fox 5's bob barnard is live in woodbridge with the story. reporter: this happened late saturday night, early sunday morning about the time santa was making his rounds. some bank bandits were busy right here right behind that wall there to the right of the atms construction crews spending much of the day repairing a big hole in the interior wall. that separates a vacant business to the right from this bank here. that's how the robbers got to the backs of those two atms to steal a large amount of money. bank security officers spent much of the night telling customers this branch of the navy federal credit union was closed. the sign on the door blamed it on communication problems, but prince william county police say sometime between christmas eve night and early christmas afternoon what was likely a team of bank robbers stole all the money from navy federal's twin atms. first breaking in through the backdoor of a vacant store next- door, then blasting a hole into the wall adjacent to the bank. once inside they tore open the atms and stole all

fox 5's bob barnard has been looking into this. >> we thought this was going to be one of those often told stories about people pulling together to gather up goodies to send to our soldiers overseas. instead we found a military family turning their sadness into action and exposing some cold hard truths about life for some of our troops in afghanistan. at the manassas office of keller williams real estate the mother, sister and girl friend of a northern virginia soldier killed in afghanistan three months ago are collecting christmas donations. they'll be sending them to doug green's platoon still in the war zone. >> when we created the douglas green foundation, we knew that he, of course, always wanted to serve and we knew that we wanted to continue his legacy and it's with soldiers. >> reporter: but not just with stocking soldiers. they say some of our troops are begging for blankets and food. >> it's heartbreaking to know these guys are freezing and they're hungry and they don't do anything about, it so we are. >> reporter: doug green was stationed at an isolated outpost working 16-h

we start with bob barnard live down in blacksburg. >> reporter: deriek crouse was a four-year veteran of the police department here. he was ambushed shot dead in his police car in a parking lot not far from this football stadium here. now the shooting sparked several hours of terrifying moments here because about a half hour after the police officer was shot there were reports that a second person had been found shot dead in another parking lot about a 1/4- mile from where the officer was shot. alerts went out. the campus went on lockdown. it turned out that that second person according to officials about four hours later explaining that that was the gunman himself who apparently shot himself. the weapon recovered. this all started with a traffic stop on campus. police later tell us the gunman was not the driver who had been pulled over. >> shortly before 12:30 p.m. virginia tech police received its first call advising that they had witnessed a subject approach the officer and fire a weapon at the officer and then leave the scene. >> they opened his car door and when they opened it, h

an alumni will mentor a student and they have this program, take a barnard student to work and what'sfrom their suitable suits closet for your interview. >> that's a great program and the importance of networking and internships cannot be overstated in this case. let's talk about job sectors and salaries and where some of the hot spots are right now for jobs. >> right, well according to the national association of colleges and employers, january 2012 salary survey, they're reporting that the top industries for job placement are hospitals, elementary and secondary schools, justice, retail, computer systems design and actually the highest salaries are going to graduates in computer science, engineering, business, and health sciences, and in terms of colleges, actually, the highest starting salaries are coming from mit, cal tech, loma linda, molloy and harvey mudd. those start between $60,000 and $70,000 for a starting median salary and that's really high. >> the average salary overall is up year over year. >> it is. they're reporting, nace is reporting for the class of 2011, graduates,

fox 5's bob barnard has reaction. >> i think he's entitled to be innocent until he's proven guilty. >bout it. i don't know anything more. >> reporter: we caught up with a number of harry thomas' fellow d.c. council members in the hallways of the wilson building. are you still calling for his resignation? >> base on the previous -- what happened with the 300,000 -- based on the previous -- what happened with the 300,000 on the attorney general, yes, but in terms of this i don't have any new information and i have no comment at this time. >> clearly a serious situation. i think there's been a lot of angst in this building that the u.s. attorney proceed with investigation. i'm hopeful that we will get to a closure quickly. >> and there is sternly a time where his effectiveness, you know -- certainly a time where his effectiveness, you know, under this type of barrage becomes questionable, but that's a decision for him to make. >> reporter: thomas' office was open but quiet today. he was briefly at the wilson building yesterday clearly under fire from more than a few in the community. >>

