michael hammonds noticed this small pomeranian mix panting locked up in a hot car. he used his wife's wheelchair leg to smash open the window and free the dog. >> i got ptsd and i have seen enough death and destruction and i didn't want anything else to happen if i could prevent it. >> witnesses say the owner was furious when she came out of the store and demanded deputies arrest the man. he's charged with criminal trespassing and the dog owner was cited for leaving her dog in a hot car. >>> several community leaders in the d.c. area came together today to call on mayor muriel bowser to oppose a proposed merger between pepco and an energy company based in chicago known as exelon. some council members and anc leaders say the merger would lead to lost job and bigger electric bills. the d.c. public service commission is expected to announce later this summer whether or not it will approve the merger. maryland's public service commission is expected to announce its decision on the merger friday. >>> right now a maryland teenager is making history by becoming the state's

that's michael hammonds. he used the footrest of his wife's wheelchair to break a car window.ing to save a small dog, he says. that dog was inside and seemed to be struggling with the heat. the woman who owns the car pressed charges against him and hammonds was arrested for breaking into the car. she was then in turn cited by animal control officers for leaving her dog in a hot car. >> all right and now to some sports. the tampa bay lightning are into the nhl's final four after their defeat of montreal last night. >>> and we'll start with the nba, though. let's turn to our guy at espn for that. >> all right, good morning. i'm chris hassel here on the "sportscenter" set from los angeles. we had a couple games in the nba over the night and the chicago bulls had a chance to take a three games to two lead going back to chicago for game six. cavs are all banged up but lebron james said, no, no, not on this court, no. and then a little skirmish here, taj gibson gets a flagrant two for his role in this little deal with matthew dellavedova, but i'll tell you what, dellavedova started

michael hammond noticed panting pooch inside a mustang.he vet took his wife's wheelchair leg and smashed the window to get the dog out of the car. the owner insisted on pressing charges. hammond said he would do it again. >> i knew there would be consequences. but it didn't matter. i mean, glass, they make new glass every day. she could never replace that dog. >> she was charged with criminal trespassing. he says he suffers from ptsd and couldn't bear to see the little dog suffering. >>> let's keep talking about this. does the punishment fit the crime? >>> it is now six minutes till the top of the hour. from the classroom to the courtroom. how this nursing student takes her failing grades to a whole new level. >>> eye of a tiger might be a wandering one. the real reason that tiger and lindsay von called it quits. ♪ >>> it is three minutes to the top of the hour. before you leave the house here's what's happening today. daybreak revealing the first real look at that devastating trail derailmentment five people are confirmed dead. dozens mor

that's when michael hammond says he grabbed the foot rest of his wife's wheelchair and smashed the cardows to get the dog out. when the dog's owner came out of the store hammond says, she was irate. >> she said, you broke my window. i said, i did. she said, why would you do something like that? >> i said, to save your dog. >> reporter: authorities say the owner of the car insisted on pressing charges against hammond. >> i full well sympathize with what he did unfortunately i don't see an exception in the law that allows for that action to be taken. >> reporter: hammonds is an army veteran who served in desert storm. his wife says i battles ptsd and is always the one to come to the rescue in the face of danger. >> he has seen so much and been through so much his thing -- ooh got to save them and michael comes back with the fact that i have to save lives because i couldn't save everybody over there. >> reporter: even though he was arrested and will likely have to pay fort windows he smashed hammond says, he'd do it again. >> i knew there would be consequences but it didn't matter. i mean

michael hammond of athens georgia, didn't take long to anxious that answer that question.ed the car window and rescued the dog. >> i knew there would be consequences but it didn't matter. i mean glass, you can get new glass every day. but she could never replace that dog. >> powerful words. a hero. the local cops call him a criminal. they arrested him because the car owner was upset. we've got a criminal defense attorney from georgia and joins us now with insight. before we get to the right or wrong here give us the law in the case. >> well the law in the case is that right now there's no good samaritan law to rescue an animal in georgia. there is one to a child who is in a hot or cold car but at this moment there's nothing to protect animals or pets from the same kind of behavior. hopefully the law will catch up soon and there will be some type of law. >> what does michael face in terms of charges and what can happen to him? >> well he's been charged with criminal trespass which is a misdemeanor which means it's a crime punishable by up to a year in jail or $1,000 final o

michael henderson: yes. susan swain: and so, people - later on, we'll get into more detail, but the (crux) of the story is what? what was the criticism against her and we learned that hammondad a moral reason, but what in fact was she accused of doing? pat brady: she was accused of being married before she met jackson. michael henderson: she was a bigamist basically. pat brady: she was, in fact. she was married before very unhappily to a man who treated her and her family very badly. her whole family hated him. and out west, they didn't believe that you had to stick by your man for 50 years if he was horrible. they believed in dissolving an unhappy marriage. and so, they did. susan swain: and also criticism of her and this western frontier, lack of class, lack of class. pat brady: she smoked a pipe. that sums it up. and she had an accent. she had a tennessee accent she did not have an east coast accent susan swain: were opponents concerned about what the image for the new country would be the made it to the white house? michael henderson: yes. i mean, there's a strong class issue that runs through all of this, and it's difficult to talk about it in a country that supposedl