are tracking the system in the storm center. >> this is a multifaceted storm. we have this storm coming through today. will get a break wednesday and thursday. >> you're right. >> a potential there for a really big system. >> right, the second piece will be, you know we've been tracking it, well right now looks as though it's going to stay off the coast. we're still going to be impacted in a very big way. >> we're talking nor'easter friday and saturday. even if it does not make its way in here we're still going to see massive amounts of rain across the area. that's what we have right now. not around d.c. most of the d.c. area and i-95 looking good. back to the west, though, we've seen a lot of rain. 1, 2 inches fell in the shenandoah valley. flash flood watch in effect for this area includes areas to the west of the blueridge. does not include d.c. we've seen a few showers here. notice we are dealing with some rain down toward the fredericksburg area, that's what will make its way up to washington over the next couple hours. this is where the heaviest rain is along 66. right on out in toward the

mountains. take a look at the wider view here. look at all of the rain around the region. we've got a lot to go through over the next couple of hours. that combined with what we're going to see over the next few days and we could easily see a month's worth of rain in just the next couple of days. here's joakim waiting for the 5:00 advisory. i expect it to be stronger. as i mentioned, this may stay out to sea. heavy impacts friday and saturday. more coming your way. >> this instagram gives you an idea of the flooding at liberty university in lynchburg. a couple inches of water covered the floor in one of the main academic buildings. one student commented i need a . track this system by going to the new weather section of our nbc washington app. i was apologizing for what was said in a nonclinical

setting and i don't believe -- >> you can't have -- you can't say i'm apologizing for statements in one video, and then not tell us what the statements were. >> the battle over defunding planned parenthood is heating up on capitol hill this afternoon. republicans have been going after the agency's leader all day. steve handelsman is tracking this debate. he has the latest now from the hill. steve? >> reporter: hi. no question a pretty hot hearing. because this is a fight not over funding, not just over funding planned parenthood or defunding planned parenthood, but a fight over fundamental abortion rights. by far the most serious charge made by republicans denied up here by democrats and by cecile richards of planned parenthood is her agency made money selling tissue by abortions not done by federal funds, a charge she flatly denied. the charge comes from those disputed videos. they were made by antiabortion

activists that republicans keep claiming show that planned parenthood personnel discuss selling fetal tissue. videos that richards angrily charged today in the hearing were purposely edited to distort what was discussed. >> the outrageous accusations leveled against planned parenthood based on heavily doctored videos are offensive and categorically untrue. >> i'm not clear on this. do you defend the sale of baby body parts? >> no. and i think that is really a total mischaracterization. >> that brings us to the big question for republican colleagues. do you really want to do this? do you really? do you want to align yourselves with the radical extremists who manipulate the facts? health centers even participate in these programs. >> reporter: in the new nbc

news/"wall street journal" poll 61% of americans do not want planned parenthood funding cut. only 35% do. not only a big issue on a matter of continued dispute with the merican people, but republicans, some of them, anyway, appear, it's one of the main reasons why john boehner walked away from his job as speaker, said he would at the end of october. this is being timed by some republicans to the shutdown of government or to put it the way they would put it, we're not going to fund planned parenthood if we're going to keep funding government. but it looks like that will not be linked, at least not this time. and the government will be voted this week by republicans, the majority in both the house and the senate, to continue to mid-december, but then it looks for sure like this abortion fight, chris, will come up again funding of planned parenthood and it may not be linked to another possible shutdown of government. back to you. >> all right. yeah, nobody's giving up on this one just yet.

thanks a lot, steve. now to a big development in the freddie gray case. i just shared this on facebook. six baltimore police officers have been charged from gray's death. now the first trial won't start until november 30 presideth. the man in upper left william porter had been scheduled to go to court two weeks from today. when two others stand trial later this year, prosecutors will call porter as a witness against them. freddie gray died in april. it's a story you heard first on news 4. thousands of students still not immunized within the prince george's school system and the deadline is coming up tomorrow. also the director for the health system was in this school system for some reason is no longer physically at the job, so what happened with her? we sat down for a one-on-one conversation with dr. angela today. she explained a fallout between her and the school system and why she's saying there are so many students who still have not had their immunizations.