fox 5's bob barnard has more. >> reporter: at the manassas office of keller williams real estate, theother, sister and girlfriend of a northern virginia soldier killed in afghanistan three months ago are collecting christmas donations. they will be sending them to doug green's platoon still in the war zone. >> when we created the douglas j. green foundation, we knew that he, of course, always wanted to serve and we knew that we wanted to continue his legacy and start helping the soldiers. >> reporter: but not just with stocking stuffers. they say some of our troops are begging for blankets and food. >> it is just heart-breaking to know that these guys are freezing and hungry and no one is doing anything about it so we are. >> reporter: doug green was stationed at an isolated outpost working 16-hour days, often eating just one mre a day. he was the unit's communications chief, able to skype with his girlfriend alicia swanstrom. >> seeing that look in his eyes was a game changer for me. seeing him eat a tuna packet and that is all he had. that just broke my heart. after doug died, i ado

fox 5's bob barnard has the story. reporter: district officials say the streets of washington are much safer now with the homicide rate the lowest in nearly 50 years of 108 murders this year compared to 132 in 2010. >> there's a lot who have been touch by this, 108. reporter: step inside mother virginia flowers on georgia avenue and you'll find owner bob schaefer who says he could care less about crime stats. >> it's totally turned my life upside down in. my life i never would have imagined anything could be so painful. reporter: schaffer's partner of five years, aerospace engineer garaff gopala was beaten to death on the sidewalk in front of their home in columbia heights in september, a murder that remains unsolved tonight. >> i know it's probably a difficult kerik but i pray and pray all the time -- case, but i pray and pray all the time that they'll find somebody, that somebody will come forward and say they did it. i pray to god all the time that the suspect will be find. reporter: the victim's many friends and qu

fox 5's bob barnard with the story. >>> at the manassas office of keller williams real estate, the m girlfriend ever a northern virginia soldier killed in afghanistan three months ago are collecting christmas donations. they will be sending them to doug grown's platoon still in the war zone. >> when we created the douglas j. green foundation, we knew that he, of course, always wanted to serve and we knew into we wanted to continue his legacy and start helping the soldiers. >> not just with stocking stuffers. they say some of our troops are begging for blankets and food. >> it is heart breaking to know these guys are freezing and hungry. >> reporter: doug green was stationed at an isolated outpost working 16-hour days often eating just one mre a day. of his the communication chief able to skype with his girlfriend. >> seeing that look in his eyes was a game changer for me. seeing him seat a tuna packet and that is all he had. that just broke my heart. so after doug died, i adopted a soldier because i really -- i realized there are other guys out there who are enduring the same situati

thank you very much, bob barnard. this is not the end of this one. thank you. >>> the occupy d.c. protestors are getting support from a hall of famer. take a listen. ♪[ music ] [ singing ] >> in case don't recognize him, it's jackson brown. he performed at freedom plaza to thank the protestors for standing up for principles he believes in. today's peaceful concert is in direct contrast to sunday when police arrested 31 protestors, when they refused to take down a wooden building. >>> the search for a missing wsoc worker resumed in montgomery county today. the 35-year-old charles ducket disappeared at the tridelphia reservoir on in brookville on friday and went out to retrieve a dead deer and his boat returned with the deer inside. ducket was not there. the crews were searching the areaness is friday night. >> meanwhile, a -- the crews were searching the area since friday night. >> and they don't know why a woman stopped her car to get out. the accident happened at 1:30 this afternoon, shut down eastbound route 7 at spring hill road and no word whether the driver of the truck will

fox 5's bob barnard has an update. >> reporter: they were collecting items donated to a manassas realm to send to our troops for christmas. the mother, sister and girlfriend of army specialist doug green telling us soldiers in green's platoon, still in afghanistan, sometimes at distant outposts want more than just stocking stuffers but blankets and food. >> four week before he died, he was skypeing me saying that he was having one mre a day which is those little freeze dried meals and everything else was the things that we packaged in the boxes. he was hungry daily. but he didn't really want me to tell anybody about it because he was afraid there could be a backlash or he just wanted to suck it up. >> reporter: but green's family and friend say they wouldn't. they couldn't ignore it any longer. now filling the wishes troops outside green's unit turning to a web site called any soldier.com. >> by adopting a soldier at any soldier.kopp -- >> the site matching troops in the field with donors back home. more than a few begging for blankets. >> anded guy who i adopt, he is like i'm freezin

