with instruction on how to proceed. >> go back and talk over this case and review the evidence and come back with a unanimous verdict but do not change your opinion if it's a matter of conscience and if you believe you are following the law. >> reporter: i asked professor culburt what else the judge can do. >> the judge's option is to keep the jury deciding and deliberating and discussing the case and through that process often jurors will come to a decision. >> reporter: now we expect that judge barry williams will bring the jury back in in a half hour at 5:30 and ask if they've been able to reach a verdict on any of the four charges against officer porter. if they haven't, it appears they will return tomorrow to resume deliberations, but what if they cannot reach a verdict? i'll have the alternatives facing the judge. what will happen next?

coming up on news 4 at 6:00. that's the latest live at the baltimore courthouse, chris gordon, news 4. well, a northern virginia community is in shock this evening as a police detective killed himself after he's accused of the very crimes against children that he investigated for years. david abbott jr. shot himself in his gainesville townhome when police came to arrest him. our northern virginia bureau chief julie carey is live at the manassas headquarters. jules? >> reporter: well, there is shock and sadness tonight at this police department and around the county. dave abbott was a decorated detective. a member of the internet crimes against children task force. he was a youth hockey coach in prince william county. but early this morning he got another title that he couldn't bear. that of accused criminal. this was the scene in gainesville after a five-hour standoff. neighbors say prince william county police came in force in the middle of the night around 2:00 a.m.

>> after 3:00, the dogs start barking and he usually only barks when he sees somebody, and i came down and a police officer was there. >> reporter: police were there to serve a search warrant and arrest warrant on manassas detective dave abbott. the charges allege he had inappropriate contact with two boys that he met through his role as a coach in the prince william hockey league. abbott barricaded himself in the townhouse where he lived with his sister. neighbors told news 4 they could hear negotiators urging abbott to surrender but around 7:00 a.m. they took his own life. neighbors say police pulled his body outside onto the sidewalk. residents were urged to stay inside and only later learned what happened to the neighbor they called a very nice guy. >> i knew he liked hockey because he has a nice hockey, signed shirts on the walls. really nice, quiet guy. totally shocked. totally shocked. and, you know, if people have that kind of trouble, seek help. >> reporter: abbott had been involved in several high-profile sex crimes cases. one that got national attention involved a teen sexting case

against a 17-year-old boy who sent nude know photos to his 15-year-old girlfriend. abbott came under fire from defense attorneys when he sought to take pictures of the male teen's private parts. abbott's attorney sued the lawyer for defamation when she called him crazy. the manassas city police department issued a statement that reads in part, "this is a tragic and sad day for the abbott family, juvenile victims and their families, the manassas city police department and our community. in spite of these recent developments regarding the serious allegations against him, we are grateful for the contributions detective abbott made during this time with manassas city police to include the prosecution and conviction of hundreds of criminals." when i join you at 6:00, what the prince william hockey club has to say about today's developments. reporting live from manassas, julie carey, news 4. i'm mark sergraves in the

district where the chief of police and mayor wrapped up a press conference and the first time released body cam surveillance video worn by police officers. this in the case of the in-custody death of 27-year-old alonzo smith. as we told you last night, the medical examiner ruled smith's death a homicide and today we got a look at the body cam video of his final moments and what we can see while he was in custody, police enter the building and there you see on the first few seconds of the video a special police officer with his knee pressed against smith's back while smith is down on the ground face down handcuffed. d.c. police officers try to resuscitate him -- for more than five minutes before he's transported to the hospital where he's eventually pronounced dead. today the medical examiner said as part of his report he found that compressions to his torso, to the victim's torso, corrected to his death and today he said that picture you see of the

officer's knee on the victim's back is what contributed to his death. he also said the man was high on cocaine at the time and the chief of police said when officers first arrived, special police officers had clearly been in a struggle with the man who they thought was on pcp at the time. now, another flashpoint that came out of this press conference today was when ward 8 council member accused the police department of not having strict enough oversight of these special police officers, almost 2,000 of them licensed throughout the district. and she said if these officers were working in white-occupied buildings, there would be stricter regulations. we're going to have more of this coming up at 6:00 including you'll hear directly from the chief medical examiner. jim, back to you. >> mark segraves, thank you. a d.c. teacher out of the clo classroom tonight accused of hurting a 7-year-old with an intellectual sbis abilidisabili. cameron lewis teaches at turner

