here's abc's clayton sandell. >> reporter: luis archuletta, a fugitive decades on the run, is back in an ex-cop who never quit. >> i made him a project. i've been tracking this guy for 46 years. >> reporter: in 1971, darrell sinquanto was a 21-year-old denver rookie. one morning he spots archuletta, who escaped from a prison camp. archuletta pulls a gun. >> he leveled that gun and shot me. we didn't have bullet-proof vests. we didn't have radios that came out of the car. >> reporter: archuletta was eventually caught but escaped again. he dug with no luck until a call from a confidential source. >> this person says, i'm going to tell you where your call was. >> reporter: he alerted fbi and police, and yesterday, archuletta, now 77, was arrested at a home in new mexico. >> it's very satisfying that i got him. i have bragging rights that i did get him. >> reporter: archuletta will be extradited back to colorado. cinquanta says he never gave up, because he took getting shot personally. clayton sandell, abc news, denver. >> clayton, thank you. >>> an arkansas woman may spend the rest of he

but by july, she was tapped out, showing our clayton sandell the eviction notice from her landlord. > what are you going to do? >> i don't know. >> hale is one of millions of americans part of a growing wave of evictions that experts warn is about to come crashing down. >> the united states is facing the most severe housing crisis our country has ever seen. approximately 30 million to 40 million children and adults are facing evictions right now. >> evictions can have far-reaching effects impacting beyond your address. >> it affects your credit, your ability to buy a home. it's linked to health ailments, including depression and traumatizing for children who are set back academically. >> for trish, time is ticking and the questions from daughter khaliah keep coming. >> one day she said mommy, is it going to take very long for you to get up on your feet? it was just, we made a joke of it and i explained hopefully not much longer. >> thanks to a gofundme, she's getting a little help from strangers. >> when they leave their message that, you know, you're a good mom, and you're doing your

evacu abc's clayton sandell from the . >> reporter: tonight, homes y engulfed in flames. more families forced to flee as the lightning-stoked fires across california take more lives. power company pg&e reporting today that one of their workers helping fire crews fight the blazes was found unconscious in his vehicle and later died. the death comes after chopper pilot michael fournier died fighting a different fire, his helicopter crashed in fresno county yesterday. the lnu lightning complex fire has scorched over 130,000 acres in just two days, an area four times the size of san francisco, and forced more than 20,000 from their homes. some like scott kirshner staying to fight. >> just trying to save the house. my father-in-law's house is down there. i'm headed there next. >> reporter: we met lynn boro at a roadblock. she evacuated in a hurry and forgot her insulin. >> i had to decide what to pack on very short notice. >> reporter: after a two-hour wait they finally let her back home, but just for a few minutes. >> i'm very thankful they let us come in. >> reporter: st. hel

abc's clayton sandell on the fire lines again tonight. >> reporter: tonight, hundreds of wildfires are raging in california. 12,000 firefighters in a desperate battle they can't seem to win. >> some of these fires were allowed to smoulder because, frankly, we didn't have the resources to get out there and put eyes on them. rorter: t fateaeople. more than 500 structures destroyed, thousands more threatened. jessica adams and her children fleeing with no time to spare. >> we literally ran out with, like, no shoes. i remember my older daughter said, mommy, she's like, i don't even have shoes on. >> reporter: flames charred 1,200 square miles, roughly the size of rhode island. more than 100,000 people are evacuated. >> we want you to leave when you've been ordered to evacuate. >> reporter: but some are ignoring that, and with a shortage of firefighting resources, some civilians forming amateur fire brigades, armed with their own hoses and chainsaws desperately trying to save neighbors' homes. johnny white believes residents are on their own. his bulldozers today were busy cutting fire brea

here's clayton sandell from the fire zone tonight. >> reporter: tonight, parts of the golden state now a fiery explosion of red, orange, and black. thousands ordered to evacuate in darkness. families racing to escape flames pushed by heat and wind. >> up and down this street there's quite a few homes and structures that are burning right now. >> reporter: near vacaville, a city of 100,000 northeast of san francisco, multiple fires are tearing through communities. more than 46,000 acres scorched. the traffic on fire radios painting a grim picture of injuries and a losing battle. >> code three ambulance for bur. >> reporter: these wildfires are moving incredibly fast, turning this entire mobile home park into an apocalyptic wasteland. many got out with just seconds to spare. >> it was like the entire wall of the forest was just coming at us down the road. it was so scary. >> reporter: how much time did you have? >> 30 seconds. i looked up and the back of my house was on fire. >> reporter: judy vollmer and marcia ritz and have been neighbors for 13 years. both their homes are gone. >> i l