today, we asked bob barnard to look closer at the decade's old issue. >> reporter: this is as close as can you get to chime pans we have around here. the maryland zoo -- chimpanzees here. the maryland zoo in paul mer. >> scary and fascinating at the same time. >> and this is moment to 11 chimps. joyce is the oldest at 40 and she and bunny, age 21, are also retired. they spent their youth in government-sponsored research projects. >> prior to coming here, one of them was involved in a behavioral research study. i didn't see any harm in that, but it's definitely something that is a fine line to walk. >> reporter: mike mcclure is the general curator at the zoo and said they're intelligent, like us. >> and in a lot of ways, they problem solve like we do, and build relationships like we do. >> reporter: he said nearly 1,000 chimps are being used in research projects across the country, used to test vaccines, to see how they react to certain diseases like hepatitis c and in hiv research. >> and the date was january 31st, 1961. >> this is the first space hero and 50 years later, the governmen

in the newsroom, bob barnard, fox 5 news. >> thank you. >>> coming up next, a major cost cutting planffice could impact how quickly your mail is delivered. >> as we go to break, holiday wishes from a member of our military stations overseas. ove >> hello. welcome to beautiful bagram, afghanistan. i am christopher reed. want to say hello to my beautiful wife michelle and my son rider. don't let them bully at school, okay, rider? be good and study hard. [ femalele announcer ] at verizonfios.com, you can choose your channel package. ♪ you can choose your own internet speeds. ♪ you can even choose to chat with a live person. ♪ now you can choose to save $35 a month for fios tv, internet and phone for just $79.99 a month, plus get a $300 verizon visa prepaid card with a 2 year agreement. but hurry, offer ends soon only at verizonfios.com. contact the verizon center for customers with disabilities at 800-974-6006 tty/v. >>> changes at the post office. >> part of a cost cutting plan. melanie alnwick reports. >> reporter: getting packages and letters delivered in a matter of days is a serv

bob barnard is i've with the latest. bob. -- is live with the latest. bob. >> reporter: it was a passionate discussion about ethics reform here in the city and for good reason. it's been a rough year for elected officials here in the district of columbia. it's the first we have seen of council member harry thomas this week. >> i can't -- you know my lawyers give you a comment. >> reporter: he's heading into a hearing of the full city council meeting to bait new ethics legislation -- debate new ethics legislation for officials. four days after the fbi raided thomas' home this northeast. >> the focus is to have a framework and penalties in place to deter crime. >> events over the past year called into question the ethical judgements of our elected government. >> reporter: as the ethics reform bill was being introduced this afternoon, thomas sat stone faced. four seats away, the couple chairman kwame brown, under fire this year for lavish spending on a luxury car paid for by taxpayers. >> we need to have a strong ethics bill. >> reporter: marion barry's br

. >> fox 5's bob barnard is working this developing story. >> it's the first anybody has claimed responsibility for warren weinstein's kidnapping taken by a group of armed men in august from his home in pakistan, dr. weinstein hasn't been seen or heard from since and despite his claims today al- qaeda showed no proof he's still alive. the kidnapping a world away is not forgotten in rockville where a giant yellow ribbon is tied around a tree in the front yard of the weinstein home on brad drive. dr. warren weinstein, a 70-year- old development contractor, was kidnapped from his fortified home in lahore pakistan four months ago. in this just released video osama bin laden bin's long time deputy claims al-qaeda has custody of dr. weinstein and will bargain for his release. >> it's terrible for anyone to be used like that. reporter: ed wagner is the weinstein's next-door neighbor and long time friend. >> i'm glad that we know something, that he's alive. we didn't know anything. i know his wife has got to be glad he's still alive because she hasn't heard anything. reporter: we briefly spoke to mrs.

