i'm jamison uhler. >> and i'm wendy ryan. two children two fell through the cracks and lost their lives. former workers tell us it's going to happen again. >> dcf office covering our area

i'm jamison uhler. >> and i'm laura harris. a new program is set to launch next month, giving kids free rides on public transit. all they need is their school id. lauren rozyla is live outside of the bus hub right now with what parents need to know. lauren. >> reporter: starting march 1st, students in middle or high school and under 18 can ride these buses for free. and hart says they have your student's convenience in mind. >> route 90 is leaving. >> reporter: most students

i'm wendy ryan. >> and i'm jamison uhler. right now she is on unpaid leave from the school district. first right now denis has the details on serious freezing overnight. >> jamison, you will be tomorrow morning. not something that we usually floridians.

i'm jamison uhler. >> several boats cap sized this afternoon. four sailors rescued. jacqueline joins us live. i understand that the waves out there are tremendous. right? >> reporter: the waves and the

i'm jamison uhler. >> and i'm wendy ryan. thanks for joining us. a mom demanding in pinellas county after that 17-year-old choose history is well known to the school was able to take her 11-year-old son off campus without notice from anyone. >> tonight she is talking only concerns and her fear that it could happen again. lauren. >> reporter: the two boys attend pinellas secondary school. it's an alternative school for those who have broken the code of conduct. the mother says the 17-year-old worked to lure her son off of what she thought was a secure campus and over into the woods intending to assault him. >> you send your kids to school and you expect them to be safe. >> reporter: this mother who we are not identifying to protect her 11-year-old is angry and her son forever changed. >> esther identified. >> reporter: she says this 17- year-old was allowed to be in the same room as her 11-year- old at the school. she says the teenager lured her son out of school with the promise of mcdonalds and took him to the woods and attempted the unthinkable.

i'm jamison uhler. >> and i'm wendy ryan. you ma i have gotten the push

. >>> i'm jamison uhler.

i'm jamison uhler. >> and i'm wendy ryan. thanks for joining us. that little boy walked safely in police headquarters moments ago. >> we want to get out to marisela burgos who is sorting out the details for us. >> reporter: i have an update from the police department within the next hour. that young boy and i believe his sister are going to be picked up by a relative. so we do know that they are we do have some video of that boy earlier this afternoon. he was at day care this entire time. so here is what happened. detectives say they got a call from his mother and also the mother's boyfriend, claiming that their car had been stolen and that that child was in the back seat. but the police chief told us that was all made up, that was a lie. that child was never in that back seat. in fact, that child was always safe at the day care. now, they did track down that ford fusion luckily because device. 19. the car was going the wrong way. it ended up crashing. but what we know so far is that the chief of police says that this stems from a drug deal. he say

i'm jamison uhler. >> clifton french shows us the one thing that motivated a customer to take matters into his own hands. >> i wasn't trying to hurt anybody. i was trying to do what was right. >> reporter: it's video of a man taking out a robber at a pharmacy. it turns out the man's girlfriend was behind the counter. >> i was protect being the one that i love. >> reporter: it was 12:30 on valentine's day. he was at this walgreens on cortez road to ask his girlfriend what she wanted for lunch. right as she said subway the gentleman jumped on to the counter demanding, you know, pain medicine. >> reporter: what this robber didn't realize, david is a pretty good boxer. >> come on, dave. yeah. >> reporter: he holds two state titles. you can find clips of his fights on youtube like this one. this was all instinct. >> he started fiddling with his hands and went to reach into his pants. that's when i reacted. >> reporter: four punches and a knockout. this is 26-year-old anthony nemus' mug shot. he gave the young man encouraging words. >> i hope he uses this as a turning point in his life. >>

i'm jamison uhler. >> and ill'm wendy ryan. >> a special victim's unit now investigate the middle >> the sheriff says the selfies people were taking about sexting here are pretty common but says in this instance it rose to another level and that's why they're investigating. >> we're talking aging between 12 and 14 involved. >> reporter: susan benton says one of their student resource officers was given a phone with naked student pictures on it. >> we have nine telephones from different students being evaluateed. >> reporter: if the images were not disturbing enough, benton says they came across a video after a middle schooler per fominaing a sex act on themself. >> particularly the nudity and the nature of stop pictures and this video. >> the video could lead investigators toward felony charges of child porn and sexual exploitation of a minor. benton says she cannot stress enough of how important it is for the parents to take an active role in the students' lives. parents need to check the phones on a regular base si. are the school pince pal will hold an emergency meeting with pair

happened yet: i'm jamison uhler. florida's death penalty system was found unconstitutional. >> carson chambers is live in downtown tampa to break down what is at stake here. carson. >> reporter: >> reporter: state legislators rush to change the law. and also we know the question, the big question is tonight, whether more capital cases that have already been decided are going to be affected. >> quite frankly the whole death penalty process is a mess. we don't know what to do. marchly here in florida. >> reporter: florida was set to execute terry lambricks in a number of days. but the supreme court stepped in and granted a stay. >> it's an interesting issue. the question is, what did their jury determine? if their jury was unanimous, then they mayo owe their death and not be overturned by the supreme court. if their jury was 7-5, 8-4 for death and the judge imposed it, then we might have a situation where the supreme court says no. >> reporter: today the florida supreme court heard from lambricks' attorney. since the p