she says it comes down to severe record issues within the prince george's county school system. >> you heard about the measles outbreak in california, you heard of the meningitis death in virginia. i don't want any student to die under my watch. >> reporter: we take a look at the latest numbers. while they've had more immunizations and records show up in county, there are a number of kids who may not be able to enter school norm. in upper marlboro, news 4. i'm at the fairfax county police training academy, one of many places where the attorney general wants to offer what he calls 21st century policing. the goal to improve trust between police and the public and to reduce the number of dangerous, even deadly confrontations. attorney general mark herring says disturbing incidents spurred him to action. he wants to fund and offer specialized training to officers and deputies across the

commonwealth, lessons on deescalation are given in fairfax county police academy. by next year, recruits statewide wile have access to the classes. >> we want officers to know how to contain emotions and fears in a moment of high tension where a split-second decision could change lives for. >> reporter: ahead at 5:00 we'll hear from a local naacp leader whether she thinks this plan could change things on the street. in fairfax county, julie carey, news 4. a new group will consider what to do about all things confederate in alexandria. tonight the city manager will appoint seven members to an ad hoc committee. among things to consider, what to do about the statue on south washington street, the name of jefferson davis highway within city limits, and streets named after confederate leaders. the group will also come up with a policy for flying certain flags on city property. their first report to the council will be in march. five hollow point bullets, a

knife, and a bag of weed. that's what one man had on him when he got through the initial layer of security at jfk airport trying to get close to the pope. the man is a former new york city firefighter and he told officers he wanted to give the pope his business card and, quote, change the world. detectives say he flashed his retired badge saturday night to get past the first security checkpoint. officers stopped him at the second. she blazed a trail for female firefighters. now a local county remembers a hero. a new plan to provide life-saving services in the district. why the fire department is overworked and out of ambulances. and it's a hoax making the rounds on facebook today. how not to fall for it. you're watching news 4 at 4:00.

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and now your storm team 4 forecast. >> so far, it's been mild today and it's been very humid, but now it's going to get downright wet across the area. starting at about 6:00, 7:00, heavy rain moved into the area. hagerstown, la ray, charlottesville. there are flash flood watch right into early tomorrow morning. could pick up 2 to 4 inches of rain and there could be ponding on areas road so avoid that high water. here's where we're tracking it now lifting up to the north now. out of areas around charlottesville. the yellows and oranges is where there's moderate rain occurring. d.c., relatively quiet. clinton getting light showers right now. look at this, rainfall rates in the area in yellow is all going to be inching this way, around a quarter of an inch or more. there have been spots down here that have picked up an inch and a half to just over 2 inches of rain in nelson county, augusta county as well. heavy rain from 6:00 to 1:1:00

p.m. gets breezy later, too. we're just getting started. we're going to give you an hourly forecast and tell you about the impacts joaquin will have. unless the supreme court jumps in, virginia will kill alfredo peredo on thursday, suspected of killing nine people and three in northern virginia. dna suggests he may have killed a woman in arlington. terry mcauliffe refused to stop prieto's execution saying the case had already been decided by the court. prince george's county firefighters said farewell to their chief today. carla blue was killed in a car crash nearly two weeks ago. family, friends, and colleagues tae attended her funeral this morning in clinton. the cause of the crash still being investigated. this hoax is filling facebook news feeds across the

country. we'll show you what to do when you see it. this is one of the biggest reasons d.c. has so many delayed ambulance responses. ambulances that are just sitting at hospitals waiting. i'm mark segraves. coming up, i'll tell you how coming up, i'll tell you how i was about to head to thecheck. bank, but out of nowhere it just started to rain. like really rain. [clap of thunder] i did not want to go out. [clap of thunder] but then i was like duh, just use your phone. mobile-deposit-techno-thingy to the rescue. i'm rayna. and i bank human at td bank.

without the internet i would probably be like a c student. internet essentials from comcast has brought low-cost high speed internet into the homes of hundreds of thousands of low-income families. it lets students do homework and study at home. so far more than two million people across america have benefitted. internet essentials is going to transform the lives of families. i see myself as maybe an entrepreneur. internet essentials from comcast. helping to bridge the digital divide. parts of our area will see an inch of rain tonight and maybe more. storm team 4 is updating the totals and tracking a tropical storm in the atlanta.

