>> got me on the ground by the bushes, face down with a gun at the back of my head. >> how's that for a first date? >> a warning for people using dating apps and web sites. >> they all need to be fired because they are unethical people. >> a swift lesson for seven cadets. the sheriff says they cheated on their training test. their punishment and the deputy who helped them. >> and that dramatic video of a cop firing at this moving car, a decision he made in just seconds, butta was it the right one? -- but was it the right one? >> we begin tonight, with a warning for anyone who uses those dating apps, it is person you are meeting up with may be up to something more than a close personal relationship. in the last month, at least 5 people have been targed by robbers, hiding their true intepgs. we have more.

rocked -- robbed at gunpoint, carjacked and some were even beaten. these days, online dating is not at all uncommon. a lot of people do t. this victim shares his frightening experience with a message, be careful. shawn scarlett is one of millions who use social media apps to meet new people. he's one of at least 5 people in polk count whoa met the wrong people. >> i went over there and he met me at the front... i got out. >> reporter: last week, he thought he was meeting a person named john he chatted with on the app high five. they went by jay boy. >> i got to the front and it was two other guys and they made me get on the ground, face down with a gun in the back of my head. >> reporter: the men stole what they could. >> lord help me. >> reporter: his keys, car,

his family is just thankful they didn't take his life. >> my son could be dead for something as petty as a car. >> reporter: in the last month, bartow police have investigated four similar armed robberies, related to online dating apps. each time, they meet with the victims, all men. one or two suspects went on the attack, robbing them at gunpoint, stealing their car and in one case, beating the victim in the face with a bat. last week, we toalgd you about a lakeland man, in a case where the suspected were arrested. it's a crime that could happen to anyone. >> please be careful. >> reporter: this family wants to be sure it doesn't happen again. >> i want them in jail, waiting ... [inaudible] >> reporter: police do not have a lot of descriptive details about the suspects.

males in dark clothing, often black hoodies. as always, investigators say, if you are planning on meeting a stranger, whether for social purposes, or buying or selling purchase, do it in a highly lit and public place. >> a lot of law enforcement places have meeting places to meet people with purchases. good advice. >> seven pinellas county sheriff deputies -- recutes -- are now out of work. the sheriff says they cheated on their training exams with some help from a deputy, who is also looking for a new job now. the sheriff didn't mince any words about the recruit's value as law enforcement officers. >> sheriff used words like appalled and heart wrenching when describing how he feels about this. he says this is a group of recruits that doesn't belong in law en% -- law enforcement.

couldn't resist the temptation to cheat. he turned to eric biddle, a friend from pasco sheriff county office. cook asked to, quote, get some of the study material. biddle told him he would give him the exam, but added do not share or show the testing stuff, i do not want to be in an i.a., other internal affairs investigation. some recruits turned it down, but six more took advantage. so a total of seven recruits and biddle are out of a job. the sheriff got heated. >> it shows a lock of -- lack of moral compass. it shows a lack of ethrics and that the end justifies the means. they don't have to follow the rules. in this profession, you follow the rules. >> the written and oral exams tests on the basics of law enforcement. one of the trainers noticed a

too perfect and seemed rehearsed. an investigation started and this unraveled. we contacted biddle and cook, but haven't hurd -- heard back. there is a chance that everyone involved could have their law enforcement certifications pulled or suspended. >> life is slowly returning to normal for millions of people affected by the weekend snowstorm. but there are still challenges. and thereby for days. in washington, d.c., almost two feet of snow sits in the middle of the street there is. plows were out all day, dropping off piles of snow in the rfk stadium. in maryland, the weight of the snow caused the roof of this church to collapse. no one was hurt there. but the storm is to blame for 37 deaths overall t. also grounded about 12,000 flights. travel bans that were once in effect in d.v. and -- d.c. and new york were lifted. but some city leaders don't want

