tonight vandals use bats to destroy a christmas display but they may not know it was caught

on tape. the display set up by a family in fairfax station takes hundreds of hour and attracts hundreds of visitors. shomari stone has more on this. >> reporter: this display attracts 5,000 people every year. the homeowner has spent 50,000 in 15 years to bring this display to the community. he is outraged when he looks at the video around his house he sees teens swinging and hitting figurines like this one right here. >> i started out being angry and then i got sad. >> reporter: michael is usually filled with happiness when he looks at his christmas display on his front yard. >> right now i'm very happy the display is back up and working. >> reporter: it was broken just like his heart after his video shows two teenaged boys swinging a bat and knocking the

decorations on the ground. 4:00 in the morning this past sunday in fairfax. >> this is a christmas display out of the goodness of somebody's heart for children. it's an act of kindness. how you can attack that baffles me. >> reporter: they destroyed seven decorations, 15 figurines, a large train, and 10,000 lights, $7,000 worth. this is supposed to be the season to be jolly. >> christmas is special to us and the display is special. and runing something like a christmas display is just not right. >> reporter: the teens jumped into a silver ford taurus and drove own the display. it hurts to see the teens drive over her hard work. >> you feel violated. >> reporter: the police are investing. the lesters search for answers.

>> i don't understand it. you know, i was a kid once too and did dumb things. this is well beyond that. >> reporter: now investigators urge anyone with information about this vandalism to call the fairfax county police department. let me tell you he has 100 inflatables, a quarter of a million lights three miles of extension cords and you think okay how much is his electric bill it will be $2,500 for the month of december. safe to say he is truly in the christmas spirit. live here in fairfax station. i'm shomari stone. back to you in the studio. he is one of the washington area's most-wanted men but he didn't have a name. now, though police are calling him the potomac river rapist as they try to raise his profile to track him down. jackie bensen is live in georgetown where one of his

victims was killed. >> reporter: expect to see electronic billboards, a website and the type of full scale media campaign that led to the capture of the east coast rapist. pat brown believes he is hiding in plain sight. >> one of the things with serial rapist and killers they are the guy that lives next door or even worse with you. you may know them. they watch movies like everybody else. and especially the type without a criminal record. and many of kinds do not. >> reporter: between 1991 and 1998 a single man sexually assaulted eight woman and attempted to rape another. the august 1998 murder of a 29-year-old graduate student in georgetown. she was struck multiple times in the head with a rock and her body left yards from the

freeway. >> if you have a number of cases linked you go to the public and let them know when and where it happened, anything about each of the crimes because it takes someone the community to say i know a guy who willives in that area available at that time and lived in other area as well and they link it together. >> the website will go online tomorrow with much fanfare, potomacriverrapist.com. >> thank you. the 26-year-old woman is safe tonight after being rescued from an attack at the edge of georgetown. it happened on m street. the woman says she was attacked from behind and dragged down a parking ramp. bi-standers came to her aid. witnesses caught him and held him until the cops showed up. the woman was not seriously injured. would you care to make a statement? >> that is all this former zoo

researcher had to say after learning her sentence for trying to poison cats. she was given a 180 day suspended sentence and 120 hours community service. she was feeding rat poison to stray cats outside her apartment building. she is prohibited from working with cats for one year. she said she was ashamed to have disappointed so many people and is committed to repairing the damage that has been done. in prince george's county the police shot and killed a man today. officers say he refused to put down his gun. they responded to a scene on valley park road after someone called to report a man threatening to kill himself. the officer involved are on administrative leave. that is standard procedure when things like that happened. president obama marked the end of the iraq war today.

he welcomed home troops in fort bragg, narkds. he thanked all who served for their sacrifices and paid tribute to the 4500 american military members who lost their lives in the nine-year war. he acknowledged that iraq is not a perfect place but it is self reliept with an elected government and thanked the troops for that outcome. >> as your commander-in-chief and on behalf of a grateful nation, i'm proud to finally say these two words -- and i know your families agree -- "welcome home." welcome home. >> an american flag in iraq that signifies the u.s. mission will be taken down in a special ceremony tomorrow. remaining u.s. troops are expected to leave iraq in the next few days. the marine corps is sending letters of apology to more than

a thousand families of fallen marines. the wounded warrior regiment sent the families purple heart christmas ornaments. the unit commander -- emergency crews are on the scene of a crash involving a metros but and a taxicab on 12th street northeast. six people have been hurt. one is a trauma patient. we have a news crew on the way. a government shutdown is looming. maryland congresswoman and d.c. council woman briefed federal workers and urged them to watch their spending until the situation is resolved. lawmakers are at odds over a payroll tax cut extension. thousands of federal workers could face furloughs.