in the newsroom, bob barnard, fox 5 news. >>> some area students are making a sacrifice.p next, this is not your typical visit to barbershop. this is to help a teacher. >>> first, another holiday greeting from our troops. >> hi. i'm master sergeant ramona. gant serving in cab utah, afghanistan. want to send a special holiday greeting to my mom, don, crystal, erica, rachel in salisbury, maryland. i want to tell you i love you. happy holidays. i'll be home soon.  >>> some bethesda students are showing they can make the cut literally. each student getting almost a foot of hair chopped off. >> it is in honor of a teacher fighting cancer. maureen umeh has the story. >> reporter: it is not just a day of styling for these girls at bella bethesda sal son. >> are you guys scared? >> no. >> reporter: every brush, bundle and snip is making a difference. >> the whole class as they were cutting my hair, i was thinking about ms. truax the whole time. >> kate truax is the girls' beloved teacher. >> she is more like a teacher. she is a best friend who could you go to for hel

fox 5 bob barnard is live on the scene. reporter: this thing may be wrapping up. we've just seen police pull off some crime scene tape. behind me is the lobbies of two towers. these are 26-story buildings, the skyline plaza apartments on george mason drive at route section in the alexandria section of fairfax county. you're seeing in the lobby there are dozens of people in there who have been out of their homes since 4:15 tonight. you can see the s.w.a.t. team here. an officer walking by a moment ago said this should be over soon. i'm getting the sense this may, in fact, be over. you'll look to the right here. this is the south tower of the kline plaza apartments on the eighth -- skyline plaza apparentlies and it's on the eighth floor that they had their -- apartments and it's at eighth floor that they had an incident this evening. the report of a man with the gun in his apartment on the eighth floor. his apartment faces away to the alexandria community camp us where it was on lockdown and they canceled evening classes and many dozens of people in this sky high ri

bob barnard has the story. >> reporter: it is the first we've seen of councilmember harry thomas thisu know my lawyers will give you a comment. i can't have a comment. >> reporter: he is heading into the meeting of the full city council meeting to debate new ethics legislation four days after the fbi raided thomas' home in northeast. >> events over this past year has called into question the ethical judgements of our elected government. >> reporter: as the ethics reform bill was being introduced, thomas sat tone faced. four seats away, kwame brown under fire earlier this year for lavish spending on a luxury car paid for by taxpayers. >> we need to have a strong ethics bill. >> marion barry's brushes with the law are well documented. d.c. mayor vincent gray is all the subject of a federal investigation into his campaign tactics. >> the bill before us is intend tiebd response to show the public that we get the gravity of losing their confidence. >> reporter: councilmember tommy wells urged his colleagues to crack down on the fping of campaigns. >> every corporate donation has a string a

. >> reporter: bob barnard, fox 5 news. >>> two doctors in maryland were charged with murder after the police say they performed abortions as late as 36 weeks. dr. steven brigham from new jersey and dr. nikola riley from utah allegedly came to perform the procedures. police began their investigation after two of their patients ended up in a hospital. they say they found the remains of dozens of fetusus inside the clipping. both doctors are charged with first- and second-degree murder. >>> in in virginia, abortion clinics are getting ready to face tough new regulations. some will have to meet the same strict building standards as hospital construction. some say it could put them out of business. the execute of director of narrow pro-choice virginia joined us in the last hour to discuss the issue. >> and this has nothing to do with women's health and safety. it has everything to do with politics and certain legislator not approving of abortion care. >> governor mechanic approved the regulations yesterday after the state board of health approved them earlier this year. >>> the washington

. >>> all right, the windy week behind us, let's talk to barnard. >>> yeah, the weekics coming back,ot out of the wind yet, we'll see it develop here tonight into tomorrow. we saw a cold start to the day here today with temperatures in the mid-to low 30 for most bay area locations. patchy frost out there as well. we'll be slightly warmer tonight, above the freezing mark for most locations as we look for upper 30, low 40, except across the santa clara valley and down around salinas, they will have a patchy frost advisory. we'll see the warming tonight across the greater bay area, and again we're looking for the wind advisory up before the early morning hours here, as we continue clear, breezy, slightly warmer tonight. wind advisory to come, a weather watch in the high country. over the north bail bay hills as well. we'll continue with the dry, mild week here as there is still no rain in sight on horizon. first thing in the morning, mostly sunny and windy. across the north bay, into the east bay valley as well. temperatures in the upper 30, but generally a few degrees warmer than today