. >> and i'm jamison uhler. this isn't the first time that police looked into accusations against robert celeste. jarrod holbrook joins us live from the school where he spent most of his teaching career. jarrod. >> reporter: that's right, jamison. it is here where he was once the victim's teacher. it has taken pinellas county school districts nearly two disciplinary file. you may be shocked what we found. parents here sure are. inside the former teacher's disciplinary file, the i-team investigation. in fact it's the third. in 2005, robert celeste was relationship with a student. police say the results were unfounded. there are also sexual misconduct allegations investigated by police in 2014. the student told police they weren't true. but they did state he had a reputation amongst students and was even nicknamed coast celeste- coach celeste-me. police say they have dna evidence that identifies celeste as the father of the baby. parents were never notified during the investigation or after the arrest. they are not

i'm jamison uhler. >> and i'm laura harris. the hope group is upset that the sheriff does not use the program for misdemeanor marijuana offenses like other counties in our state. >> ashley yore is live near the sheriff's office where the demonstration is getting started. ashley. >> reporter: good evening, guys. when we talk about misdemeanor marijuana charges, we're talking about 20 grams of marijuana or less. that's about the same amount weight-wise as these eight pennies in my hand. you can see this group just starting to gather right now. they're just walking down the street. they say it's time for the sheriff's office to make a change.

. >> and i'm jamison uhler. eric waxler shows us why the county says they can't afford it. >> a thousand feet, that's the distance from the senior living facility to a shopping plaza down the road. shouldn't be that hard to get to. try navigating this in a wheelchair. residents say they are forced into the street right here is that is always buzzy and risking their lives judge university to go to the store. cerebral palsy makes it difficult to speak for darlene but she has no trouble getting her point across. >> i want a sidewalk. are you kidding me? >> reporter: she has been asking officials to put a sidewalk here for years. those living at vista grand can safely make it to nearby stores and doctor's offices. richard even showed up to express his frustration with commissioners dragging their feet. >> this is a simple project. it's not like we're building a nuclear submarine. we're putting in a sidewalk. >> reporter: there are plans for sidewalks on both sides of quality job. but that won't be done for at least

i'm jamison uhler. >> and i'm laura harris. this investigation following stacie harris' arrest last week. she is accused of having sex with a 14-year-old student. as ryan raiche shows us, the school knew there was a problem. >> reporter: i just spoke out of the school board building where i was looking through the personnel file for stacie harris, accused of having sex with a 14-year-old student. for months the school board knew something was up. >> it never should have happened from the get-go. >> reporter: tonight parents fuming about what school officials knew and when they knew it. >> she never should have been near any kids. >> reporter: paperwork in the personnel file for stacie shows her arrest last week for sex with a 14-year-old student was back in november of last year, there are documents warning her about inappropriate behavior with a boy on a school bus. witnesses reported she was constantly touching and hugging the child. in a different complaint let the boy drink out of her cup in a classroom. >> should i even se

i'm jamison uhler. >> and i'm laura harris. the hope group is upset that the sheriff does not use the program for misdemeanor marijuana offenses like other counties in our state. >> ashley yore is live near the sheriff's office where the demonstration is getting started. ashley. >> reporter: good evening, guys. when we talk about misdemeanor marijuana charges, we're talking about 20 grams of marijuana or less. that's about the same amount weight-wise as these eight pennies in my hand. you can see this group just starting to gather right now. they're just walking down the street. they say it's time for the sheriff's office to make a change. to be arrested for something like that is very shocking. it's shocking. >> reporter: judy morton is upset that hillsborough county deputies can arrest teenagers for possession of marijuana instead of writing them a ticket like other counties in florida. >> it's not fair for our kids. >> reporter: according to the state attorney's office, a florida statute says each jurisdiction can design the

i'm jamison uhler. >> and i'm laura harris. this investigation following stacie harris' arrest last week. she is accused of having sex with a 14-year-old student. as ryan raiche shows us, the school knew there was a problem. >> reporter: i just spoke out of the school board building where i was looking through the personnel file for stacie harris, accused of having sex with a 14-year-old student. for months the school board knew something was up. >> it never should have happened from the get-go. >> reporter: tonight parents fuming about what school officials knew and when they knew it. >> she never should have been near any kids. >> reporter: paperwork in the personnel file for stacie shows her arrest last week for sex with a 14-year-old student was

i'm jamison uhler. >> clifton french shows us the one thing that motivated a customer to take matters into his own hands. >> i wasn't trying to hurt anybody. i was trying to do what was right. >> reporter: it's video of a man taking out a robber at a pharmacy. it turns out the man's girlfriend was behind the counter. >> i was protect being the one that i love. >> reporter: it was 12:30 on valentine's day. he was at this walgreens on cortez road to ask his girlfriend what she wanted for lunch.