elementary school. he grabbed a third grader's arm so hard it left a red swollen handprint. d.c. schools tells us tonight lewis will not teach in any classroom until the investigation is over. a somber good-bye for a hero and not everyone knew him, but they all feel his loss. from the hundreds of people who gave one last salute, police, rather, to the dozens of schoolchildren who lined the roads to watch his procession. this afternoon a community is mourning the death of a fallen officer, noah leotta. he died after hit by a suspected drunk driver. news 4's meagan fitzgerald live in wheaton with the outpouring of love and gratitude for a man who died trying to protect the community he loved. meagan? >> reporter: yeah, you know, you got a good sense of the impact that leotta had on the community and his fellow officers by just being at the service today. there were hundreds of people there who came because they want to show their support. and take a look over here, a lot of people have been stopping by

laying flowers, putting little notes and flags and stuffed animals, anything they can. we talked to some of the folks who came out here. they said they did it because they just wanted to say thank you. when officers sign up to protect and serve, they know it comes with dangerous risks. >> there's no such thing as a routine traffic stop because anything at all can happen. you can be shot. >> reporter: but many of these men and women will tell you they do it because they want to protect their community. it's why 24-year-old noah leotta signed up. it's also how he died. on the night of december 3rd, leotta was working a drunk driving detail on rockville pike. as he pulled a person over, he was struck by a car. investigators believe the driver was drunk. so today, his brothers and sisters in arms were here to honor his sacrifice. and at his funeral service, his family remembered his kindness, his smile, and the pride he took

in protecting the residents of montgomery county. fellow officers like his mentor talked about the need to strengthen dui laws in maryland as a way of honoring leotta. >> knnoah's law, change it, and make longer periods of time when you kill another motorist, another human. >> reporter: either way, officers say his life will always be remembered. and his death a reminder of the risk officers take every day to keep us safe. reporting in gaithersburg, meagan fitzgerald, news 4. police in prince george's county are alooking for clues i back-to-back murders tonight that happened a couple hours apart. two men shot and killed first in hyattsville then 15 minutes away in glendale. that first shooting happened right around dinnertime last night. this is what it looked like here along 53rd place just a couple of blocks off kennelworth avenue. the victim in this case, luis

montague found shot at his home there. a couple hours later someone shot and killed aaron rawley at a property along good hope road. investigators haven't released details of possible suspects but do not believe either of these shootings is random. the district's gun law that requires someone to have a good or proper reason to carry a gun is once again in legal limbo. a three-judge panel with the court of appeals says a federal judge that ruled on the case earlier this year did not have the authority to do so. back in 2008 the supreme court overturned the city's longstanding ban on handguns. right now a group is suing over the current law which requires the good or proper reasons have to be made to have a gun. in the race for the white house, in just a few hours all eyes will be on the vegas strip where republican candidates are joining for their final debate of the year. donald trump once again front-runner and center remaining the odds-on favorite

with a new national poll that gives him a 24-point lead. ted cruz is closing in, and even surpassing him in some polls in iowa. and a lot of people think that trump could be doubling down on his attacks on that texas senator tonight. >> ted cruz is easing in on his territory, and he is the outsider, he's the flavor of the month, he's the guy with all the momentum. >> a lot of people are acalling this a potential last-chance moment for jeb bush who despite outspending his fellow candidates has failed to gain any major traction in the polls. right now 13 republicans are officially on the ballot for the primary in virginia. the state party sent a letter to board of elections affirming the candidates for super tuesday which is in march. and they include donald trump, ben carson, and ted cruz. to see the full list, go to nbcwashington.com. one issue likely to be front of mind during tonight's debate, the syrian refugee crisis and now another maryland community is joining the effort to

encourage resettlement here in our area. council members for the city of greenbelt approved a measure today to send letters to county lawmakers and governor larry hogan. the council wants the governor to change his stance. hogan joined dozens of governors earlier calling for a halt to the refugee resettlement program in the wake of those paris attacks. in a story reported first by news 4's adam tuss on twitter, d.c.'s streetcar may be ready to take you for a ride very soon. tomorrow morning at 6:00, what's known as prerevenue operations will begin. that basically means streetcars will be simulating normal service. just without picking up passengers. this new testing period will last for 21 days. if all goes according to plan, the long-delayed streetcar could begin carrying riders next month. the dealer sold him a used car, said it was safe. but when he took it to his mechanic, they found one problem after another. and new at 5:00, the news 4