in the newsroom, bob barnard, fox 5 news. >>> coming up here on the news edge, no electronic devices during takeoff, except for the pilots. why a few ipads could save millions in fuel costs every year. later, we're checking out the viral videos with a funny take on actors casting calls when we take the edge off. >>> american airlines pilots will be allowed to use ipods in the cockpit. federal aviation administration is give the airline permission to use the ipad starting friday. it ran rigorous tests to make sure there would be no interference from the electronics. passengers will be required to power theirs off. replacing heavy paper manuals that can weigh up to 40-pounds could save the carrier up to 500,000 pounds of fuel a year. >>> some changes at a congested intersection. plus a disturbing trend among teens. your fox 5 top 5. >> we begin tan alarming study about teenagers and pot. number 5, a new study shows they don't see smoking marijuana as a risk. the national institute of drug use surveyed 47,000 10th graders. smoking pot on a daily or near daily basis. that's the highest r

fox 5's bob barnard following this one now. >> it's only a recommendation from the national transportation safety board. they're the ones who investigate airline crashes, but tonight the board's chairman says too many of us are texting and driving and causing accidents and it's got to stop. so what about it? will we soon find ourselves faced about laws banning the use of cell phones in cars altogether? that's what the ntsb would like to see. >> cell phone use and texting, it's just so pervasive in our society. if people really are almost addicted to these devices and so just like drunk driving or smoking, it's going to take time for people to recognize the dangers and also how to curb those risky behaviors. so we need the laws. we need education and we need enforcement. reporter: maryland, virginia, 33 other states and the district of columbia already banned the use of hand-held devices behind the wheel. >> let's be clear. d.c. was one of the first jurisdictions to do this in the nation. at that time it seemed like a very radical act, but i think at this point there is substantial evidence

fox 5's bob barnard still live at the scene has the very latest now. bob, what do you know? reporter: it ended at 10:00 at the skyline plaza apartments. it's a 26-story building. this person was on the eighth floor and we're toll just before 10:00 fairfax county police were watching from a distance and this happened on the other side of the building. they watched this man as he climbed from his eighth floor balcony down to the apartment below where police were waiting and grabbed him. he was unarmed and we can show you videotape now. they handcuffed him, put him on a stretcher. he was in this ambulance leaving to go get evaluated. you'll see in a moment here some of the people, this is the lobby of this community here. there were dozens and dozens of people cheering on the firefighters and s.w.a.t. team members with the robot that they had sent up on the elevator to the eighth floor when this thing all wrapped up. this happened in the south tower high rise apartment community around 4:15 this afternoon. the man was apparently on the phone with his counselor, made some suicid

know well now we're going to turn to another call for a boycott now this woman is and barnard she's shut down her commodities trading for if she was an independent commodities broker and she was interviewed by peter schiff she shut down her firm because of the m.f. global fraud but here's a clip where she's calling for the boycott of the entire financial system in particular because the bankruptcy judge and the fed apparently allowed. road for this bankruptcy to proceed as if m.f. global were securities firm rather than a futurist firm peter schiff asked her well what's the difference i have to explain the search what that means is is that in a security firm bankruptcy the debtors or the creditors of the company go to the front of the line and the customers go to the end of the line in a commodity brokerage bankruptcy the customers needless to say go to the front of the line and that cuomo has less than four hundred security council and i believe they had more than forty thousand futures accounts so this was willful that up to you screw the customers and put specifically j.p. morgan at t

bob barnard is live outside the verizon center with more. >> hey, there, more reason. tip off is in 90 minutes. the story of the night is what is going on here in the chinatown area. let's take you inside one of the restaurants on 7th street where the restaurateurs tell us they are getting ready for the home games. the next one is wednesday versus the atlanta hawks. inside the verizon center, this equals about 20 jobs a night. hard to tell how many others are specifically affected in the businesses around the verizon center but the game nights are important. they told us early on during the lockout that it would have been more crucial had the caps lost their season. they were bracing for no basketball this season but there was an agreement. businesses are looking forward to having game night again. what is important is that the wizards can pull together a winning record. that brings more fans to the arena and also to the restaurants. here is what a couple of them had to say about the nba season launch. >> hopefully it means something good. for the most part we get dece

