. local sheriffs believe the shootings were robberies but a gag order has been issued preventing authorities from revealing the identities of two men they believe are responsib the akron beacon journal reports one of the suspects is a man from akron.

the sore a local high school student. it's been 30 years since the mysterious drowning death of actress natalie wood. new information brought to detectives recently was enough to reopen the case. wood was on a boat with her husband and actor christopher walken. both said none of them knew what happened to natalie wood and only realized she was not on the boat when they couldn't find her. authorities ruled her death a drowning but recently the captain reported that the night of her death, wood and her husband had a loud fight. >> robert wagner picked up a bottle of wine and smashed it right on the coffee table in front of christopher and natalie. robert wagner said, what are you trying to do, blank my wife? >> wagner says investigators have not contacted him. authorities say he is not a suspect. someone is trying to scam people in anne arundel county. we'll tell you who they are posing as and what you need to

look for to make sure you don't get taken. if you are planning a trip this holiday season, you may not need to take much besides clothes and a cell phone. and he's the man behind the red costume. we'll show you how one of saucemy street's most famous characters got -- "sesame street's" most famous characters got his start.

he's the man behind the little red monster. tonight, kevin will be in "being elmo," the documentary that tracks his life. before the big local premiere, we brought clash back to the spot where he got his start right here on abc 2. >> it's a lot of fun to come back to baltimore. >> reporter: kevin clash, the man whose character has taken him all over the global has returned to the town where it all began. the puppeteer behind one of

sesame street's most famous places was raised in baltimore county and now he's back to show case a movie about his life as elmo. >> most times people meet me and they say wow, really, you are elmo? i say yeah, i'm elmo. >> reporter: it wasn't all hollywood from the start. clash got his big break here at abc 2 working with stu kerr on a show called "caboose." he eventually took on the elmo character when someone else gave it up. >> i had no idea how far this character would go or take me. you know, with the success of the toy, i've traveled all around the world because of this little red monster, and it's been really amazing. >> reporter: and with the film, clash is pulling back the curtain on his journey and the people who helped him along the way with challenges including his family and muppet hes creator jim henson. clash hopes the film will inspire others to follow their dreams. >> if you really have a dream and you have something you truly want to do, go for it.

don't let anybody get in the way. >> reporter: now clash is paving his own way thanks to elmo. now after a year of press about his film, he's had enough of being the face in front of the camera. >> i'd like to get back underneath and do my thing because that's my occupation and what i love to do. >> such a cool guy. "being elmo" opens at the charles theater tonight at 7:00. he'll be taking questions from people in the audience. he says just don't ask him to do the voice. after 28 1/2 years on the air, regis philbin took his final bowe on the set of "live with regis and kelly." the finale show was full of surprise guests including regis' former co-host kathie lee gifford. he was kept in the dark with the last show which kicked off with a tear-filled kelly ripa clutching a tissue. reege even got an idea of what

to do next of driving a cap. >> god bless you all, and i hope i see you again real soon. thanks, everybody. [ cheers and applause ] >> next week, regis' seat will be filled by comedian jerry seinfeld then the show will look for a permanent co-host. the fourth and second to last installment of the blockbuster hit "twilight" movies came out last night at midnight. the theater staff says they sold thousands of tickets for the lucky fans who managed to get tickets to the midnight showing. they say it was worth the wait. >> it's definitely worth coming out here at midnight to see it first. all really good. a little too much blood, but it was really cool. the special effects, team jacob! >> "breaking dawn part 2" is due out next november. thanksgiving's still six day as way. that didn't stop christmas from coming to down this afternoon. the official baltimore city hall christmas tree rolled in.

the pinehurst nursery of glen arm was straightened and set by a crane by the recreation and parks department. the 39th annual christmas parade will start at polly western high school on december 4th. i have a little twilight for you here, josey. look at that, twilight, 4:50. sunset's at like 4:50 these days. days get shorter all the way through december 21st, how's that make you feel? nice, clear sky and pressure is still rising. so that will mean good weather around here for the weekend and good weather today. yeah, there's a chill in the air but sunshine on tap. man, sapphire blue skies across the area, including over downtown bel air, chesapeake beach, simpler scenario. gorgeous weather from southern maryland back up through the city today. things were looking mighty fine out there. no question about that.

maryland's most powerful radar, all clear. that should continue to hold up right through midwest of the weekend. by sunday night, there could be a stray shower coming out of the west. i think most of the weekend will sit dry. temperatures now are running cool. 37 down at the beach right now at ocean city. we've got 41 in baltimore east. winds have lightped up. it was a gusty one out there this time yesterday and into even early this morning. but those winds have now abated and temperature-wise, the windchill factor is minimal, feeling like 30s to 40s and starting with the air temp setting right now. tomorrow we're back in the 50s. it should be a nice day. lots of sunshine, low 50s. pretty sea anle is november weather. we'll warm up nor as we go into sunday. across the region right now what we call severe clear, there is nothing going on. one interesting little feature, though if you look carefully here, that cool shot of air coming out of the atlantic ocean. you can see it producing those clouds. so it's interesting to see kind