i-team revealing your rights if you think a seller has done you wrong. plus, former d.c. mayor vincent gray breaking his silence today. he speaks out for the first time since the shadow campaign probe came to a close with no indictment. and he's already hinting at returning to the world of politics. this is the site of the now famous man cave of fairfax city. the place where a homeless man lived for some time. it's been filled in now, but the controversy about what happened here, that's still going on. the story coming up. temperatures still well above average. i think we have one more nice day tomorrow. then we're going to see some changes out there. so one more great one tomorrow, and then areas of heavy rain move in. i'll show you when and then it's the cold for the first time this month. yeah, the cold. it actually moves in. i'll show you when.

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oohhh. oh, holiday ferris wheel. i kind of love it. look at those reindeer. jeffrey, you're awfully quiet back there. i was just thinking... maybe it's time we finish this test drive and head back to the dealership? that is so jeffrey... soooo jeffrey... so jeffrey... oh. elves.. it's practically yours. but we still need your signature. the volkswagen sign then drive event. zero due at signing, zero down, zero deposit, and zero first months payment on a new passat and other select models. tonight, police in fairfax city are defending charges against a homeless man they say they've gotten a huge response from people who want to help him. that man dug out an elaborate cave at a public park just 200 yards from the city's police headquarters. tonight, we're hearing from those who know him.

news 4's pat collins is live now in fairfax with the story for us. pat? >> reporter: tim, he's now known as the caveman of fairfax city. on thursday, he turns 26, but it's not likely he'll be home for his birthday. in fact, now he has no home. people who know him say yosue rios was born in hyattsville, maryland, that he worked as a landscaper and translator. for some time, he lived in this 12-foot cave he dug in the woods a couple hundred yards behind police headquarters. it had two rooms. living quarters. and a bedroom. the entrance covered by a piece of plywood. when it was discovered, police evicted mr. rios. the city filled in the cave. and mr. rios was arrested and charged with destruction of

property. the fallout has been sharp and fast. a number of people criticizing police for taking the home away from this homeless man. sergeant natalie says it was a matter of public safety. >> it is a public park. it's right next to an apartment complex with small children. had anybody come here if it wasn't covered up and fallen in, then, you know, that would have been a problem for us as well. >> reporter: now to the lamb center. a faith-based organization that helps homeless and people down on their luck. they say mr. rios was a regular who participated in bible studies here. >> we're shocked to hear that he was living the way that he was. we didn't know. we didn't have any clue he was living like that, but we did know he was living outdoors and we have a lot of our guests in fairfax live outdoors. >> reporter: now there's a woman up in connecticut, she doesn't even know mr. rios, but she set up a gofund me page for him.

how did that happen? that story coming up at 6:00. wendy, back to you. >> pat collins. thank you, pat. the herndon man who was killed in that crash on route 28, police say he was not wearing a seat belt. he lost control of his car while taking the exit ramp to route 606 in loudoun county monday. his car ran off the side of the road, hit a guardrail and flipped several times. no one else was hurt. it's not known what caused him to lose control on that ramp. former d.c. mayor vincent gray speaking out tonight for the first time about the corruption investigation that ended without any charges against him. the former mayor blamed prosecutors for sabotaging this political career, a career he told our news 4's tom sherwood he is preparing to revive. >> reporter: silent since last week when the four-year-old investigation ended without charges, gray went on a media blitz today against federal prosecutors. >> i mean, they had nothing. so they would have put it on the

table, it seems to me. >> reporter: gray lost his re-election bid last year to murie lx bo muriel bowser. he saide eors staged a court appearance of jeffrey thomas a week before the election and voters lost trust in him. >> they thought i was going to get indicted, said, look i don't want to vote for one of these other people, i'll stay home, i won't bother to vote. >> reporter: prosecutors got a half dozen convictions in the shadow campaign case. now gray is openly hinting he will run in a few months for the d.c. council. either for at large or for the ward 7 seat he once held. >> i think i would stand a great chance in either one of those elections. and which one would be the better one, that's something i'll have to figure out in the weeks ahead. >> reporter: the probe has taken a toll on gray's personal life. what is your own personal mood as you look ahead? >> i think a myriad of emotions, tom. first of all, obviously i'm happy that this is done with, but at the same time, i'm angry. i'm angry that i'm not having an opportunity to continue to serve