in fact, new york's mayor doesn't want people to touch their cars. >> leave the snow on it. don't move the snow off it. let mother nature help you. it will be warmer. there will be sunshine. >> snowfall totals in the northeast range from 17 inches to more than 30 inches. the most reported near jfk airport in new york and dulles in washington. >> experts say the damage will cost that region anywhere between $500 million and $3 billion. >> speaking of damage, in sarasota, cleanup continues more than a week after a tornado ripped through siesta key t. sent a lot of debris flying into the bay. crews were out on the water today, trying to up. retrieve it, the longer it sits itch the water flow and wind flows and different things, it is going to cause greater and greatser damage. >> the crews and volunteers will be out there cleaning up all week.

if the cost reaches a certain level, the federal government may reimburse some of the expenses. >> the legislature may consider a proposal to allow concealed permit holders to carry their guns out in the open. that's meeting swift criticism around the state and now from leaders in tampa, as well. evan axelbank is live at tampa city hall to tell us what they have to say about this. >> reporter: the mayor, the police chief and the state attorney all took aim at this proposal, saying it could not only harm tourism, but the public as well as police officers. take a look. here's the chief, earlier today here at tampa police headquarters, saying that open carry would create confusion when officers respond to shooting scenes. he says it would be nearly impossible for officers to make split-second decisions about who is good and who is bad. it ripped the argument that the

those with conceal permits, but who expose them and get arrested. both the chief and the state attorney says they have never heard of that. they cited few statistics, but argued it would hamper tampa's and economic development and tourism. >> i can tell you intutively, i am walking down the mall and there is a lot of folks here like o.k. corral that is not good for development. >> this restores rights, granted not by government, but by god. >> the next time the bill could come up is thursday mornings but that won't be conif i wered until tomorrow. in thees expect the bill to pass in the house, but say the key will be in the senate, which rejeked a bill that would let the students carry on public college campuses. the state representative gates points out that 45 other states allow open carry.

did's proposal, chris, is more permissive than those. >> observing bank live outside tampa police -- evan axelbank live. >> dramatic video showing the mome that an orlando police officer opened fire, shooting a young driver who refused to stop. keith landry shows us the video and tells us why experts believe the officer did the right thing. >> take a look at the two clips and see what you think about the decision of jonathan mills to fire shots at a car. the first video is from his body camera. the second is from a store security camera. police say on january 16 two, officers did a traffic stop on the driver. the video shows the officers ordering him to stop, but he doesn't. he backs into another car and drives toward the officer. jamie worked the beat more than 20 years as a police officer and then worked narcotics with nbai.

a heartbeat. >> it's right now, in your face and you have a split-second chance to try to get out of the way of 10,000-plus-pound missile. >> reporter: he must decide to shoot and to defend the officer's own life. >> in this circumstance, the cops had nowhere to retreat. they would have anyone pinned in. >> reporter: it appears that the police followed proper procedures to give the commands for the driver to stop. >> the neighbor said using the batons was also within guide lines. >> that would be to shatter the window and take control of that person so the car doesn't become a weapon. >> reporter: the officer fired and the car crashed. >> at least the cops did everything possible before they graduated to the next level of force. >> reporter: keith landry, fox 13 news.

the officer is on paid administereddive -- administrative leave. >> a car crashed lieu a nail salon, just east of st. joe's hospital. and the driver was taken to st. joe's with only minor injuries. no one else was hurt. it is not clear what caused the driver to crash. >> how about this one? a lakeland family hit by burglars and the thieves took something money can't replace, righted here. the family dog, toby, a one-year-old yorkie. three young men broke into the home and the 3200 block of pebble brook boulevard. they stole electronics and they stole food and they stole toby, the family dog. >> we forgive them. if they see this, we want them to know that our family forgives them, if they have any information about the dog, we just want the dog back.