chief meteorologist doug kammerer joins us live in two minutes. right now d.c. mayor murie bowser is facing tough questions about her plan to start using private ambulances to help transport some patients. and we're getting a clearer picture of just how overworked the district's ambulance service is. news 4's mark segraves has been t following this issue for years. what's the biggest thing to jump out at you today? >> reporter: just how overworked fire stations like the one behind me on wisconsin avenue are day-to-day. the fire chief said by 9:00 a.m. on some days the district is already out of ambulances because of so many 911 calls. he said on other days, the average response time to get an ambulance to you if you do call 911, more than 17 minutes. then drop-off times at the hospital has always been a problem for the district. now we know how big a problem. the chief says on average, every

day his crews spend 177 hours just sitting at hospitals waiting. >> explain how this would work. how will using private ambulance companies, third-party companies, fix the problem? >> reporter: well, it won't fix all the problems but in the short term, they hope it will free up paramedics and emts for more training and the ambulances for more maintenance and they say that will reduce the wait times when you do call 911, and it will free up paramedics and advance life support ambulances for the more serious calls. >> and what else needs to be done at this point to get the 911 system where the mayor and the public want it to be? >> reporter: well, first the council has to vote on this proposal on ems reform. that will take place in the next month or so, but there's some things that they're divided upon, and that is what else can be done to reduce the call volume? things like whether or not they actually have to respond to calls, when somebody wants to be

taken to the hospital, whether they actually have to take that person, as well as whether or not they can just treat people at neighborhood clinics rather than taking them to the hospital. >> all right. mark segraves, thanks, mark. talk about a medicare mystery. the federal government has launched an investigation into where your tax dollars are going. a new federal audit discovered medicare paid $30 million for some ambulance rides in the first half of 2012, but there are no records that show those rides resulted in patients actually getting care. in fact, auditors say the rides may not have happened. to crack down on potential fraud, medicare will now require approval for nonemergency ambulance rides in several states and starting next year, that rule will apply to d.c., maryland, and virginia. and now your storm team 4 forecast. >> oh, and that forecast finally has some rain in it, but it's really amazing almost no rain august and september.

and now we're talking about a month's worth of rain over the next four days or so. we are going to get inundated. in some locations we've already seen inundation. back toward the west, flash flood watch in effect for the shenandoah valley along i-81. look at all the rain. some locations already 1 to 2 inches of rain. in the d.c. metro area, there's not been a lot. this band of showers come through. montgomery, howard, prince george's county. to the south, we have a lot of rain moving up from the south. that rain will continue. take the umbrella tonight. you are going to need it. if you are back to the west or in northern virginia, just stay home. it's going to be that heavy. look at the rain down to our south. notice some lightning starting to two around richmond. that could move in, too, any time we have lightning, we have even heavier rain. we're in for a lot of rain as we move on through the next six, seven, eight hours. right on through early tomorrow morning. take you through future weather. rain around the region. heaviest to the west. d.c. metro area. 8:00, 9:00, 10:00, 11:00, 12:00. then it moves out of here.

this is round one. it will be out of here by early tomorrow morning. most of the day tomorrow is looking okay. the rain will return during the day on thursday, but tomorrow not bad. look at the highs tomorrow. 80 degrees. again, very warm and humid. just like it was today. scattered showers, can't rule out some sunshine here and there, but we will see a lot of cloud cover. 75 martinsburg. 79 down toward the fredericksburg region. the impact forecast for tomorrow, going to be on the low side. warm and humid. very few showers. not expecting much. but the impact starting thursday through friday and saturday is going to be quite high. one reason for that is all of this moisture we've got streaming in across the area, that's going to be the big storm. that's storm number one really. here's joaquin starting to intensi intensify. the 5:00 advisory comes out, currently winds at 45. i wouldn't be surprised if the new advisory bumped those winds up to 60 miles per hour at the 5:00 advisory. even if this were to stay out to sea, we are still going to see what i think is going to become a nor'easter here. we know what the nor'easters do.