people as mayor of the district of columbia. >> reporter: yes, vince gray is angry and he also wants something more from the prosecutors. that story coming up on news 4 at 6:00. i'm tom sherwood. development is booming in tysons corner. >> anyone who thinks they know what tiysons is all about needs to come take a look. >> reporter: i'm adam tuss in tysons corner. why some say this place is about to turn into seattle. and thanks, willard. a look back at the many years he spent here at wrc before his retirement. plus a flasher in northern virgin

by now you've heard willard scott is retiring. an more than six decades with nbc, 35 of those years with the "today" show. >> look at the sunset we got for him today. the sunset of his career. well, when he started, there was already a familiar face here in washington where he served as our news 4 meteorologist right here. >> what do you think of that? guess how much this one cost. >> how much? >> $1.40. >> now humidity is 85%. the winds north-northwest at 12. >> in the day. willard got his first gig here at nbc as a page and also originated the character ronald mcdonald. >> we need to bring back the

violin for weather. he started doing our weather in 1968 and then he joined the "today" show 12 years later. all the while, making people laugh in the morning. we like to wish willard the best on his next chapter. >> how about that map. and now your storm team 4 forecast. >> wish you the best for sure, willard, definitely. as far as the weather is concerned, next couple of days a lot of changes coming in over the next few days for sure. one more really nice day, that day, of course, is tomorrow. take a look outside right now. a very nice sunset as you guys were just talking about. yep. sun goes down tonight. went down tonight at 4:47. 57 degrees. winds out of the northwest 13 miles per hour. we still have a little bit of a wind. wind has really been a factor today. we've seen winds gusting 25 to 35 miles per hour. starting to subside now. we'll still see some breezy conditions tonight. 52 in frederick. 59 down toward fredericksburg. 60 in charlottesville. i want to say hello to the kids at sedwick elementary school in

gaithersburg. we talked about all kinds of weather today. i told them expect a very warm christmas and you might not be able to get those sleds ready until february. still going for february snowfall, but i don't see any in the forecast anytime soon. nothing on the radar right now, not even rain across our area. satellite and radar together showing what's happening. some cloud cover back to the west. that's about it. the only two storms in the country are way up here toward new england around maine seeing some snow. that's the one that brought us rain yesterday. then the next one that will bring us rain is right now bringing a lot of snow toward colorado. that snow upwards of a foot just to the south and west of denver. that storm system moves our way and brings up more warm air and more rain on thursday. tomorrow, let's show you future weather here. 1:00 in the afternoon. nice and mild. more sunshine. then we'll see the clouds in the afternoon. but then here we go at 7:00 in the morning. future weather timing it out for us. rain throughout the region. at least shower activity early. that morning rush may be a little bit slower as a result of

the rain but the heaviest rain comes through early in the morning hours right on through noon hour. we'll continue to see some of that rain, heaviest rain just down to the south and east. some locations on thursday may pick up upwards of a half an inch to potentially an inch. thursday we're calling for periods of rain. some of it heavy. also while we're calling for a weather alert day on nbc 4. doesn't mean it's going to be a huge storm but it does mean it will have an impact on your day. you will need the umbrellas on thursday. tomorrow the sunglasses continue. 58 degrees in d.c. 6 0 down toward fredericks burgs. temperatures still 10 to 15 degrees above average for this time of year and they're going to remain above average right on through the next few days. 56 on your thursday. there's the weather alert day with that rain. 48 on friday. getting closer to average. friday we expect temperatures to fall during the day. saturday, a high temperature of 43 degrees. rather cold. and we are talking about some very chilly conditions. the coldest december day yet. windchills will be near 30 most of the day in many areas.

