five men are in custody for committing a series of purse snatchings in parking lots across the bay area. the music industry is mourning the unexpected death of singer frank sinatra junior. today we could finally hear closing arguments in the hogan sex tape trial. good morning and welcome to "10 news early morning." i'm allison kropff. four teenagers-- and one adult in a stolen vehicle are busted in polk county. they're linked to purse snatchings in 7 different bay area cities. 10 news reporter jonathan petramala-- spoke with one of the victims-- who says the thieves-- stole more than her purse. thieves pilfering purses from at least 8 women around the bay area. targeting unsuspecting

we are protecting, had her purse stolen from her cart at walmart in winter haven while she was unloading groceries on sunday. winter haven police able to connect the crimes through their getaway vehicle, a stolen gold jeep grand cherokee. the same car seen at snatchings from winter haven, to bradenton...7 cities so far across the bay area. just hours after releasing these pictures, four men riding in the stolen jeep were arrested in lake wales. so these thieves can't help themselves to your handbag...and more. in winter haven,

10 news wtsp a man disappeared in lake thonotosassa wednesday night. the hillsborough county sheriff's office believes the 24-year-old man panicked after jumping off a boat without a life preserver. he went underwater and never re-surfaced. the man does not know how to swim. a dive team searched trying to find him. frank sinatra junior has passed away. sinatra, also a musical performer like his famous father, died wednesday of cardiac arrest while on tour in daytona beach. he was supposed to perform at mahaffey theater in st petersburg tonight. he was 72 years old. we could hear closing arguments later today in the hogan sex tape trial. for the second time, jurors heard from the woman in that sex video. heather cole -- the ex-wife of bubba the love sponge -- says she never knew the sex between her and hogan was being recorded. she says-- when she found out about wanted it destroyed.

suing the tabloid website-- for 100 million dollars over the leaked tape. time now is . here's a look at headlines around the nation and the world in 60 seconds. a maryland police chief says an officer deliberately shot and killed a fellow officer in an apparent case of mistaken identity. it happened during a chaotic gunfight outside a police station on sunday. officials say the officer confused jacai colson for a suspect, because he was dressed in plain clothes and got out of an unmarked police car. president obama says his nominee for the supreme court, is uniquely qualified to serve on the court immediately. merrick garland is chief judge on the federal appeals court in washington, dc -- a court that has been a proving ground for potential high court justices. garland says the nomination is the greatest honor of his life. there are reports

reached an agreement with automakers to make automatic emergency brakes standard issue in most cars by 20-22. an official announcement is expected later today. studies show it will reduce crashes and make roads safer. automatic emergency braking uses cameras, radar and other sensors to see objects in the way and slow or stop a vehicle if the driver doesn't react. a breast cancer breakthrough -- that could change how some patients are treated. doctors in england say-- they were able to get rid of tumors in less than two weeks. 10news reporter courtney robinson-- took their findings to moffitt-- to find out what this means for you. 1629 41 1998 i was 25 years old -- bobbie shay lee is a breast cancer survivor. in the past 18 years . she's endured almost 2 dozen surgeries. -- 1632 14 i was over- treated terribly over-treated so it didn't have to be this way 18 -- today she has hope for a cure. doctors in the uk say they were able to wipe out tumors in less than 2 weeks in

breast cancer. -- 1633 30 this is so exciting for me i get chills not because i know this is a small study but the approach that they're taking is noninvasive and less extreme 41 -- standup in a small clinical trial doctors combined the drugs herceptin and tycerb and gave that to early stage her2 positive patients. in 11 days 11 percent of patients had no tumors. -- -- dr. roohi ismail-khan is a breast cancer specialist at moffitt cancer center. she says combination therapies are standard in fact, the same combination studied in this trial is often given to late stage her2 patients because it's not approved for early use. she calls the results promising but not game changing ... -- 1513 35 this is not the answer for the treatment of her two positive breast cancer but it really makes us think because that means there's a population of patients or subset of patients that

