reporting live in fairfax county, jackie bensen, news4. >> thanks, jackie. >>> the holidays are a time of lights, christmas trees and lots of tinsel. they can also be a time for serious household hazards. if people don't take the proper precautions. the u.s. consumer product safety commission teamed up with fire officials to show what can happen. they demonstrated how fast a house can go up in flames if a candle is unattended or if a tree is too dry. officials say trees are becoming a more common problem when they're dry as the holiday season gets longer. officials also warned of the dangers of hanging up lights and decorations. last year alone, more than 14,000 people were injured from falls related to holiday decorating. >> that looks awful. >>> did you see how bundled up jackie bensen was? our temperatures are plummeting. veronica? >> that's right. all it takes is the sun to go down this time of year. and in fact, it is going to be cold for everyone during the overnight period. meanwhile, we're talking about a little bit of a warm-up for the weekend. but we're going to have somethin

coming up tonight at 5:00, jackie bensen speaks with one of the purse-snatching victims. >>> still a lot of unanswered questions in a crash on the beltway that killed three people on christmas eve. the crash shut down the outer look for several hours. maryland state police have identified the victims as jasmine fajin and anthony belt azar. they were all passengers in a chevy malibu that lost control and collided with two pickup trucks. the driver survived, but hasn't been identified the investigators aren't ruling out anything as a cause yet and charges are still pending. >>> two of the three suspects accused of brutally beating a man this summer in eastern market appeared in court today. tommy branch and sony kuti were in superior to formally hear the charges. the third suspect michael moore waived his hearing. the suspects are accused of beating and robbing thomas mass mazlin when he was walking home. the suspects will be back in court next week. >>> former president george h.w. bush is said to be improving at a houston hospital this afternoon, even singing to his doctors and nurse

jackie bensen has more. when. >> reporter: she was hit by two cars, only one stopped to help her.tiful, fun-loving and family oriented. that's show shaneesh describes her 16-year-old sister. >> she was always smiling. laughing, making jokes. she loved all of us. but she's she was a kind person. >> reporter: a student at dun barton high school, walked out of the home and moments later was struck attempting to cross busy new york avenue at first street. police say a 2003 pontiac bonneville heading east struck her when she was in the street. she fell to the ground and was run over by a gold-colored suv that kept going. her distraught family kept vigil at her hospital bedside, but she suck culled to her injuries less than 24 hours later. her sisters and brothers go back and forth between shock and disbelief. >> she was -- >> reporter: the agony is made worse by a lack of answers about exactly what happened. >> come forward, whoever knows who did this. come forward and tell us. this is crazy. >> reporter: anyone with information about that tan or gold-colored suv seen driving -- possib

news4's jackie bensen is at a gas station in northeast where a woman may have been robbed by the tame suspects moments before the crash. >> reporter: police do believe that is the case. the woman was robs of her purse here at this bp gas station. she said something to him to the effect of justice is going to catch up with you. it did, and she was there to see it. >> i'm okay now. i just thank god he didn't hurt me. >> >> reporter: when sharon gardner saw this maxima, it was speeding away from the bb gas station, with the man who would just stolen her purse in the backseat. >> i was in between vacuuming my car out, i was going from my driver's side to my passenger side. by the time i got to the trunk of my truck, he had immediately hurried up and took my pocketbook. i had it on the floor. i had it covered up. >> reporter: someone had jotted down the tag number. gardner called the cops. while the responding officer wall street still at the scene, the radio crackled with news, the speeding nissan struck this chevrolet, barely missing a b i woman pushing a baby stroller. >> i heard this b

jackie bensen spoke to her family. >> reporter: beautiful, fun-loving and family oriented.t's show she describes her 16-year-old sister tarsha. >> she was a fun person. she liked running around, smiling, laughing, making jokes. she loved -- she loved all of us. she was a kind person. >> reporter: a student at dunbar high school walked out of her family's northwest d.c. home friday evening. moments later she was struck attempting to cross busy new york avenue at first street. please say a 2003 pontiac bonneville struck tarsha who was in the street by just outside the crosswalk. her distraught family kept vigil at her hospital bedside, but she suck coupled to her injuries less than 24 hours later. her sisters and brokerage go. >> the agotten is made worse by a lack of answers about exactly what happened. >> come forward, whoever knew, who did this to my sister, come forward and tell us. because this is just crazy. >> reporter: her mother is now in the position of having to find strength and unfortunately trying to find money for bury her youngest child. in northwest washingto

jackie bensen, news4. >> dietz is looking for $750,000 for the claims that he says have cost him a lot of business. >>> maryland casinos cashed in more than $43 million last month. the state's lottery and gaming control agency says most of that money from maryland and anne arundel county. it opened in june and made more than $34 million last month alone. total revenue from the state's other casinos was down compared to year. maryland voters did pass question 7 in november. that paved the way for table games next year and a new casino in prince george's county to be opened in 2016. >>> coming up tonight, a warning for parents about a recliner for newborns, and the deadly consequences. >>> a major development in the battle against breast cancer and a certain drug. >>> yeah, we're going to tell you how dogs are said to be, anyhow, learning to drive. >>> veronica? >> serious as we get cold again tonight. take a look at the forecast for maryland overnight. 46 to 38 already before midnight. down to 30 by tomorrow morning. down to 30 by tomorrow morning. from coats to um brbrellaumbr ♪ ♪ no t

jackie bensen just got to the scene and she's live there. jackie, what's the latest? >> reporter: it was a frightening scene here. i'll show you what it looks like as the police are having the metro bus that the stolen car hit, head-on, removed from the area. this is a residential area. there were people walking around. we're told that that car, that nissan, came through here at a very high rate of speed just before 10:00 today, barely missed a lady who have been pushing her baby in a stroller. the woman had to swerve out of the way to avoid it. we're told by prince george's county police that the nissan maxima was stolen earlier today from the landover area and was seen in committing several auto thefts. the police saw it. they attempted to stop it. the vehicle didn't stop. at another point, another officer saw the vehicle. it did not stop. and at that point, the vehicle took off and as witnesses tell us here at the scene, at a high rate of speed. now, what we can tell you is that three people were arrested here at the scene, taken from the nissan. the nissan clipped

jackie bensen will have reaction on news4 at 5:00. guys, back to you. >>> yesterday it felt a bit like spring. freezing temperatures are now rolling in. >> storm team 4 meteorologist veronica johnson tells us when to expect the big chill. veronica? >> real, real soon. so get those coats ready, guys. take a look, did you have any showers in your neighborhood this morning? because here's what the radar looked like at 5:00 a.m. right on the money, like we said yesterday. that front came through our area. it brought just a few light showers. then we got sunshine in here very quickly. sunshine, but cold. and also some gusty winds. the temperatures throughout the area right now as we head into bowie, maryland, 57 degrees right now. over the fairfax county, coming in at 54 degrees. look at that. gusty winds. we're seeing wind gusts around 20, and just over 20 miles per hour to the north and west. we've got the subfreezing morning to talk about, and now a little hiccup in our weekend weather. so what could that do to your plans? well, i'm goi