here's abc's clayton sandell. >> reporter: tonight, luis archuleta, a fugitive decades on the run, is back in custody, thanks to an ex-cop who never quit. >> i made him a project. i mean, i've been tracking this guy for 46 years. >> reporter: in 1971, daril cinquanta was a he spots archuleta, who had recently escaped from a prison camp. archuleta pulls a gun. >> he leveled that gun and shot me. back then, we didn't have bulletproof vests. we didn't have radios that came out of the car. so i had to crawl to the car, get in and call for help. >> reporter: archuleta was eventually caught, but escaped again. confidential sourc >> this person says, i'm going to tell you where your guy is. >> reporter: cinquanta alerted the fbi and police and yesterday, archuleta, now 77, was arrested at a home in new mexico. >> it's very satisfying that i got him and i got bragging rights that i did get him. >> reporter: cinquanta says he never gave up because he took getting shot personally. tom? >> makes a lot of sense. all right, clayton, thank you for that. >>> when we come back, the deadline for nfl p

here's clayton sandell. p. >> reporter: continue, confusion and questions about why police in aurora, kro, approached a black family in their car, handcuffing several children on the pavement.>> i want to get u! >> reporter: police say a license plate scanner alerted them that brittney gilliam's car was stolen. she tells kusa-tv she was with her sister, 6-year-old daughter and teenage nieces when officers rolled up. >> that's police brutality. i don't give a damn what nobody say. that's police brutality. >> reporter: but the department now says gilliam's license plate had the same number as the real stolen vehicle, but that was a motorcycle from another state. >> the mistake is that the officer was going off of what dispatch told them, it was confirmed. so, he was acting in good faith that that was confirmed. >> reporter: the department is under fire for several high profile cases. three officers were fired and one quit last month after posting for pictures making fun of the childhold used on elijah mcclain.

here's clayton sandell. >> reporter: tonight in chicago, new video of a face-off between black lives matter protesters and police. >> this group changed their appearance, and began pushing our officers, and eventually assaulting them. >> reporter: police say one officer was hit repeatedly with a skateboard. 24 people were arrested. chicago authorities say peaceful protests are being hijacked. >> we are absolutely not going to tolerate people who come to these protests looking for a fight and are intending to injure our police officers. >> reporter: in michigan, fist-fights and violence as members of the proud boys, labeled a hate group by the southern poverty law center, were confronted by anti-racism protesters. a black reporter was knocked to the ground. >> i'm being arrested. i'm being arrested now. >> reporter: the charge of impeding traffic was dropped. and in portland, police declaring a riot, saying protesters were throwing rocks and glass bottles. tom, protesters around the country say they will keep going strong until lawmakers come up with sweeping changes to the criminal j

clayton sandell is in napa county with the latest this morning. morning, clayton. >> reporter: hey, good morning to you, michael. one of the many wildfires here came roaring through napa county overnight. you can see this garage building here behind me destroyed. a van parked inside or what used to be a van. the good news is that the house down the hill here was saved, but not by professional firefighters. it was saved by civilians who are fighting to save their community. this morning, california is fighting a losing battle as destructive and deadly new fires ignite all over the state. >> we are still sitting at zero percent containment. >> reporter: around the clock crews are battling massive flames that have already destroyed at least 175 homes, threatening 50,000 more. >> this is huge. this is almost unprecedented. >> reporter: authorities say at least six people have died and two are missing. across california, there are simply too many fires and not enough firefighters. >> some of these fires were allowed to smolder because, frankly, we didn

