it's happened again, a victim kidnapped from the supermarket. the second time at the same store in just a matter of days. police believe the same man is responsible. that investigation is centered on the giant on university boulevard. tonight's victim was eventually released at a gas station in northwest d.c. darcy spencer joins us from wheaton. >> reporter: the victim was questioned by investigators for an extended period of time outside the bp gas station.

once investigators were finished talking to him, he was able to go home. two things became very clear, he had a calm demeanor despite what he had gone through. he knew he wasn't the only victim. >> are you okay? >> yeah, i'm okay. >> the 60-year-old man was the victim of a kidnapping and robbery. police say he was the second man in three days to be forced into his car by a robber wielding a box cutter in this giant food park lot in wheaton. police believe the same man is responsible for gone crimes. >> you're the second victim. >> the victim left the giant at the west field wheaton mall around 2:00 in the afternoon. the robber told him to get in the passenger seat after getting the cash, the robber jumped out of the victim's jeep on blair road in north west dk near the

takoma metro station. he went inside the bp and the attendant called 911. >> we caution people to not be on their cell phones. really look around and be caution and be aware of your surroundings. >> on wednesday, police believe the same robber kidnapped a 75-year-old man from the same parking lot, also at knife point. many shoppers had not heard of the abductions. >> i appreciate you waking me up. >> what do you think of someone doing that, targeting older folks? >> today nothing -- nothing surprises me. >> will this change your behavior? >> yeah, i think i'll be coming with my husband more. a lot of times i do come down here during the daytime and stop. i will be very cautious. >> reporter: that's what a lot of the shoppers said we spoke to this evening. since there's been a couple incidents, three days have gone by, do they have any surveillance pictures, photos

they can release from any of these atm's, they say they don't have anything to release at this time. they do say they believe this is the same man, he matches the description provided by both of the victims in this case, and that person remains at large tonight. reporting live from wheaton, darcy spencer, news 4, aaron, back to you. >> thank you. four children are recovering after a metro bus collided with a car. it happened about 6:00 this evening at 18th street and independence avenue southeast, right near rfk stadium. a total of nine people sustained minor injuries. everyone is expected to be okay. it looks like basketball is coming out. don't there's word a deal could be worked out. >> i know wizard fans are going

to be excited to see them back out there. the nba and its players have reached a tentative agreement that would end the lockout. as of this morning, it's just a handshake agreement. if all goes as planned, the nba season will open on christmas day. the wizards season opener is scheduled for december 26th against the nets at verizon center. it looks like basketball could be back soon. the agreement is somewhat of a surprise considering the players union disbanded a few days ago. on friday both sides' lawyers held a 15-hour secret meeting. the league plans to play a 66-game shortened season once the agreement becomes official. step one, the nba players union must reform, then both parties will hold a vote. the players union needs a majority. the nba needs 15 of its 29

owners votes. nolan smith is one of the many nba players getting ready to play on short notice. >> it tests our basketball i.q., you get to your team, listen to your vets and coaches, they'll steer you in the right direction. >> it's been a dream of mine for a long time, since my dad put the ball in my hand, to finally play my first nba game my mom, my sister -- everyone's that's been there for me since day one is excited to see me reach my dream. >> they want to play their first game, they want to get their first paycheck. remember, not everyone is kobe bryant. we'll have more on this coming up in sports. we'll talk about the caps, not a good night for them. >> thank you, amber. a developing story out of the middle east tonight.

the pakistani government has ordered the u.s. to leave a critical air base within 15 days. that comes after nato air forces attacked two army posts today. killing 28 pakistani soldiers. officials are calling the incident a grave infringement on the country's sovereignty. pakistan also responded today by crossing two border crossings in garn stan, which are needed to send supplies to u.s. and nato troops. after a brief stop in our area, a georgetown student arestsed in egypt should be home in 90 minutes or so. derek sweeney had a layover in dulles. sweeney and two others were arrested on sunday. they were accused of throwing firebombs at security forces in cairo, they were released after a judge said there wasn't enough evidence to bring charges. sweeney and his mother will appear on the "today" show tomorrow morning at 8:00 a.m. right here on nbc 4. still to come tonight, a chilly reception for frosty the

snowman. how he got arrested in maryland. the nasa mission that could prove whether there's life on mars. a new way to shop, a push to change your retail habits during the holiday season. a beautiful day outside today, it looks like we have another mild one coming our way to finish up our thanksgiving holiday. rain to

your local mom-and-pop want you to shop small during the holiday season. today was small business saturday.