they bring us the rain and wind. here's today. very humid. winds out of the southeast today brings up all that moisture. by thursday into friday, the area of high pressure shifts to the east. we've seen this over the past two weeks. low pressure moves up. we get a strong northeasterly flow. right across our area. that will bring in copious amounts of moisture. very windy conditions, too. coastal flooding, beach erosion, winds to 40 miles per hour at the beach. 30 miles per hour inland. os of course, this is something storm team 4 will be tracking over the next couple of days. potential is there for a very high-impact event starting thursday. 64 on thursday. look at friday's high, only 59. that comes with heavy rain. heavy rain saturday. high temperature 75. we'll have much more on this next storm. veronica has the latest coming up in five to ten minutes. >> thanks a lot, doug. chances are you've seen this post in your facebook news feed. i stopped counting after my tenth friend posted it. claims you have to start paying a fee to keep your profile private. well, it's just not true.

facebook says the entire post is a hoax. the message encourages people to copy and paste the text and post it on their walls and claims doing so well exempt you from that fee. this has been circulating online for six years. it was a hoax then. still a hoax. don't do it. and you could be setting yourself up for some future scams. guns, gold, and gems. a hidden train of treasures has triggered a historic rush to a remote location. and a primate jail break leads to a rampage that had one neighborhood going bananas.

well, the search for underground treasure and -- >> two of the stories generating hot talk around town today. joining us is hot money 95's kane. so let's begin with the search for that underground treasure in poland. >> listen to this. this is crazy. so, apparently during the last days of world war ii, there was a train filled with gold and all sorts of jewels that was buried in a mountainside. and for years it's just been

folklore and now for the past two days, people have been trying to dig to find the train. they want the guns. they want the gold. they want the gems. apparently the nazis looted back from world war ii. some people are using radar to see through the mountain. they say it's just tanks. there's nothing else. but they'll find out. they've got six days to do what they have to do. >> wow. a little bit of i guess, we could say, monkey business. down in florida. i've always wanted to say that. my one opportunity. >> florida. florida. >> florida. >> we need to talk. why do you all have monkeys as pets? when you do, why do they get out and eat people's mail? that's zeke. zeke was running around the neighborhood. zeke got out of his owner's home, decided to swing from stop signs. that's my car. zeke, making scratches on the roof. they finally caught up with him and police used a water bottle to distract him while his owner came and got him. ironically, this is the second time zeke the monkey has

escaped. no penalty for the owner of the monkey. >> that's bananas. >> i knew that was coming. why did you -- why do you do these -- >> you teed it up. you teed it up. my daughter could hit that one. >> zeke just wanted to have some fun. hey, how long -- how many days until we get the jingle ball? >> oh my gosh, monday 5:00 p.m. jingle ball. every year it's hot 995's biggest event ever. monday at 5:00, the big announcement on who's performing li life and your first shot at tickets. >> looking forward to that. a big shift in metro service is catching some riders a little off guard. news 4 talks to folks who are late to work today and explains how long this could last. with a potential tropical storm brewing, the time is now to trim your trees, but beware of some companies out there offering deals that are too good to be true. storm team 4 continues to track both that storm and the heavy rain we're going to see

tonight. another june dat

take a look. it's a wet commute for many folks right now. the wind just a little bit out there. the wind is going to be ramping up late this evening, early part of the night then it's going to be sloppy also late during the evening hours. let's take a look at what the impact will be for the hours between 5:00 and 11:00 p.m.

if you're out between 5:00 and 8:00, much of the metro area will start to see moderate rain during that time between 8:00 and 11:00 p.m., we'll start to see more heavy rain moving into our area. here's a look at what we're tracking right now just to the south and west. that's where some of the moderate rain is already. even some pockets of heavy rain. right now, the rain starting to close in on the beltway. so more of this to come as it inches closer and closer to us. we're going to be keeping the heavy rain around up until about 11:00 this evening. page county right now under flash flood warning until 7:30 p.m. so for road impacts this evening, it's going to be moderate impact on the traffic, i think the worst ending before midnight and then for early tomorrow morning, looking dry right now, but just humid. we've got a lot more from this system, of course, coming up a little later as well as the impacts from joaquin. >> thanks, veronica. the next few months are going to be a challenge for a