so, yeah, we are definitely calling for some cold air making its way in here this weekend. veronica has the rest of the weekend forecast coming up at 5:45. >> all right. well, now at 5:00, you may have heard about the threat that shut down all those schools in l.a. turns out new york got the same threat, but find out why the kids there stayed in class. a used car is supposed to be safe when you buy it, right? one man says a mechanic still found a long list of problems when what we can all learn from his mistakes and what the news 4 i-team did to help him. the buildings in baltimore have literally changed since the death of freddie gray. i'm tracee wilkins. coming up on news 4, as we wait for the jury's verdict, we take

news reporters: it's a fish, but it's been changed. genetically altered by scientists. critics call the process creepy, and label it frankenfish. narrator: genetically engineered salmon was just approved by the fda - no labels required. disturbing, right? get this. if your state wants to label gmos, congress is trying a year-end sneak attack to block your right to label. call congress. demand clear labels, not high tech gimmicks. don't let them overturn state gmo labeling. protect our right to know. the future of our community will not be defined at the moment of the verdict. but it will be defined in the

days and years that follow. >> congressman elijah cummings talking about the moment, what may happen when a verdict is reached in baltimore. if it's reached. all eyes are are on that courthouse as the jury says it will work until 5:30 which is right now then come back tomorrow if there is no decision. >> news 4's tracee wilkins talked to people who live in freddie gray's neighborhood today about how their feelings on the trial are coming out now. the upcoming decision and on the reaction afterwards. tracee? >> reporter: we went back to the housing project where freddie gray was originally arrested. we traveled the path that he was in when he was in the back of that police van. what we found is the city found a way to heal itself yet, still everyone is still eagerly anticipating what that jury is going to decide. >> i just pray and hope that this comes to an end very soon. >> reporter: news of a deadlocked jury just raises anticipation in the heart of baltimore's inner city. where freddie gray lived and

died. >> coming from around here, we just try and uphold one another. we still praying for justice to be served. >> reporter: as we drove through the city's streets, we saw murals dedicated to gray, his death, and the city. as it worked to redefine itself. some of the murals were marking points where the police van carrying gray reportedly stopped to pick up other detainees while gray sat in handcuffs unrestrained. >> actually beautiful, actually telling us -- i mean, showing us, i mean, how we fought for justice. >> it's a statement that pulls us together. that we care about one another. >> reporter: there's hope that violent demonstrations are in the city's past and there will be calm regardless of what this jury finds. >> we're looking for the good. let justice be served. for him and his family. >> reporter: coming up on news 4 at 6:00, we revisit the mall

that was shut down after it was looted shortly after freddie gray's death. we now take a look back on how it's doing right now and what shoppers there have to say about waiting on this jury's deliberations. tracy wilk . tracee wilkins reporting live in baltimore. there's a warning for parents in arlington tonight. a girl is saying a stranger took off his pants in front of her at the central library an north quincy street. this happened last night just before 7:00 according to police. the man was wearing a blue collared shirt and black sweat pants. police don't have any suspects. parents in los angeles waiting to hear if schools will re-open tomorrow as police there investigate a threat that closed schools across that city today. a ranking member of the house intelligence committee says the threat is a hoax. this morning, l.a. school officials canceled classes across the system. home to more than 640,000 students. police spent the better part of the day searching buildings. the superintendent there says

they get threats all the time but this one was different. >> i think the circumstances in the neighboring san bernardino, i think what has happened in the nation, i think what happened internationally, i as superintendent am not going to take the chance. >> new york school officials say they received that same threat. . they stayed open. school officials say the threat was too generic to be credible. development is booming across much of our region, in tysons corner there is so much activity some say that that part of our region is destined to turn into a city the size of seattle. that statement was made by the northern virginia transportation commission. our reporter adam tuss is live to show us the building boom out there. adam? >> reporter: it's pretty incredible, wendy. there is an absolute boom here. i want to step out of way and show you kind of the skyline of tysons corner and what it looks

like right now. and as you go and sweep across, you start to look over on this side and see where the cranes are over to the right, that's where a 40-story office tower is going to go. it's going to be the largest in our region, second only in size, get this, to the washington monume monument. every single place you turn in tysons, there's something new to see. >> yeah, lots going on around here. yeah, it's developing really, really fast. every time i come here there's a new building going up. >> reporter: metro and the silver line considered the catalyst for this building boom, building around transit is known as smart growth. sidewalks, pedestrian connections now taking shape. constantine grew up in vienna and said it's amazing to see where tysons is now. >> now there's everything, yeah. so it's just crazy. it's crazy, yeah. >> reporter: tysons is becoming such a place that they've officially dropped the corner from the name. it's just tysons now. from some of these high-rises, you can actually see the blue ridge mountains. michael kaplan is president of the tysons partnership.