back to clayton sandell who is in the fire zone for us in solano county with the very latest. elling us that just one of the four groups of wildfires tripled in size here in just one day, destroying more than 100 homes, threatening 25,000 more. this morning, mountainsides now massive embers burning in california as wildfires ravage the golden state forcing thousands to evacuate in the dead of night. >> time to go. >> reporter: families struggling to get out through thick plumes of smoke creating the worst air quality in the world blanketing the bay area. thousands waking up to devastating scenes like this. 2,000 homes at napa at risk as a fire scorches more than 46,000 acres. >> we can see flames coming off it creating these fire whirls behind me here. many residents barely making it out. >> it was like the entire wall of the forest was just coming at us down the road. >> reporter: in santa cruz more than 20,000 people evacuated. officials say that dozens of raging fires are burning into each other creating what they call complexes. there are now four of these complexes burning

abc's clayton sandell is in sonoma county where homes are destroyed and air quality is now a concern. good morning to you, clayton. >> reporter: good morning to you, eva. this morning help is finally starting to arrive here. more firefighters, more equipment coming from ten different states but the governor here says it's still not enough. this morning, huge stretches of the golden state are scorched black. >> i left with my clothes, two guitars and the dog. >> reporter: a week-long firefight that's already claimed >>s ksaying this is goin the largest wildfires california has ever faced. >> there's been 20 epic wildfires in the state of california. >> reporter: new satellite images show the dense, unhealthy smoke from space. heat sensing images reveal long fire lines and massive hot spots. the flames showing no sign of slowing down. this is one of the biggest worries for firefighters. when the winds kick up, so do the flames, and it is burning in dense forests. these trees are hundreds of feet tall. in just one week, staggering numbers. nearly 12,000 lightning strikes, 560 new fires,

clayton sandell has that story for us. >> reporter: the sounds of children handcuffed face down on thening, prompting a new investigation after aurora, colorado police mistakenly believed they found a stolen car driven by brittany gilliam. >> to hear four kids scream my name like that is the most heartbreaking thing ever. >> reporter: she said without warning officers pointed guns at her, her 6-year-old daughter, 12-year-old sister and two teenage nieces. >> we're not the criminals here. i can understand if you just drew your gun at me as the adult here and said, listen, ma'am, i'm going to draw my gun at you, because you're more likely to be the person that probably stole the vehicle, but the way you did your job with the kids. >> reporter: here's how police explain the mixup. in aurora automated license plate riders at intersections check for stolen cars. on sunday the system alerted dispatchers that her car was stolen but in reality her car shares a license plate number with the real stolen vehicle, a motorcycle from montana. >> the mistake is that the officer was going off what dis

clayton sandell, abc news, denver. >>> a search for a missing united airlines executive moves in to the tenth day today. senior vice president was last seen in a chicago suburb august 6th. the 49-year-old was reported missing two days later. detectives found his car in a forest preserve where he was known to go running. police say he has not made contact with his family or friends. >>> overseas opposition leaders from belarus calling for a general strike today. tens of thousands taking to the straights on sunday, following the widely disputed re-election of the president, also known as europe's last dictator. >> reporter: belarus taking a stand. hundreds of thousands of people demanding the pro-russian president in power for 26 years step down. europe has not seen anything like this since the fall of the berlin wall. >> reporter: this is a place that even just a few days ago people were afraid to gather in even small groups and now, it's a river of people behind me. >> reporter: dozens of protesters have given details of beatings and torture at the hands of state security. that has not

new wildfires stocorching more than 30,000 acres and clayton sandell has the very latest. >> reporterile homes. this morning it looks like an apocalypse as these fires continue their ferocious spread. this morning the inferno is growing in northern california, covering over 10,000 acres. 22,000 residents forced to evacuate as the blaze heads south. the golden state still fighting against a surge in coronavirus cases, now evacuees being forced to gather. >> i got the alert and then it said -- >> we never got a formal evacuation alert. we left prior to that. >> reporter: marcia rits came back to napa county overnight to finderomof 13 years ne >>h, my god. my house was so nice. >> reporter: officials say many of these fires were started by lightning strikes, now burning structures. >> we can confirm that there are structures that have been destroyed in this fire. we don't know that number yet and that's going to be an ongoing count. a damage inspection team has to actually assess what the damage has been. >> reporter: firefighters are going to have another tough day. the temperatures her