lot of metro riders, that's how long it's going to take to repair a damaged transformer that powers trains through the stadium-armory station. we take a look at the delays it's causing and how riders are coping with the fallout. >> reporter: at stadium-armory, only blue line trains stop during rush hour. orange and silver lines cruise by, catching some passengers by surprise. >> terrible. >> reporter: how's it going to affect your commute? >> not sure yet. >> i got on the silver and they said this one doesn't stop here either. i was like, are you kidding me? so i am now 50 minutes late for work, so got to hurry up and book it. >> it's really stupid they did this during rush hour, like, they could have done this -- these trains will work when no one's -- when everyone's at work which doesn't make any sense. >> reporter: so frustrated she called a car service to get going. others took the escalator down to test out this first day riding along on metro's new rush

hour slowdown designed to ease the power draw near this station. >> go downtown so i can take any of them, but today obviously i'll be looking for the blue line only. see how it goes. then adjust tomorrow, maybe take the bus or something like that. get up a little earlier. >> reporter: free shuttles offer another option. >> i took the shuttle because the silver line not working here. >> reporter: while crews tackle a big fix at the substation where fire last week destroyed electrical equipment and reduced power available to trains. but we didn't see many take the bus. and this guy changed his mind. >> i think aisi'm just going to ride. i can't be late for class. >> reporter: the trains going through are going at a much slower speed and throughout the system, orange and blue line passengers are taking a bigger hit with fewer trains on the line. get used to these changes. they could be here for a while. as long as six months, possibly even longer. however long it takes to fix the

burned out power station. at the stadium-armory, news 4. we are learning right now about an unusual armed robbery where police say the thief went after lingerie pods. surveillance video shows a guy stocking up on the pods in the detergent aisle when an employee tried to stop him, police say the man pulled out a knife. it happened earlier this month at a safeway store in rockville and we're told police are looking into similar cases at a giant in wheaton. news 4's pat collins is working this story right now. we'll have the latest at the top of the hour. right now police are trying to identify the man who attacked a woman in arlington while wearing a suit. it happened around 10:00 sunday night. the young woman told police she doesn't know who assaulted her, only that he's a white man in his 50s, heavy set and was wearing a dark suit and dress shirt. it was a violent night in the district. six people shot in three separate shootings including a security guard. there's been at least one arrest

so far. the security guard was working at an apartment complex on ft. stevens drive in northwest. police say around midnight a gunman walked up to him and opened fire. we also learned the victim, roland thomas, works for p change protective services. the company said he was shot in the neck and shoulder but still managed to shoot the suspect and hold him until police arrived. >> i personally myself couldn't imagine being shot at and yet still get into position where you're able to obtain the person. >> officer thomas is a great officer. he's been with the company for four-plus years. >> this afternoon, thomas is said to be in stable condition. coming up in a few minutes, hear from a witness who called the 911. friends and family got together today to say good-bye to a yankee legend. yogi berra passed away tuesday of natural causes. he was 90 years old. he's going to be remembered not just as a baseball player but a hero from d day. at the age of 19 he participated

in the normandy landing that led to the end of world war ii. >> he was so real. he was so loved. friends of mine contacted me when yogi passed to thank me for introducing them to him, for being in the same room with him. he affected so many people in such a positive way. >> berra was honored at a yankees game last week and coming up on thursday there will be a public celebration of his life at the yogi berra museum and learning center. a counterpunch from president obama today in the military and political battle to defeat isis. as nbc's dave wagner reports, the president is promoting one plan while the russians are offering another. >> good morning. >> reporter: president obama was back at the united nations today pushing his plan to defeat isis and the broad coalition of countries working to defeat the terrorists. >> our coalition has grown to some 60 nations including our

arab partners. >> reporter: the comments come one day after russian president vladimir putin called for creating his own international coalition to fight the islamic state. a coalition that includes syria, iraq, and iran. with a plan that includes keeping syrian leader bashar al assad in power to maintain stability. >> translator: we think it is a enormous mistake to refuse to cooperate with the syrian government and its armed forces. >> reporter: president obama made it clear today assad needs to go, saying he's responsible for allowing isis to fester, and for fueling the refugee crisis. >> we are prepared to work with all countries including russia and iran to find a political mechanism in which it is possible to begin a transition process. >> reporter: president obama and putin shook hands and met privately for 90 minutes yesterday with putin calling the talks constructive and surprisingly open. >> i think the administration believes this is the time to