tonight how the ruling could happened yet: i'm jamison uhler. florida's death penalty system

good evening, i'm jamison uhler. >> and i'm wendy ryan. thanks for joining us. tying up traffic in pinellas county. >> it's a traffic alert near belcher road. this is a live picture. a deputy was involved in an accident there. it looks like one lane of traffic is now getting by. this could tie up traffic for quite a while during the ongoing investigation. we still have not gotten any word on the condition of the deputy or the other driver involved. we will continue to give you updates throughout the evening. >>> back to our top story right now. the owner of a gun found on the ground outside of an elementary school has been located. a parent dropping off their child at rock crusher elementary school in citrus county was the first to see it before anyone was hurt. a school employee actually picked it up thinking it was a toy and fired it. abc action reporter lauren rozyla joins us live outside of the school with details how the gun even got there. lauren. >> reporter: and we just learned the name of the parent

. >> and i'm jamison uhler. >> a passenger on the flight says he heard a loud bang and you're looking at live pictures overhead. the passengers have been sitting in the terminal for the past two hours. we are on our way to the airport as we speak. and we will bring you an update as soon as we have more information. >>> let's go back to the top story now. police say assistant fire chief in clearwater, ronald jim shine shop lifted a 5-hour energy drink worth $3. it may not be the first time. >> abc action news reporter eric waxler is live with what the fire chief is saying about it tonight. eric. >> reporter: that assistant chief's salary is $85,000 a year. we're told that he is on a planned vacation right now. but when he returns to this fire house, he could be out of a job all because of this tiny little bottle. ron jim shine was just honored with a public safety award from the rotary club. now he is facing charges for shoplifting from this 7-eleven down the street from the fire

. >> and i'm jamison uhler. that mother just recanted the story after she originally told clearwater police that the 3- of a stolen car, setting off a frantic search. that car was stolen from a home on boland avenue and crashed on us-19. the driver of the car is in custody right now. abc action news reporter is live now with the story. >> reporter: of course this was extremely frightening for the detectives because they received the call at 1:30. when they heard from the mother and the boyfriend that there was a toddler in the supposed stolen car, they immediately sent out detectives to try to find this ford fusion. luckily there was a gps tracking device in the car. so that's how they were able to track down that car, following it on us-19 going the wrong way before it crashed. and as you mentioned, detectives did take that person into custody. the chief told me that this beginning. that the child was never in that car.

. >>> i'm jamison uhler. >> and i'm wendy ryan. thanks for joining us. first we want to start with breaking news in polk county. a man targeting young girls now charged with sextortion. >> we are live at the polk county sheriff's office with who police just arrested. marisela. >> reporter: this started on monday after the father of an 11-year-old girl contacted harassing his daughter on social media. we have a picture of the suspect. he is 25. authorities say on the app kck he called himself daddy. polk county sheriffs deputies say he threatened the young girl with posting her address online, that he would hurt her, set her house on fire and ask people to rape her if she did not give him nude pictures and videos, plus turn around and give him names and addresses of other girls. according to authorities, this investigation led them to another victim who daddy, ak a bales, targeted. we will have more at 6:00 on this story. marisela burgos, abc action news. >>> breaking news from new jersey. firefighters are battling this large fire at an industrial park. y

i'm jamison uhler. >> and i'm wendy ryan. thanks for joining us. that 13-year-old stole a van from a day care. >> take a look. he then stole that van and tried to rob this store. but he was interrupted by the store's owner. he then crashed the van in the progress village area. he then stole a bicycle from a home there and was arrested at that time. ashley yore has the lessons learned. >> reporter: the day care now a scene of a crime. >> we have to fall in sight of the young man. there are vans sitting there and no one watching them. >> reporter: hillsborough deputies say this is where a 13- year-old slipped through an unlocked window and swiped the keys to this van, one of three owned by the nonprofit champions for children that runs the dimples play land child care on 12th avenue south. >> it was such a small window. i'm not sure that we took seriously the fact that a grown person could slip through it. now we know it wasn't a grown person. >> reporter: a few minutes' drive away, cell tech recorded this surveillance video. you can see the teen try