african-american clergy and civil rights leaders say they are joining occupy wall street protesters to fight economic inequality in the u.s. jamal dez from baltimore and other church leaders announced a movement called occupy the dream. that movement will mobilize on january 16th. coinciding with dr. martin luther king jr. day. rod blagojevich will enroll in a substance abuse program in prison. but whether he has a problem is up for debate tonight. acceptance into a program can shave a year off most prison sentences. the defense team requested that he be placed in a prison in

colorado. he was convicted of trying to sell president obama's former senate seat. an apparent argument between two bus drivers may have prompted one of them to crash her bus into a building today. this happened at a bus parking lot in waldorf, maryland. the school officials say two female drivers had an ongoing dispute when a judge refused to grant one a restraining order she allegedly drove her bus into the building. three were injured slightly. the search is on tonight for the baby jesus that was stolen from a nativity scene in fredericksburg, virginia. this has happened before. so to prevent someone from stealing him again he was filled with concrete. but that didn't deter the thieves. the only clue, the tire tracks across the grass proving a

vehicle was used. police say the theft is considered grand larceny. it's not the economy, so what's really keeping shoppers at home in virginia this holiday season? we'll tell you. the obamas talk about their favorite tv shows and the one thing that the west wing don't have. a lot of planes won't take off when your phone is off so how are pilots using ipads in the cockpit. we have changes in the next 24 hours. there are changes that you need to hear

vienna police are on the lookout for an elderly man wanted for credit card fraud. that is him leaving a giant grocery store. last month a woman returned to her office to find her wallet missing. her credit cards were used in several locations in vienna and alexandria. many people are avoiding crowds and traffic this holiday season by staying at home shopping online. a poll on wtop radio found that 44% of maryland residents, 35% of d.c. residents, 47% of people in virginia, will shop online this year. regardless of traffic, people will still head to the mall to enjoy time outside their house.

>> i like the atmosphere. i like it when people -- all the energy that runs is interesting. >> we're just walking around for exercise. >> that poll found virginians will shell out the greatest amount of money for holiday gifts at about $1005. from maryland the average was $959. $529 in d.c. if pilots can use them why can't everybody else? that is what many are asking when it was announced that ipads will repla its flight manuals in airplane cockpits. the pilots say they are perfectly safe as long as the wi-fi is off. they have been testing them for six months with no issues. why is alec baldwin getting kicked off a plane for refusing to shut off their ipods?

>> that is a good question. that tablet is in the control of the airline. so they maintain it. they assure that if something goes wrong with it it's fixed. >> experts also say while a couple of electronic devices are unlikely to cause any issues no one has tested the impact of hundreds of devices on a plane's communication system. >> we knew you meant to add. that. consider this. you're sitting on an airplane as they are about to close the door and then the last person gets on the plane and you know he's headed for the seat next to you. you thought you had an empty one. there is an airline offering to take the surprise out of your seat meat. klm will offer a meet and seat early next year. it will i-5 lou passengers to link social media profiles to the airlines' website and pick their seat mates.

you know how many of those profiles will not be the person -- >> in that seat next to you. >> good call. >> they may live in the most prestigious address in america but the first family likes to sit down and watch tv like most families. they say their favorite tv is the comedy "modern family." when he is not watching sports, the president watches the darker dramas. they only recently got a dvr. >> i can dig it. >> and the kids probably know how to work it better than the parents if their family is like mine. >> of course. we got changes coming our way? >> and there are big changes. we have had a quiet stretch of weather. the changes though for the most part are good as the temperatures will rise. some areas close to 60 degrees

tomorrow. but you may want the umbrella as we have will see a chance for shower activity. look at the live shot of las vegas, nevada. that's national harbor. right down the street. but doesn't that look like vegas all lit up. a beautiful shot over the potomac river. the high temperature was 50 degrees. the low was 48 degrees. it was on the chilly side with the cloud cover but once again this month we are above average. last year no such thing. the high last year 28 degrees with winds gusting to 40 miles per hour. the wind chill all day last year in the teens. we haven't seen anything like that this year and there is nothing on the radar to even indicate we are in for a cold snap like that. 45 is the temperature out there. mild for this time of year with winds out of the south at 7 miles per hour. 43 in lees burg. 45 in manassas. these are 5 to 15 degrees warmer than last night.