test the russians. >> reporter: the u.s. and russia far from unified in their plans to defeat the islamic state. and the cold war between the two leaders showing few signs of thawing. dave wagner, nbc news. tree trimming is one of those jobs that you need to get done before winter. new today, the consumer news watch team has a warning before you hire someone to tackle your yard. they're some of the most popular names to google and fastest way to infect your phone

jamie wanted a taste of the real new orleans and we just couldn't say no to that face. then we wanted more of that local flavor so betty says... oh yeah, that's betty. you're going to want to do this alligator thing. and betty didn't lead us wrong. a little later we passed some dancing. and who doesn't like dancing? especially when it's followed by fireworks

everyone's nola is different. follow yours. some of you have already seen heavy rain. others the rain just now starting across the area. d.c. metro, we've seen a couple of showers, that's really it. look at the very heavy rain that we've seen back toward the west. winchester, front royal, that's going to continue, but you notice the eastern push here of some of the heaviest rain coming toward fredericksburg and around the warrenton area, in and around d.c., not much. here it comes up 95 through fairfax county. to the west, winchester, shenandoah valley, seeing a lot of very heavy rain there. flash flood watches and warnings posted for that region. there's a lot more rain to come. guys, this is just round one. round two is going to bring us a whole lot more for everybody. veronica has more on that in about ten minutes. >> thanks, doug. new numbers out today prove that the -- watching right now

could be incredibly dangerous to your kids. the number of children hurt by toppled tv sets is growing. maybe because flat sets are getting more affordable. 19,000 kids in the u.s. were hurt in tv-related injuries between 2008 and 2010. a lot of safety experts recommend mounting tvs to a wall or sturdy base. country star luke bryan and singer/songwriter usher are two of the most infectious celebrities in the country. we don't mean this in a good way. they are topping the list of the most dangerous celebrities to search for online. intel security research finds you're more likely to land on a website that carries a virus or malware. music producer van buren is actually the worst search. other troublesome searches, britney spears, jay-z, katy perry, and betty white. new this afternoon, a deal that's a little too good to be true. the local scam that's targeting homeowners looking for a fast tree-trimming fix. it's a pursuit of justice

nearly three decades in the making. how a tip from a tv show nabbed the suspected rapist hiding thousands of miles away.

and now your storm team 4 forecast. >> we've got some wet roads out there right now. we're just going to see more wet roads over the next couple of hours. a sloppy evening rush for us. if you're going to be out late, it gets even worse. here's a look at storm team 4

radar. we'll zoom into the areas being impacted the most. charlottesville, just off to our west, coming east of i-81. right now a half inch per hour. what we've seen around page county, little bit of flooding for page county, rocking ham county. areas to the south and west there. there has been flooding. there's a flash flood warning now for paige county until 7:30 p.m. evening planner forecast, 79 degrees right now. yes, some showers are falling across the area. i think we've got rain likely and heavy rain up until about 11:00 to 11:30 this evening. temperatures will come on down to about the low to mid 70s by that time. and here's a look at our rain chances coming up over the next couple days. we have some coming through right now. for wednesday, kind of a rather low chance but for thursday, friday, saturday, some fairly high rain chances. that will be round two. so right now, tomorrow morning, warm and humid. again. breezy and cloudy. it will be another mild day for us i think with temperatures pushing babb ining back to the.