fox 5's bob barnard is there live with that part of the story. reporter: a lot of happy faces down here along seventh street tonight, at least before the game. as it turns out, there will be only seven fewer wizards home games played this abbreviated season, not bad considering the alternative. the sidewalks and streets are buzzing, the nba is back in town. >> basketball is a big part of america. so i'm glad to have it back and we appreciate they settled the differences they had. >> wizards! wizards! reporter: fans once again heading to the verizon center and surrounding businesses. >> i'm more six than psched than you could put into words. >> let's just say we shopped, got coffee, dinner. >> we're very excited for tonight's opening game and on a monday night it wouldn't be as busy for sure in this neighborhood. reporter: selene is general manager of legal seafoods auto, cross the street from the verizon center. >> -- across the street from the verizon center. >> on a caps night we see like the sea of red in here on a caps night. it's absolutely

fox 5's bob barnard is in the newsroom following the latest developments tonight. >> there was just one car involved in the deadly crash, a nissan suv with three young women inside heading home to hyattsville from a night out partying. two were killed instantly on impact. the third, a teenager, was seriously injured. tonight the sudden and violent loss of life has many other young people struggling all to make sense of it all. reporter: they came to place they'll now never forget, a brick wall along university boulevard where their friend, 19-year-old tamara johnson, was killed in a horrific car crash 16 hours earlier. >> i just want her to know she's going to be missed. tamara, we love you and we never expected that to happen to you tonight. reporter: it was just after 3 a.m. for some reason still unknown the young women's suv went out of control and left the road smashing into a brick retaining wall outside a home in the 600 block of university boulevard east in silver spring. >> speed, alcohol, seatbelts, the lay of the road, that kind of thing, other vehicles involved, that's what i

today we asked our bob barnard to take a second look at this decades old issue. this is as close as you can get to chimpanzees around here at the maryland zoo in baltimore. >> it's like looking in a mirror. reporter: this exhibit is home to 11 chimps. louie used to be in the movies. jack also worked in hollywood. joyce is the oldest at 40. she and bunny, 21, are also retired. they spent their youth in government sponsored research projects. >> our chimps prior to coming here, at least one of them was involved in a behavioral research study. i didn't see any harm in that, but it's something that definitely is kind of a fine line to walk. reporter: mike mcclure is general curator at the zoo, says chimpanzees are very intelligent, much like us. >> in a lot of ways they problem solve like we do, build relationships like we do. reporter: right now nearly 1,000 chimps are being used in research projects across this country to test vaccines, to see how they react to certain diseases like hepatitis c and in hiv research. >> the date was january 31st, 1961. reporter: this

fox 5's bob barnard has been learning more about it, joins us live from the virginia campus down in blacksburg. bob. >> reporter: brian, officer crouse was from the nearby community of christiansburg. he was an army veteran, married, the father of five children and step children, his murder this afternoon touching off another terrifying day here at virginia tech. >> keep your heads up. we'll take care of your, promise. >> our hearts are broken -- you, promise. >> our hearts are broken again and we extend our deepest condolences. >> reporter: the university police officer shot and killed today was a four-year veteran of the department, a patrol officer ambushed during the routine traffic stop in the coliseum parking lot on campus. officials say the gunman was not the driver who was stopped by the officer. >> shortly before 12:30 p.m. virginia tech police received its first call advising that they had witnessed a subject approach the officer and fire a weapon at the officer and then leave the scene. >> reporter: university police say there were witnesses to the shootings and others who came upon

bob barnard explains. >> reporter: it was last wednesday night.get store on rockville pike in bethesda. montgomery county police say the 23-year-old suspect, andrew gerald roberts, and a woman named amber, who appears to be pregnant are entering the store immediately after carjacking a cabbie. investigators say roberts and the woman had been picked up at walter reed national military medical center in bethesda listing building 62 as their residence. building 62 is the wounded warrior barracks. according to police, the driver of this barwood taxi was allegedly kidnapped soon after pulling into the target parking lot. >> the suspect told the driver get in the passenger seat and he got -- the suspect got into the driver's seat with the other suspect -- the other person in the cab. the three of them proceeded south on rockville pike involved in a minor property damage collision with another vehicle, did not remain at the scene, turned around accounts went back to the target. >> reporter: this surveillance video was taken during the return visit to tar