encourage people to buy local and support business owners and their communities. those small businesses say they need the help too, especially in this tough economy. american express supporting small business saturday and say mom-and-pops have seen their market share drop 11% over the last two decades. police arrested a parade marcher dressed as frosty the snowman. kevin walsh was charged after a scuffle with an officer and for allegedly kicking a police dog. walsh says he's played the part of frosty the snowman for ten years. still ahead tonight, a mission to mars. how today's nasa launch could prove whether we are alone in the universe. chuck's watching the skies too

nasa is once again exploring the final frontier. they launched a rocket carrying curiosity to mars. you see the rover's entry system cutting through the martian atmosphere. a parachute will help it drift toward the surface eight months from now. a thruster system will set it down, curiosity a fully loaded space laboratory goes to work. >> reporter: the radioactive plutonium in place just in case. the 19th story at las five

rocket headed for the clouds and for mars. its launch is two years late, the delay alone costing $500 million. all seem hopeful as the big rocket pierced the clouds. the plutonium detectors ready in case of an accident would not be needed. >> and we have first pair and second pair. >> reporter: on the way to space, the on board camera caught the separation of the nose cone, no longer needed to protect the mars rover. it will be the most capable rover ever sent to another planet. it's designed to explore for two years and could last years longer. scientists hope it will give human kind its first confirmation of the building blocks outside earth.

using a laser, drill, and on board lab, it will look for complex carbon based molecules, the kind you and i are made of. mars is still a long way off. a 350 million mile journey. >> we have separation. >> the pod carrying the mars rover separatesed from the rocket's upper stage, it's on its way. landing is august 6th, with $2.5 billion and a lot of dreams on the line. >> that was dan billow reporting. curiosity is scheduled to land on august 6th. i've got voices in my head and i don't know where to go. >> it's okay, it's late saturday night. >> we've had a couple really nice days. >> it's been getting better, ever since wednesday when everyone was outbound the weather's been improving. thanks giving day, nice, sunny,

cool, yesterday, beautiful, sunny, warmer, today, still warmer out there, we had a little bit of extra cloud cover today, but that did not interfere with our ability to get over the 60 degree hump again. and another day in the 60s coming our way tomorrow. it's not going to last forever. there are raindrops ahead, and chilly days behind the raindrops. get outside and enjoy your sunday, everyone p.m. outside on your saturday night, mostly fair skies out there, as you look live at the kennedy center for the performing arts. beautiful evening out there, temperatures courtesy of a south breeze and a light deck of overcast clouds outside. temperatures have not done the usual tumble since sundown. 49 degrees on the hour, dewpoints are up in the low to mid-40s. as a result, overnight low temperatures are probably going to bottom out in town at about the 45, 46 degree range. even the cooler suburbs will get down into the low 40s where the

dewpoints are. not much of a breeze to worry about today. tomorrow, a little more of a south-southwesterly wind component returns to the area. 37 now manassas, that's far and away one of the cold spots. annapolis reporting in at 49 degrees. and 49 in hagerstown, 37 way out in petersburg, west virginia. 39 in stanton, 49 in charlottesville. 48 in laplata. as you make plans to enjoy sunday, a decent amount of sunshine early on in the day. clouds will continue to thicken as we go through the afternoon tomorrow. another mild day courtesy of that south breeze. we should make it into the low to mid-60s for a brief time tomorrow. nothing showing up on doppler for now. we are watching the rains, though. inch ever so steadily to the east now, rain from chicago and detroit, all the way down the mississippi and much of the ohio river valleys, all the way down toward the gulf coast.

eventually these raindrops will find their way into the mid-atlantic. dry tomorrow, and monday i think is the day our rain chances start to sneak up especially monday afternoon and monday night. tuesday going to be the big winner in the rainfall dement this week. we'll get a little bit in the way of clearing tonight. that will allow for a chilly, not a cold start tomorrow morning. the day will start with a little bit of sunshine, gradually become cloudy, it will be mild by 9:00 tomorrow night. eventually the rain will arrive here, and will be wet by the end of the day monday. when you get up in the morning, passing clouds for the overnight, startoff temperatures in the 40s, and then tomorrow, another mild day, clouds on the increase. should be dry tomorrow, we'll have a slight chance for showers showing up late in the day monday. tuesday will be the rainy one, wednesday we clear it out and cool it down, we stay nice and sunny, dry and chilly late next week into next weekend. >> thank you.

coming up in sports, the capitols battle in buffalo.