future weather. winchester, harrisonburg, orange, by 7:00 the rain is just west of d.c., just west of the beltway. but look at that. by 9:00, leesburg manassas, quantico, fredericksburg seeing the rain. late evening, early part of the night. eventually the rain does start to pull out of here. we have a little more on tap for thursday. here's the areas that will be impacted the greatest for friday. this is at the end of the week, as joaquin stays off the coast. we still get the rain and wind. it will be more like a nor'easter. my-impact areas for the coastal areas. i think for saturday right now that rain should be back east around areas of i-81. around 70, around 270, and out 66. here's a look at your storm team forecast right through friday, the heavy rain. saturday included as well. we could get a break on saturday. we'll talk more about the impacts and how much rain we could get areawide coming up on news 4 at 5:00. >> thanks. it's that time of year where

maybe you're thinking about cleaning up the yard before the winter weather hits. >> which is the best time to do it. trimming trees and tree removal, common chores you may decide you need help with so you hire someone. >> don't get tricked into a deem that's too good to be true. we have one man's warning from maryland. >> reporter: some projects around the house are bigger to tackle than oatherothers, why kf columbia, maryland, wanted to hire help. >> they came to the door saying they were doing work on the neighbor's house and it would be a cheaper coster for us. >> reporter: he wanted a tall tree behind his home cut down. the company quoted him what he considered a big deal. >> couldn't refuse the price. >> reporter: leonard signed this contract and workers cut down the tree the same day and returned the next day to finish the job but -- >> they said, sorry, we don't have the right equipment. what they were supposed to is cut it into smaller pieces and remove it from the property. >> reporter: the company offered to do other yard work. >> mulching, leaf removal, a

retaining wall. >> reporter: leonard signed a second contract. he paid for both jobs upfront. more than $3,600. >> and never saw them again. >> reporter: this is what can happen when you hire a company without checking it out first. >> one problem is unlicensed workers, unlicensed companies running around with chainsaws who are doing work on the fly. >> reporter: kevin brassler is with checkbook.org, rated tree care companies and found some charged more than tw twice as much as their competitors. get price quotes and don't have to be home to do it. >> tie a ribbon around the tree, identify it, call a bunch of tree care companies and ask them to give a bid. >> reporter: checkbook warns never pay for a job upfront and avoid hiring companies that canvas neighborhoods. they're red flags leonard says he wishes he thought of before now. >> i feel ripped off. you know, this -- they came in seeming like they were very

trustworthy and ended up not being. >> reporter: erica gonzalez, news 4. >> you can compare some of the local tree care companies through our website. you canccess checkbook's rankings for free. just by going to nbcwashington.com. and searching tree care. a new lawsuit suggests that actor paul walker could have survived that crash that killed him nearly two years ago. the civil lawsuit was filed on behalf of the actor's 16-year-old daughter, meadow. the lawsuit claimed walker survived the impact of the crash but that it was the fire that ignited a few seconds later that actually killed him. the suit alleges there were multiple design flaws in the porsche he was riding in that caused the fire. the widow of the driver who died in the crash filed a similar lawsuit last year. a commercial jet had to make an emergency landing at new york's jfk airport when it reported problems with the hydraulics on one of its brakes just 15 minutes after takeoff. the boeing 757 was headed to

ireland. the plane made the emergency landing at kennedy but had to come in a lot faster than normal. the brakes overheated and may have sparked a fire in the landing gear. emergency responders were able to put out those flames and nobody was injured. kids have a new reason to look up to wizards star john wall. >> group called bright beginnings says the point guard donated $400,000 to its cause. it's a child development center that helps kids in need. their executive director shared these photos of wall at the center. she put them on facebook and wrote, evident that wall is concerned about the plight of homeless children in d.c. and he wants them to succeed. the center plans to name a classroom in wall's honor. big round of applause for six local schools that won blue ribbon awards. the four in northern virginia are immanuel christian school in springfield, lady of hope catholic school in arlington, patrick henry elementary.

maryland, kemptown elementary and our lady of lourdes received ribbons. check out the entire list of winners on the nbc washington app. we're working several developing stories in the newsroom including one in virginia where the attorney general is launching a police training initiative across the state to show officers how to appropriately use force and ratchet down dangerous situations. one of the training locations is in shan tillie. in about ten minutes we'll go live to julie carey for more details. parking problem for public servants who help save lives. some firefighters who drive to work are facing hefty fines in the city. we'll show you why and how other city officials are responding. i'm adam tuss in tyson's corner around route 7 and isn't route 7 a joy? most days. from alexandria, through bailey's cross road, to seven

corners, up to tyson's corner, it is a slow roll most every day of the week. now new alternatives being considered to transform this road. talking about buses, maybe a rail system coming through here. we're going to tell you what the northern virginia transportation commission is saying about what could be happening to route 7 coming up. there's no stopping a pursuit to catch a predator. how one crime was solved with the help of a tv show.