fox 5's bob barnard following this one now. >> it's a bizarre story, doesn't seem to

fox 5's bob barnard is live with the story. reporter: you can see a prince william county police officer has been assigned to watch this bank. this is the branch that was robbed by what would appear to be a modern day hole in the wall gang. the bank has been closed for two days now. customers turned away from the navy federal credit union branch at ashdale plaza on dale boulevard in woodbridge. what were you coming here to do? >> deposit money. it's my checking account. reporter: what did they tell you? >> that there was a communications problem with their corporate office. reporter: that is what the sign says that's taped to the front door. >> communication problem. reporter: prince william county police tell a different story. they say sometime between christmas eve night and early christmas afternoon what was likely a team ofback bank robbers stole all the money from navy federal's twin atms. >> i'm disappointed. christmas is supposed to be the time of year of, you know, giving and i'm disappointed that that. what. reporter:

bob barnard is live at police headquarters in northwest with more. bob? >> reporter: well matt, mayor gray, police chief lanier called a news conference this afternoon to boast about the latest crime statistics, including a murder rate that is the lowest it's been in nearly 50 years. now, despite all of the violence and sadness that still visits neighborhoods across the nation's capitoltaring families a part -- tearing families a part in the process, washington insists that it's a safer place and live and visit. the end-of-the-year crime stats inside police headquarters and here are some of the numbers. according to officials, homicides were down 18% this year from 132 in 2010, to 108 this year the lowest since 1963. chief lanier said that 59% of this year's murder cases have been closed. the number of sex abuse cases, how far, has risen this year. some 15%. mostly officials say on the east side of the anacostia river. chief lanier said she's concerned about that but overall, pleased with the way the numbers are going. >> about i started here in 1990, the

bob barnard has more on their reaction to today's developments. bob. >> reporter: out in the community, shawn, there is outrage with some calling for council member thomas to resign, others saying he should go to jail. emotions more reserved among his council colleagues,y this not all expressing their full support. inside the wilson building today, the harry thomas scandal could hardly be avoided. >> clearly, it's a serious situation. i think there has been a lot of angst in this building that the u.s. attorney proceed with the investigation. i am hopeful that we will get to closure very quickly. >> well, i am sad that it's reached this point, and my feelings, i have been thinking about council member thomas and his mother and his family and how terribly impactful this really must be for them. >> are you still calling for his resignation? >> based on the previous -- what happened with the 300,000 with the attorney general yes but in terms of this, i don't have any new information. and at that this time i have no comments. >> reporter: harry thomas

fox 5's bob barnard is in the newsroom with more. >> just when you thought it was safe and lawful tonds free, comes this new campaign to ban the use of cell phones by drivers entirely. it's only a recommendation from the national transportation safety board aimed at state lawmakers across the country. in the evening commute tonight look closely and you'll see driver's texting behind the wheel, others talking on their phone. it's against the law here in the district of columbia and in 35 states, virginia and maryland included, but many of us still do it. >> i have a hands free set, but it stopped working well months ago and i've been meaning to replace it. so sometimes i just take to using the phone with my left hand. >> cell phone use and texting, it's just so pervasive in our society. if people really are almost addicted to these devices. reporter: now the federal agency that investigates plane and train crashes is recommending all 50 states and the district of columbia ban the use of cell phones entirely. >> we know that all drivers when they're talking hands held or hands free, th

council can't fire him, but as fox 5's bob barnard reports, that didn't stop them from discussing what'seting today 36789. >> reporter: we were there for the council member -- today. >> reporter: we were there for the council members' arrivals. 12 of 13 were in attendance, everybody but the subject of what became a closed door discussion. going into private session to discuss the federal case against ward 5 council member harry thomas. >> i look forward to having a conversation with council member thomas to discuss so he's clear where his colleagues are and what they feel. >> reporter: his home in northeast raided by the fbi friday, part of an investigation into the alleged misappropriation of $300,000 in d.c. government grants to charity for thomas' own private use. >> my opinion has not changed since the disclosure of the settlement last summer which in my mind is an acknowledgement of guilt. i don't care what the settlement says that this isn't an acknowledgement of guilt. no one hands over $300,000 if they're innocent. >> reporter: david catania has called on council member thomas to