>> anyone who thinks they know what tysons is all about needs to come out and take a look because it's nothing like you've seen even if you've been here as recently as a year ago. >> reporter: so with so much building happening, how can you guarantee you'll fill the millions of feet of live, work, and play space? >> all the right ingredients for success are here. there's already a very vital economy with 100,000 jobs and it's the economic engine of the state of virginia. >> reporter: to get more people to live here, you get a lot of people out of their cars and that helps out with our awful traffic. some like jasper fazio say they're all for not having to drive. >> definitely up and coming and it is nice to have a metro right by the mall so i don't have to park and worry about anything like that. that's super convenient. >> reporter: the tysons of the future quickly taking shape. back live, you take another look at the skyline tonight. coming up at 6:00, i'm going to tell you about the amenity that's being feature d in some f the new buildings in tysons that practically no other place has. reporting live in tysons, adam

tuss, news 4. >> adam, thanks. free rides on metro. find out who wants to pay for you to get around this holiday season. and a popular seafood restaurant in pennsylvania is being sued. we're going to find out what one customer says went wrong.

in the freddie gray trial, we just learned the jury has been sent home for the day. and will continue deliberating on wednesday morning.

earlier today, the jury said it was deadlocked on all charges against officer william porter. i'm carol maloney, tis the season for local athletes doing some good. one of the big things the washington capitals this year is to stay together as a team. so instead of just a few players spreading some holiday cheer at a local hospital, the entire group jumped on a bus and made a huge assist to the kids. donning their santa hats and some toothless grins, the washington capitals stormed into the pediatric ward at medstar georgetown university hospital and immediately felt the tug at their own heart strings. >> how old is luca? >> he's almost 3 years. >> the first kid that we saw was going to be a year in a week. and that's, like -- i kind of felt sick a little bit because

our daughter just turned a year, too, so i was getting nervous this was all going to be a bunch of young kids and how i was going to feel about it. >> reporter: the players weren't the only ones feeling a little un uneasy at first. >> i know. look. they have toustuff for you. look. >> merry christmas. >> reporter: 3-year-old noland is up and at them after a visit that left him feeling anew. >> he jumped up and throw some m&m's in his mouth, hadn't ate all day. here we are. he's so happy. it's made him so happy. >> we were in there and the one girl wasn't eating or drinking the last couple days and we left and she started eating and drinking. it's like things like that that just make withdrew feyou feel st it. as hard as it is coming in, it's worth it that's for sure. >> yay. >> there were a lot of smiles and hugs today. all the children able to spend up to ten minutes with their favorite players.

time that will surely have a lasting impact for all. guys? >> great story. carol, thanks so much. you could be writing metro for free on new year's eve. the beer company miller coors want to pay for all rides. according to a report in the "washington business journal" miller coors would give metro $165,000 to cover rides from midnight to 3:00 a.m. that's the amount fares would probably cost based on new year's eve ridership the past two years. the dealer sold him a used car, said it was safe but when he took it to his own mechanic, they found lots of problems. we're going to find out how he got results after he reached out to our news 4 i-team. backlash in the aftermath of the san bernardino shootings. this time the victim is muslim and just in the seventh grade.

so you buy a car only to have it break down a few days later then find out maybe it shouldn't have passed its safety inspection. that's why one of our viewers said he called tisha thompson and the news 4 i-team for help. >> wendy, vehicle safety inspections vary depending on where you live. in virginia you're required to get your car inspected every year. it's different in d.c. commercial vehicles and some residents must get their car inspected but not like maryland. maryland falls somewhere in the

middle. you only need to get one when you buy or sell a used car. that's where our viewer lives. taking us on a fascinating road trip. opening his garage is something dr. jeff says he has just dreaded this last year. >> we've had to put it in retirement. >> reporter: he bought it 11 months ago but hasn't been able to drive it. >> this is the used vehicle that we bought. it's a 2006 honda odyssey. it's got about 127,000 miles on it. >> reporter: he says dart cars did the required government safety inspections. documents show they found some problems and fixed them and passed the vehicle before delivering it to him. >> the first time we started up the vehicle it didn't actually start. >> reporter: he took it to his local mechanic who is not a licensed inspector but told him the minivan should not have passed inspection. >> they found a laundry list of problems they felt absolutely had to be addressed before it would pass inspections. >> reporter: who was right. >> no one can give the news 4