heavy bands of rain will be sweeping through the dmv tonight. live coverage with doug kammere minutes away. volkswagon set up a new website for information about its emissions cheating software. half a million vehicles in america are letting off more pollution than epa standards allow. voke lkswagon says it's working fix the situation. go to vwdiesel.com to find a list of the affected models. two women lived in fear wondering whether the man who raped and tortured them would be caught. >> after all these years there's relief. the suspect was tracked down in mexico. a tv show provided key clues in the case. >> reporter: steel bars over the window, chains hanging from the ceiling. this police video from 1990 shows what prosecutors called the house of horrors. a hillsborough home where two

brothers allegedly held two young women kacaptive. >> it was very organized. >> reporter: the girls eventually escaped and hillsborough police sergeant bruce parks would spend the next two-plus decades trying to find the captors. he got some help nine years ago when vance robert turned himself in. he was sentenced to more than 100 years in prison. at the time, one of his victims had this to say. >> you brutalized me, you terrorized me. you left me mentally and emotionally crippled beyond words or expression. >> reporter: as relieved as michelle derek was to see roberts behind bars, she was still frightened because paul jackson remained on the run. but a recent episode of "the hunt" on cnn led to some tips. u.s. marshals tracked down jackson in guadalajara, mexico. he did not give up easily. >> he was trying to say he wasn't a u.s. citizen, we had no right to bring him back. i can't remember what the

marshals told me where he said he was from. he steadfastly denied he was paul jackson. >> reporter: but fingerprints don't lie. they had their guy. jackson was using the alias paul hamilton. he'd been living in mexico for several years. sergeant parks can't wait to face him on u.s. soil. >> for this case to go this long, for my police career, i'm glad it's coming to an end. i can finally say, yes, i got one more of my old cases. >> at this point, it's still unclear when paul jackson will be returned to oregon. >> that's right. whenever he does, he's going to face at the very least rape and kidnapping charges. news 4 at 5:00 sart now with jim and wendy. storm team 4 coverage right now, the rain is here, folks, and we are watching a very active radar. >> and we have already seen the kind of flooding that this system is causing. this is going to be a very busy night. and as you can see behind us, the rain is about to close in on the beltway. >> it is lighting up.

if you're waiting on someone to get home in traffic, folks, be patient, it may be a rough ride. live team coverage on the conditions now and when the heaviest rain will hit us. >> some areas have seen the very heavy rain the last couple hours back toward the shenandoah valley and the heavy rain starting to move in toward the rest of the region. >> wefr seen flash flood warnings down there, we could see more closer in louden, prince william county. we'll monitor it closely. we're getting busy for the evening and overnight and busy week. >> busy week as far as rain is concerned. we is been so dry in the last two months and mother nature says let's turn it on. we have rain, most light from i-95 toward the east. look what's happening in northern virginia, inundated with rain back toward la ray, around warrenton, winchester, parts of west virginia as well. we have heavy rain around portions of the shenandoah valley. up toward winchester, over toward warrenton. in through manassas. all of that moving toward the

north. look at the wider view here. we have a stream of moisture coming off the atlantic. this is going to come in, even rumbles of thunder here and there. more heavy rain likely. that's why we have a flash flood watch as that's been issued. areas like hagerstown, martinsburg, winchester, look at the flash flood warnings, areas in red here including the paige county area until 7:30. 2 to 4 inches of rain possible in those locations. in the city, about 1 inch. maybe a little bit more. ponding on the roads, avoid areas of high water. again, we're just getting started. tonight is round one. round two coming over the next couple of days. roads are going to be a big issue both times. >> yeah, for sure. rain has overspread the area. it's not until late, though, most of the metro area will get that heavy rain. here's the way it's looking between 8:00 and 11:00 p.m. the heavy rainbetween 5:00 and p.m. keep that in mind if you have plans to be out. we're just getting started. we have this event, this first one up until 11:00 p.m. it gets breezy after