suspects believed to be 16 and 20. the nissan has been found, along with some of the property. but the crooks and the dog have not been located. call the polk county sheriffs office or crimestoppers and you could get a cash reward. >> a dui arrest fell into a deputy's lap, or crashed into the deputy's cruiser. last night, michael probst was arrested after he was suspected of driving under the influence. he was pulled over while deputies were talking to him, this guy comes along... where is he? sideswipes the deputy's cruiser, 49-year-old todd casey. casey wreaked like alcohol and had red, glassy eyes and had a bloods-alcohol of .81. he was arrested for dui and charged with property damage. that's just pretty bad timing there. >> coming up, a teacher's facebook post has parents

>> i would love for her to explain exactly why, you know, she would post something like that. >> we will tell what you that teacher wrote, along with this photo, and why it's sending shock waves through a small georgia town. >> he could be the new face of the presidential race. how the other contenders are reacting over bloomberg's possible run. >> never a dull moment. >> additionally, we are cold. warmup begins tomorrow. then wet and maybe stormy by wednesday. seven day is our cosmetics line was a hit. the orders were rushing in. i could feel our deadlines racing towards us. we didn' t need a loan. we needed short-term funding fast. building 18 homes in 4 months? that was a leap. but i knew i could rely on american express to help me buy those building materials.

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the presidential sweepstakes, michael bloomberg is said to be considering an independent run. why bloomberg thinks the time may be ripe for yet another non-traditional candidate. >> reporter: former new york city mayor michael bloomberg informally announced his first steps toward an independent bid for the presidency, hiring a consultant on ballot access and his willingness to spend $1 billion. >> bloomberg comes in -- which i would love. >> as of now, he's a private citizen who owns a big company. >> what he said is if he disnt didn't get the nomination, he might consider t. so i will relieve him of that and get the nomination. the american people do not want our nation to move toward an ollie garky with billionaires controlling the politics.

makes donald trump look impoverished. bloomberg improved the city's economy. he is an an architect of a failed assault on sugary drinks. >> you don't want to sell bloomberg short because if he gets into the race and meet the threshold needed, you can see a dramatically different election than we are looking at now. >> reporter: edrollins, who ran ross perot's campaign disagrees. >> i think this is about a different environment and it's like, who will throw hand grenades, who will go shake the system up. mike bloomberg doesn't fit. >> reporter: bloomberg himself ruled out such a campaign just a year and-a-half ago. >> are you going to run for presidents? >> no. i do not believe that a third-party candidate can win. i can tell you categorically, i am not running for president.

verse himself and siphon off enough votes so no candidate emerges with enough vote, the decision would be thrown into the hands of the house of representatives, where republicans control 33 of the 50 delegations. in washington, james rosen. >> the republican candidates are preparing for their final debate before the caucuses on thursday night at 9:00 on fox newschannel. keep it here on fox 13. our political editor, craig patrick, will bring you live coverage of that debate and the iowa caucuses. he's heading to iowa, starting on thursday. >> a texas grand jury indisieted two anti-abortion activists who secretly shot videos of planned parenthood, allegedly showing doctors discussing the sale of tissue from aborted fetuses. a houston grand jury found no wrongdoing by planned patienthood. and instead, indicted the

face felony charges of tampering with a governmental record. if convicted. >> stu:r, they face up to 20 years in prison. >> no, you need to get out. >> no, i don't. >> you need to get out. >> i actually don't. >> the woman in the video, she's an assistant professor at the university of missouri. tonight she is charged with misdemeanor assault because of what you saw there. this is from november. a group of student journalists were protesting what they layuped were indifference to racial injustice. melissa click, the professor there, confronted a student photographer and video gaffer and called for help to remove them from the area. now she's been charged with a misdemeanor for that. ironic that her last name was click and she was harassing a photographer. >> nice connection there. >> that's it. >> that whole thing miss me. i glad you are here.