chemotherapy 47 -- and for lee . that's what makes trials like this . a game changer. -- 1634 21 helping people survive that's what matters 23 -- in tampa, courtney robinson, 10news wtsp. a consumer alert this morning! the fundraising site gofundme is trying to figure out what happened to the money that was intended for the family of a sick boy. they still haven't received the money.. more than 2- thousand dollars in donations. alex rozier shows you the one thing that went wrong. the family still

encourages you to donate for different causes, but they want you to make sure you know exactly who is

the breast cancer team at moffitt constantly studies "combination drug therapies"-- and their effects on people with cancer. to learn more about follow up trials - check out this story on your 10news app. you can download it for free by searching wtsp. big news about two popular shows you watch here on 10news. if you're a fan of the c-b-s drama "the good wife" get your tissues ready. the network says the highly-acclaimed drama will end its run on mother's day -- may 8th. and we also now know that n-c-i-s fan favorite special agent "tony dinozzo" will leave the show on may 17th. he's been with the show since it debuted in 2003. don't panic though -- the top-rated drama will be back for at least two more seasons. and it looks like michael weatherly may be gracing our t-v screens again soon. he signed on to star in a cbs drama pilot based on the earlier career of dr. phil. excitement's building for the start of the sarasota film festival. more than a hundred people

selby gardens for a kickoff party last night and to hear more about the festival's lineup. lots of stars are expected to attend and there will be more than 250 films to choose from. it runs april first through 9th. 10news is proud to be a sponsor. coming up at 5 on 10 news this morning, a major interstate at the texas-lousiana border is closed this morning because of high floodwaters. a german shepherd puppy is now safe this morning after being lost at sea five weeks ago. the anticipation is building in cuba just days before president obama and the tampa bay rays make their historic visit. that's coming up in about 20 minutes. still to come here on 10 news early morning, when you go for a haircut, many of you probably get your hair washed first. but should you? climbing a sky scraper is hard for anyone. and one amazing woman, with a challenge of her own, is doing just that. and metropolitan ministries is teaching homeless teenagers

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is fighting to keep her pet alligator. mary thorn loves her alligator so much she keeps him inside her house - even in her bed! well florida state regulators say the gator has to go. 10news polk county reporter marcus grayson talked to the woman who says losing her pet gator would kill her. pkg mary thorn admits her alligator rambo has not lived a normal gator life for the past seven years. wearing a riding jacket he rides with her on the motorcycle and he poses for pictures. he even goes to the grocery store. mary says he's too domesticated and wouldn't survive in the wild. the battle with the state began when inspectors from the fwc came by.noting rambo had grown by

state that you can own an alligator but it must be kept outside on at least 2 1/2 acres. mary doesn't have that, and if she did she says sun exposure would cause blisters like this to form all over rambo's body. she holds this nearly 6ft long 125lb alligator like it's her baby. she says she is going to fight to the end. in lakeland marcus grayson 10news wtsp.

rambo... she has made arrangements with croc encounters in tampa to take him. we will keep you updated on how this case develops. health alert for anyone who gets their hair cut at a salon or barber shop. laying your head back and getting your hair washed could be dangerous, even deadly. now one woman is suing her salon -- and is warning you to be careful. 48-year-old elizabeth smith says-- getting her hair washed at a "san diego hair salon"-- nearly killed her. almost 2 weeks after her visit to the salon -- she found out --she suffered a stroke. doctors figured out it was the position of her head in a wash basin-- that probably caused a blood clot and then stroke. the condition is known as "beauty parlor stroke syndrome". it's rare but can happen when necks are hyper extended. two years after her stroke -- elizabeth still has dizziness and vision loss. so what do you do? doctors