i-team a definitive answer. maryland state police is in charge of the vehicle inspection program and only posts this vague list of what needs to be inspected on its website. >> there are about 180 different components that are checked throughout your vehicle as it becomes inspeblcinspected. >> reporter: even though they work for private businesses, all vehicle safety inspectors are licensed by the state. >> we do compliance checks regularly throughout the year on each station and we also do investigative inspection on vehicles when we receive complaints. >> reporter: using a public records request the news 4 i-team found there are more than 1,500 licensed inspectors in maryland. complaints topped about 140% between 2013 and 2014. resulting in at least 55 suspensions and 23 permanent revocations during that two-year period. >> the more miles and more you put on the car, obviously thing. the quicker you get the complaint into us, it's easier

to investigate. >> reporter: that's the lesson he learned the hard way. he spent so much time trying to get dart cars to replace his vehicle he missed the one-month statute, and didn't realize by having another mechanic fix some of the problems the state could no longer investigate his case. >> been a lot of stress. >> reporter: he says after getting the runaround for nearly two months he called the news 4 i-team. we found maryland state police received five complaints about darcars in the last four years. the company resolved four of them before the state launched an investigation. one licensed inspector unrelated to his case was suspended for passing a vehicle that does not meet standards. >> we have 71 licensed inspectors across 15 locations. unfortunately, we did have one inspector that made a mistake. >> reporter: jennifer darvish parsons is a vice president at darcars. >> they came in and suspended his license. we supported that decision. by didn't appeal it. he'd been with us seven years.

we made sure we disciplined in house and put him through inhouse training to make sure everything was satisfactory. >> there is this idea could there be potential conflict of interest? is the car going to be safe if you are inspecting the car that you have an incentive to sell? >> reporter: absolutely. parsons said he created a new e-mail talk talktojennifer@darcars.com. she would not speak specifically to the complaints but did offer to get him a new vehicle. >> we wanted him to be satisfied with his purchase. we're in the process of buying the vehicle back and covering every expense they incurred since they took possession of it. >> they also offered to give us a new car of our choice basically at cost with no profit to them. and they're going to let us do that with preinspected by our mechanic. >> he says he's thrilled this 11-month bumpy ride is finally over. corporal clinton says maryland state police want a better website and hope to move from a paper-based inspection system to

an electronic one soon. that will allow them to do an even better job tracking possible problems. this story started with a tip. go to our nbc washington app. if there's something you want us to check out. tisha thompson, news 4 i-team. >> tisha, thank withdryou. santa paid a visit to kids in fairfax county today courtesy of the fair tax county police department. the department held its annual santa's ride today. these kids are at crossfield elementary school greeting santa as he showed up. the police department holds santa's ride every year to bring a little holiday cheer to the kids. even fairfax county's police chief took a second to say hello to santa today. always good to be on his good side. dozens of local families are going to have a warmer winter thanks to viewers like you. >> yeah. storm team 4's meteorologist veronica johnson spent all morning at our share the warmth coat-a-thon drive. she was at the alexandria branch here at burke and herbert bank. go to any branch now through

monday or medstar georgetown university hospital through friday. bergman's cleaning will clean the coats for free and deliver them to the salvation army. they'll be delivered to local families on january 12th. and just in time because we're going to start needing our coats again. >> yes, we are. this upcoming weekend. then for sure it's looking more and more like january, february will be very cold for us. the last couple of weeks have been so mild. we have not had a day or we've only had two days this month that have been at or colder than average. take a look at your morning temperatures at the bus stop. 48 degrees at 8:00. there's the sunshine. 49 with cool conditions at 9:00 a.m. meanwhile, as we take a look at what you can expect here throughout the day tomorrow, a lot of sunshine again with few high clouds. high temperature getting up to 58. 60 degrees down south in fredericksburg. 57 manassas. and around warrenton. not a bad day at all. even as we get into the evening hours tomorrow, well, here's your sky cast. again, high clouds. the evening will be nice.