of cloud cover being generated out over the ocean from that chill. the ocean's still warm out there right now. it's interesting if you are a weather nerd like me, anyway. the chill coming from the north and west, you keep going all weekend long. we're looking good, dry, sunny. the big high pressure bubbles in november and december. that means a lot of clear weather for us, at least through two or three days. meantime, just cool, crisp conditions. our future trend shows nothing really but clouds tomorrow. into sunday, we'll cloud up more. i think there will be sunshine at times. our next rainmaker developing over the tennessee valley by late sunday that could bring rain in here as we go into the latter part of the weekend. overnight tonight, down to 29, clear skies, unseason by cold and then we bounce back. lots of sunshine and tomorrow night we'll drop to 39 partly cloudy overnight. let's check out your seven-day forecast to see how things develop here. you know, the weekend's not bad

at all. yeah, some more clouds sunday, but we warm up also. then early into next week, a chance of showers. right now it appears that the busiest travel day of the year, wednesday, will be clear and cool as will thanksgiving thursday, and the ravens' game is coming up thursday night. joce, all important, but that weekend, not bad as we warm up into the day on sunday. tomorrow will be warmer, too. just not as warm. >> this morning it was like a shock to the system. i went outside for a run and it blasted you in the face. it was so cold and i was just not ready. >> by the way, what do you think about two ravens logos on one seven-day? that's unusual. >> it's special. >> sunday and thursday. cool stuff. >> good weather for both. one of the most widely used tools for detecting breast cancer might not be as effective as once thought. what it may mean and what doctors once thought for women

battling the disease. just because you've been eating cookies and cake for decades doesn't mean you might not suddenly get sick from them. a disease is most commonly diagnosed in childhood.

everybody knows the best place for a good time is mississippi. and that's only until they visited us in louisiana. which is a distant second to sunny florida. for beautiful vacation, nothing beats alabama.

ok, we'll never agree on who's best. but we can all agree on one thing. the gulf's the worlds number one vacation spot. and we've gone all out to make this year the best ever. mississippi has wonderful people, great music, and the beautiful outdoors. louisiana's the best seafood you'll ever eat. shrimp gumbo, crab cakes, etouffee. florida means beautiful beaches and sugar white sands. actually experts agree that the best beaches are here in alabama. which can't compare to a good time on the gulf in mississippi. louisiana fresh catch. florida beaches. alabama beauty. mississippi outdoors. the gulf is the world's goodtime headquarters. and we are 100% open for business. i'm glad we got that settled.

the use of one of the most common methods of breast cancer detection may not help a woman's chances of survival. magnetic resonance imaging used to find cancer in breast tissue does not end up equaling a greater life expectancy. it does not increase the chances that a woman with breast cancer will need surgery. the number of americans

diagnosed with syphilis has gone down for the first time in a decade. a report is produced each year tracking new cases. the rates aren't lower for every group, though. the number of young african- american men contracting the disease has risen 134% over the past five years. sexually transmitted diseases still affect nearly 19 million people each year. and you've probably seen gluten free products at the grocery store. they are targeted towards people with celiac disease. new information suggests this is becoming more comen in adults. doctors reported an increase in cases of celiac in men and women who never had the disease when they were young. researchers hope that this can load to more developments and treatments. abc2news.com is where you can find all of the help you need. it's argued into categories designed to help you find what you are looking for.

if you live in anne arundel county and you have gotten a notice from the fire department, be careful. we'll tell you about a scam and how to tell if you've been targeted. if you subscribe to magazines, you probably get as many renewal notices as you do issues.

anne arundel county executives are worried about a scam that might be going on in their county. i'm don harrison. i'll tell you what it is and what they want to you do about it. these days, renewal notices for magazine subscriptions start arriving in the mail as soon as you get your first copy. what you need to know so you don't waste your money. one of the gop presidential contenders is getting protection from the

u.s. secret service and why agents have been assigned to herman cain. first, what looks like a new scam is sparking concern in anne arundel county. it's a letter that looks like it's from the fire department and alerts you a fire official is coming to inspect your home. don harrison explains what you should do if you get one of these letters in your mailbox. >> public information, chief cox. >> reporter: a letter mailed to county residents about fire inspections has raised concerns for county fire officials. >> our residents received a letter in the mail, and it was an old letter that is actually issued or was used at one time by our fire inspectors. however this letter is never mailed out. this letter is hand delivered by the companies that would be out to inspect businesses within the county. >> reporter: fire department officials know it's an old letter. it has an extension that they no longer use. the letter says fire officials will be in the area conducting

inspections. fire officials only inspect private home hes in special circumstances. >> the only time we would enterer a house to inspect that is if there is a day care from the home or if it was a foster home. >> reporter: this letter was sent to a home that didn't meet any of those criteria, so the fire department took action. >> we immediately suspected that this could be fraudulent and potentially criminal activity may result from it and the county executive and fire chief at that time wanted to warn county residents. >> these individuals dress up as officers and look like officers in official positions. we want to let our seniors and everybody know that when people do this they should be alert and know that the people are just trying to gain access to their homes probably for burglary purposes. >> reporter: anne arundel county fire department normally doesn't do inspections on private homes so if you do receive a letter like this, there's one important thing they want to you do. >> immediately contact the anne arundel county police