your head-- so you're not tilting it more than 20 degrees.... or have your hair washed by flipping your hair forward. climbing dozens of flights of stairs at one time-- seems daunting, right? but hundreds do it every year to raise money and awareness for lung disease. among them this year is a woman who knows the impact of each step. here's her inspiring story. step by step, floor by floor, jennifer wonder is facing a challenge. she's training to walk 42 flights of the bank of america building in downtown tampa for the american lung association's fight for air climb. she's doing it while battling lung cancer. jennifer was diagnosed in january 2015. she had no

the 35-year-old says her 7, 8 and 9-year- old have kept her strong. the cancer spread to her bones, her eye and her brain. she went through months of radiation and now takes two pills a day. but that's not why she's doing the climb. she deals with it by staying positive,

a time and with encouragement from her husband, edmund. he'll be making the climb alongside her, pushing her to keep going, just like he has for the last year. day by day, step by step, she's taking on her challenges and staying focused on the fight. we also talked with the american lung association about three things you don't know

we put that information on our free 10 news app. if you don't have it yet, download it to your phone now. while you're there you can also find information about this saturday's fight for air climb. last year, metropolitan ministries helped nearly 300 adults find employment in tampa bay. this week, they've set their sights a little younger. 10 news reporter bobby lewis is on the road in tampa where metro teens are learning what it takes to get hired. "i would hire you" in this tampa classroom. mock interviews could lead to real jobs for these teens. sot "it's important because of your without no job you won't have a future." nats "personality goes a long way with these people" metropolitan ministries hosted an employment boot camp this week. aimed at teaching these homeless children the skills sot jenna zwald "how to build a how to act in a job how to communicate

their employers or their bosses or their managers. we want to make sure that we're giving these individuals all the tools necessary so that when they're ready to actually enter the workforce they can do it with ease and be successful."a professionals from the staffing service k-force coached the kids on how to present themselves. how to answer questions. and how to ask the right ones, too. su james + bobby sot amil "you've got to be focused and it's okay to be nervous but just try the bet you can and try to be yourself" sot jenna zwald "this is one of our favorite events to do with metropolitan ministries. each year they are so grateful." #####otr##### "on the road in tampa -

this is the second metropolitan ministries has this. the student's job dreams ranged from chef to actor to meteorologist. coming up... what happens when you pour molten copper onto a big mac? the viral video you have to see. coming up tonight on 10 news and c-b-s. starting at 7:00, the n-c double a tournament continues with indiana vs. at 9:30, kentucky vs. stoney brook. 10 news at 11 will follow right after the games. don't forget to show with stephen guest william h. macy. don't forget, you can always take 10 news with you just download the 10 it's a fast look at breaking news, weather and traffic - and get alerts so you won't miss a thing. search wtsp 10 news in the app

sinus-max. too late, we're about to take off. these dissolve fast. they're new liquid gels. and you're coming with me... you realize i have gold status? mucinex sinus-max liquid gels. dissolves fast to unleash max strength medicine. let's end this. your heart loves omega-3s. but the omega-3s in fish oil differ from megared krill oil. unlike fish oil, megared is easily absorbed by your body. megared.

check out this viral video. it shows what happens if you pour molten copper onto a big mac. the temperature of the molten copper is nearly two-thousand degrees fahrenheit. and yeah -- nothing happened!!!!! as the liquid copper hits the bun -- the bun catches fire and chars slightly. but the meat patty actually looks like it's resisting the heat. don't worry though -- it isn't a testament to the toxicity of fast food. it's because of a scientific phenomenon called the "leidenfrost effect." coming up on 10 news this morning, tampa city council is meeting this morning to talk about changes in towing policies to make sure people can park their cars instead of driving drunk. we are expecting dense fog once again. road warrior hilary zalla will be watching the roads and the impact it has on your morning commute. today, supreme court nominee merrick garland will visit capitol hill to meet with senators. whether you have 30 minutes or 10, we have everything you

day. we're back in

good morning and

this morning. i'm allison kropff. and i'm ian reitz. we're on top of breaking news right now in south tampa. where police are investigating after they say a man shot at officers, forcing them to shoot back,