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♪ the lexus december to remember sales event is here, but only for a limited time. see your lexus dealer for exclusive lease offers on the 2012 es 350 and, as a gift from lexus, we'll make your first month's payment. a lot of pressure on the capitals these days. >> i wouldn't say there's pressure to win if they're looking at what the skins are doing, the capitals do have pressure to win because there's a lot of talent on that team. the cap taxes recent benchings have been well reported. accountability the theme of bruce boudreau's season. after the cap's lost six out of their last eight games it's clear a talented group of hockey players aren't responding. you have to wonder if mcvie is

going to hold boudreau accountable for what's not happening on the ice. sabers scoreless in the first period. a battle for the puck. it trickles to dennis wideman. back to luke adam who beats thomas okwu much the puck goes off the skate of one of the sabers everyo s and right to th. jason on a break, he's taken down by christian, and awarded a penalty shot. the first of his career. and he beats jonas. his ninth goal of the year, the caps are within one. 27 seconds later, buffalo on the attack, three on two, andre sakara on the attack. that puts buffalo up 3-1. his first nhl goal. and just like that, buffalo up by two. the sabers go on to win 5-1.

after the game, coach boudreau spoke about the lack of effort. >> we have to get more consistent better efforts from a number of people. and it's just something that -- the consistency is definitely lacking, we have to find out the reason why. >> next up the caps will take on the blues. now, let's move to college football where virginia and virginia tech faced off in charlottesville today for the commonwealth cup. in state bragging rights on the line of course. as well as a chance to play clemson in the acc championship game. the number six hokies came in at 10-1, the cavaliers have won their last four, to say uva didn't show up is an understatement. at least this guy showed up. 93rd meeting between cavaliers and hokies. tech has won the last seven matchups. in the first quarter, first hokies possession. logan thomas keeps it on the

option. takes it in 14 yards for the score. tech on top, 7-0 early. hokies up 21-0. david wilson up the gut. and open field to the end zone. he had 153 yards on the ground today. virginia tech rolling 28-0. as for michael rock and the cavaliers, they could get nothing going today. ensuing cavs drive after the wilson touchdown. picked off by collins, who returns it 22 yards to the virginia four yard line. and three plays later, the hokies cash in. thomas to marcus davis for the seven-yard touchdown. davis for five catches for 119 yards. virginia tech shuts out virginia. unbelievable. 38-0. hokies take home their eighth straight commonwealth cup. they face clemson in the acc title game next saturday in charlotte. let's go to carolina quarter

back, c.j. brown and the terps looking to snap their seventh game skid. browns pass complete to kevin dorsey for a 24-yard touchdown strike. the backup kicker missed an extra point. third quarter, maryland goes to the ground game. david takes it 46 yards to the house for a touchdown. 41-14 terps, things going great for maryland, right? and that's -- not so much. mike lennon the local kid. nc state down just 13 now. later in the quarter, it's a six-point game and james washington barrels it in from one yard out. nc state takes a one-point lead. their first lead of the game. edsall saying, hurry up, get this offense going. c.j. brown intercepted by c.j.

wilson. 59 yards for a score. nc state scores 42 unanswered points and beats maryland 56-41. wizards fans should be getting a nice christmas present this holiday season. before we get all excited here, john wall won't be under anyone's tree, but he should be back on the court along with the rest of the nba by christmas. the nba and the players have reached a tentative collective bargaining agreement, that would end the lockout. 149 days was long enough. both parties still need to ratify the deal, if that happens, december 9th, training camps begin, free agency begins the very same day. on christmas, games will tip-off, on december 26th, the wizards open their season against the nets at the verizon center. it will be a 66-game schedule. >> squeeze it all in there.

thank you, amber. that

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this is pbs. ♪ [ cheers and applause ] >> thank you. thank you, thank you, thank you. you know, i start every show thanking you and i don't know why. [ laughter ] because if you're saying you're welcome i can't hear you. because that's the way television works. but let's not think about that or my little head will go boop sha-boop. [ laughter ] oh, larry welk. anyway, here with a salute to autumn is eugene duelox. he's backed up by the singing styles of the sisters who came all the way from the finger lakes. which finger lake? the longest, dirtiest one. [ laughter ] and a-one and a-two. ♪ >> hey there, partner. thanks for scaring them crows away.