we will continue on this warming trend through the day tomorrow. nothing over the immediate area on the radar. but look to the west heavy showers making their way in. chicago is going up right now. earlier tie they were at 50 degrees. they are now 54. mild air ahead of the storm system and that will make it into our region tomorrow. i think we have a chance for shower activity tomorrow. but the rain is not the biggest factor for the storm. it is going to be the wind of 20 to 30 miles per hour and the temperatures up to 60 in some locations. the front moves through and it will cool us off during the day on friday. partly cloudy skies on friday and will the be cool and cold friday night. we're going to watch another system late friday night passing by to our south. if it moves far enough to the north we may see snow in the

area. this is just a quick system that moves on through here. what we are going to see, the biggest factor is going to be that rain coming through here tomorrow around 2:00 shower activity, 2, 3:00, and 7:00, 8:00, showers in the d.c. area. take the umbrella with you tomorrow. but you may not need the coast. we start off on the mild side. partly cloudy and not too cold. 34 in the suburbs. tomorrow afternoon, mild, windy, 50% chance of rain. mainly light and mainly in the afternoon. temperatures in the mid- to upper-50s with winds near 30 miles per hour at times. here's the next couple days showing we're not warm for long. 50 on friday and chilly this weekend even though we have sunshine. high temperatures in the mid-40s. the next chance of rain is the middle of next week. sports coming up, maryland against florida, international. but first back to the breaking news. emergency crews on the scene of

a crash involving a metro bus and a taxicab on 12th street northeast. we're told six people have been hurt. is it not clear what caused this crash. we will have more information as we get it. [ female announcer ] at verizonfios.com,

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so am i getting the impression from you that the terps struggled with florida international? >> oh, yeah. this is nothing new for this team but they came out on top. they make it exciting.

three straight wins all close games whether it was notre dame or florida international. fiu and the terps down to the wire in a game that featured 11 lead changes. isaiah thomas the head coach for fiu. we start in the first half. check out the senior shawn mosley. don't bring that in my house. watch him pin this against the glass. chasing from behind. good effort there. later in the first half fiu on a run. a deep three. buries it to give the panthers the lead. they were up by seven at halftime. maryland down by four. mosley loses the ball. taylor lays it in. taylor led fiu with 20. but maryland would take control. tough turn around here. he's double teamed. gets it to go. turns up by one.

2.5 minutes to go in the game. told you this was close. a big block. fiu gets it back. but he gets another block. big plays by the freshman. maryland holds on to win 65-61. the terps improve to 6-3 on the year. isaiah thomas is not pleased. the redskins could be without brown and landry again. both players missed practice today and their status for sunday is uncertain. the redskins relegated to playing the role of spoiler against the division leading giants. getting tired of talking about spoilers. the giants reclaimed the nfc

east lead and are succeeding mainly due to eli manning. the giants rank last in the nfl in rushing yards a game. manning has carried the offense and the redskins have noticed. >> eli has taken it upon his shoulders to throw the ball exceptionally well the last three games, playing with a lot of confidence. they are throwing the heck out of the ball and scoring a lot of points. >> he is playing as well as any quarterback right now and putting the team on his shoulders. we want to make him mick mistakes. nba news. the nba was buzzing today. chris paul traded to the clippers. the hornets get eric gordon, caman and a first round pick.

>> what? there are a couple of good players. but not chris paul. >> their not. >> but they get a pick from the timberwolves that could be the number one overall. he is going to team with blake griffin in l.a. maybe the city's second team becomes the best team. dwight howard pulled off the trade market by orlando who are trying to keep him. let's hit the hellie pad. or no. >> we could do the sound effects. >> nbc we signed a nine-year extension for sunday night football. that is back. and navy going to be joining the big east. big e[ male announcer ] this...is the network --

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santa arrived in bethesda on a motorcycle. he has a police escort to the national institutes of health

>> announcer: it's "the tonight featuring rickey minor