what we can expect. >> another cool night. not as cold as it was. now, wednesday and thursday, could be a severe weather. we go from frost to tropical weather. you need a scorecard. here's a couple of great photos. this one came in late. this is not a bad place to be. on the deck of world caribbean's brilliance of the sea, heading out into the gulf for a five-day cruise. not up on everyone's itinerary. nice job, matt leach on the deck of brillian of the seas. up the bay, have you this. the pirate ship. this is jose gasparilla, getting ready for the invasion on saturday, all lit up. looks good. weather on saturday should be fine. but between now and then, we got some weather to deal with in the form of showers and thundershowers and probably a day, maybe a day and-a-half of

there could be at some point, a severe weather threat with the fast jet stream energy, blowing overhead. in the short term, we are okay. there will be areas of fog developing late tonight. you can see the surge of tropical moisture on the water vapor imagery. all the red indicates dry air that gave us the crystal clear sky on sunday. not a cloud in the sky. this morning, dawned all clear, late in the day, high cirrus and contrails, indicating the moisture is coming back and the jet stream means changes on the way. a narrow ribbon of rain in louisiana, more rain on the texas coast. it is a little bit now and tell expand and head our way and the rain on the warm front coming up from the south. so right now, it is cool, 45 in brooksville. 57 in tampa. 54 in wachulla. 58 in st. pete.

than at 11:00. dwelve in brooksville. 14, tampa. all big, positive numbers that will continue tomorrow. tonight, we are partly cloudy, high pressure moves off the coast. all winds turn to the southeast and we watch for this front and another front. they will both head our way and with that, increased aims of moisture. i will tell you the confidence level is high. we will see a wet spell, wednesday into thursday. tonight, cool, 40s and 50s and tomorrow, we jump into the low 70s. tomorrow's a nice day to be outside. sunshine and high clouds. we watch the front. gradually heads our way, minimal impact tomorrow. warm front comes up by wednesday morning, could produce a band of rain and storms and the cold front heads our way. that gets stuckw near us with more rain t. could last for a time.

atlantic and and we turn dryer and cooler and nice for the weekend. dry air over us now, really replaced by tropical moisture from the south. the cold front goes by. here comes the dry air from the west and northwest. the weekend, as i mentioned, looks pretty good. we will keep you posted. that's not until early on wednesday. tonight, mostly moonlit with patchy fog, down to 50. tomorrow, not a bad day. increasing high clouds and mild. in the low 70s. coming up on wednesday, showers and thundershowers, some could be strong. another day, on thursday. all of that mess goes out to sea. then thursday, late thursday, friday and the weekend looks good. sunshine, mid 60s by gasparilla saturday. >> the mess goes out to sea, the pirate ships come in. coming up next, a teacher's facebook post that makes its

the photo of a pregnant doll

if tha >> all new at 11:00, it's a photo, sending shock waves. a pre-kindergarten teacher posted this. a pregnant barbie doll with the caption, limited edition section 8 barbie. many parents who saw that post are outraged. and as cole heath tells us, the teacher is now under investigation. >> jaw disrespecting. i really just -- i am -- i am a loss for words. >> heather's two kids are not in pre-k teacher's class, but they go here. she know what is this teacher here is accused of posting online. >> i would love for her to explain exactly why, you know, she would post something like that.

teacher posted these teachers of a blond barbie with the people saying, limited edition section 8 barbie, for low-income housing and theb there is this picture with the same doll. this time with two kids that look african-american and the captions, now able to purchase with ebt and this asterisk saying three baby daddies sold separately. she said, if you worked where i would do, you would totally find this hysterical. the poverty rate near the pre-k center is 14 to 29 percent. on her school's web site, it says she is the pre-k lead teacher. when you see this social media post, what goes through your mind? >> i think it's terrible. it's horrible. >> reporter: i reached out to the teacher and did not get a call back. a school spokesperson said sent this statement saying, we are aware of the situation. this is a personnel matter and

at this point. that was cole heath. >> he reached out to the school district to see if the teacher will face disciplinary action. at this point, the district has not responded. >> it's cold inside. john cooper in practice. >> you know why i can't speak in because my face is frozen. >> reporter: he's trying to

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