58 degrees at 7:00, 8:00 under a mostly clear sky after all the sunshine tomorrow. an "a"-plus day for us. thursday, a "c" because of the rain. the one day this week we're going to be impacted the hardest. i'll show you the area that gets hit hardest with the rain in a moment. friday, just clouds left around the area, kind of "b"-type weather. future weather for 8:00 a.m. thursday morning. showers come in. there will be some fog around the area. then pockets of moderate rain even heavy rain down through southern maryland, areas around waldorf. that's when the time of day when we're really going it get hit the hardest on area roads. right at midday. so we give you the red light there by the afternoon rush, more cautionary. the roads are going to be wet. still a bit sloppy. the rain will be moving out by then. right here, fredericksburg, waldorf, st. mary's will be impacted the most on thursday. right into d.c. 66. up 70. 270. more moderate impacts for thursday with rain coming in.

then it's another change. we'll feel it friday night into saturday morning. behind that system, the cold air moves in. the wind will pick up. 35 the temperature. with windchills in the 20s to around 30 degrees. here's a look at your storm team four-day forecast. from mid 50s on thursday. wet weather, so you're going to need the rain gear. then coat weather by the weekend. the weekend, 43 degrees for a high temperature on saturday. our coldest december day coming on saturday. with those windchills, again, 20s to near 30 degrees. 50 degrees for sunday. then warming up again. a lot of folks, guys really haven't had much of a chance to turn the heat on yet this month, but you will this weekend. >> all right. yikes. a new jersey man going to court over the beer he was served and why he's blaming the restaurant for a trip to the hospital.

an ohio middle school student could be expelled. >> police say he threatened to shoot and kill a fellow student who was muslim. according to police, he was on the bus when another 12-year-old -- muslim called him the son of isis and blamed the muslim student for the collapse of the twin towers. police say the older boy also threatened to bring a gun to school and shoot and kill him. the student was arrested, charged with aggravated menacing and ethnic intimidation. he was also suspended and could be expelled. a new jersey man says one sip of beer at a restaurant

changed his life. but not for the better. >> he's blaming an atlantic city restaurant for putting him in the hospital and he has filed a lawsuit. >> that man is now speaking out for the first time and ted greenberg reports on what he thinks contaminated his drink. >> no one would ever expect to go into a restaurant and have this happen to him. >> reporter: richard says he felt searing pain then began vomiting blood after taking a single gulp of draft beer. >> i wknew i was in trouble. >> reporter: the retired police officer said he was poisoned that night in november 2012 by a cleaning product remaining many a beer dispensing line at harra's in atlantic city. >> rich is happy to be alive. >> reporter: he was hospitalized for a week with burns to his digestive tract. he said the resulting injuries continue to cause discomfort and require medical treatment. >> my future is uncertain.

as far as the medical side of it goes. >> you think when you go out to eat that what you're going to ingest is safe. you don't -- i never question that before. >> reporter: washhart and his wife, cynthia, an emergency room nurse for nearly 30 years, have filed this lawsuit claiming mccormick and schmitz were negligent. the defendants did not respond to my request for comment, but in court documents, deny any wrongdoing. >> nobody's admitting responsibility. that's why we're asking people, somebody without there that knows what happened to come forward and let's avoid a full-blown trial. >> reporter: the lawsuit seeks unspecified damages. richard says he also wants those involved in the food and beverage industry to be more careful. >> please do it the right way. we don't want this to happen to somebody else. >> this case is limited to that restaurant in new jersey and not the chain's locations in our

area. in court, mccormick and schmix denied any wrongdoing. news 4 at 6:00 begins with breaking news. now at 6:00, a deadlocked jury heads home in baltimore. what it means for the first officer on trial in freddie g y gray's death and for the city's security tomorrow. a detective and youth hockey coach in virginia killed himself today as police closed in to arrest him for child sex crimes. police are now looking for more potential victims. we begin with a detective whose job it was to protect children from sexual predators. >> today he was the target and instead of turning himself in, he shot himself. leaving a web of questions and concerns for police and parents in northern virginia. dave abbott worked for a regional internet crimes against children task force and for police in the city of manassas. that's where bureau chief julie carey joins us live to tell us

how this shocking case came together. jul julie? >> reporter: well, prince william county detectives only started working on this case a day ago when they learned of inappropriate communications between detective abbott and a 13-year-old boy that he met as a youth hockey coach. that led to knowledge of a second victim. and in spite of abbott's death today, investigators are now going to go through all the items they seized at his townhouse to determine whether there could be more victims. dave abbott, a decorated detective, a member of the internet crimes against children task force, a youth hockey coach. but early this morning prince william county officers came to his townhouse in force to arrest him for sex crimes against children. the commotion awakened some neighbors. >> after 3:00, the dog starts barking and he usually only barks when he sees somebody. and i came down and a police officer was there. >> reporter: police were there to serve a search warrant and an arrest warrant accusing abbott of inappropriate contact with two boys he met through