news 4's pat collins is live with a challenge for all of . >> reporter: this is the official pat collins snow stick. not only can you use it to measure snow, but it also has markings that record all the historic snowstorms we've had in our city over the years. it's a true collector's item and you can have one of your very own. all you have to do is enter the snowman challenge. what you do is make a snowman, take a picture of it. tweet it to @patsnowstick. the best snowman gets the stick. i get a little teary eyed when i think about the first time i gave one of these away. >> you promise to use this snow stick responsibly? >> i will. >> and measure snow accurately for years and years to come? >> yes. >> meet now samantha house, she's from arlington. our very first snow stick recipient. she made a snowman that looked -- well, it looked like me. though i greatly admired my work, i had nothing to do with the judging, but what an exciting time it was when i got a chance to present samantha with her very own official pat collins snow stick. >> this is your very own pat collins snow stick. [ ch

who is going to get the pat collins official snow stick? i've got the five finalists >>> word of a water main break in virginia. news 4's barbara harrison at the live desk with what we know now. barbara? >> this is happening in fairfax county in the bailey's crossroads area. a water main has broken. it's shutting down between route 7 and spring drive. officials say a 12-inch main broke half an hour ago. the water is being shut off now. again, columbia pike shut down between south coral and spring road and route 7. jackie bensen is headed to the scene and will bring us updates as soon as she gets them. i'm barbara harrison from the live desk. >>> huge chunks of ice roaring down the river in colorado. this video was captured by a police officer. the intensity of this flow took down trees and other debris among the riverbanks. it didn't damage any bridges along the way, which was lucky. >>> out of the dozens of people who entered, only one can walk away with an official pat collins snow measuring stick. a panel of judges selected from a wide v

do you think it looks like pat collins? >> i think it does. >> reporter: was that your intent or was that a mistake? >> i think that was his intent. >> reporter: the only thing that snowman is missing is the patented pat collins snow stick. that's the latest live in germantown. back to you. >>> all right. all day we've been asking you to submit your best snowman pictures. >> we've gotten dozens of entries. news 4's pat collins is live with his stick. you got a lot of competition out there. >> reporter: what do you think, did that snowman look like me? >> he actually looks better than you. >> slight resemblance. >> reporter: we call this the snowman challenge. you want an official pat collins snow stick, this is what you have to do? make a snowman, take a picture of it. tweet that to @patsnowstick. want to know what you're up against? take a look at this. this is what the snowman challenge is looking like so far. we've had scores of entries. we call this category traditional. don't read anything into that. a lot of tradition

. >>> whenever we get measurable snow, pat collins breaks out the measuring stick. that combined with snowmen make for a memorable winter storm. pat joins us live from northwest washington with more on what kind of trouble you're stirring up out there, patrick? >> reporter: wendy, i should tell you first off, the snowman challenge entry deadline is 7:00. a pture of your snowman, ur to tweet that picture to @patsnowstick. the best snowman gets the stick. want to see what the competition is like. take a look at this. the snowman challenge entries keep rolling in. scores of entries. we call this group toff the wal and out of the box category. the snow family, complete with fire snowman, ski snowman and pirate snowman. the mailbox snowman, frosty's mouth is a mailbox. that's a special delivery. the chef snowman, look at his mouth. it's candles. upside down snowman, another upside down snowman. you think they built them right side up -- oh, never mind. and then from who didn't get much snow, the ice cube snowman. the category they call baby's first snowman. this snowman i

pat collins has more on the investigation. >> reporter: the scene. only house on the block with christmas decorations in the front yard. behind the symbols of joy and happiness, trouble. neighbors say a man and a woman and a small child lived here. the man was in the military. the house close by. when the man didn't report for duty, concern. this began this morning with a check on the welfare call to police. when officers got to this house, they found a body inside. they have been here all day. they have taped off the front and back of this entire block as they continue to look for clues and evidence in this case. police describe the victim as a military man. they say they are treating this as a case of murder. >> it's a very active and fluid investigation. we are investigating this as a homicide and looking into the possibility that it's domestic in nature. >> reporter: this homicide, so close to christmas brought a sense of sorrow to this street. >> it's fact. the streets and nothing like that ever happened. >> it's horrible. >> reporter: because t

but when you take a man's john deere, i'm pat collins. the >>> well, a carroll county man is speaking out hoping a thief will come forward and return a tractor. a tractor he's had for decades. >> someone drove up to his family home last month and stole the antique out of his front yard. >> pat collins is telling his sad story. >> reporter: mount airy, maryland. population, 9,340. it's said to be a safe place. it's safer than 80% of all the cities and towns in america. but, don't tell that to bob. bob is 75 years old. he spent his entire life here in mount airy. he was born in this house. last month, in the middle of the day, in front of god and everybody else, someone came into the front yard of the old family home and stole bob's antique john deere tractor. by trade, bob's an electrician. by faith, he's a mennonite. he doesn't want his face shown for the story. if you could look into his eyes, you could see the hurt that's happened here. how important is this tractor to you? >> i would like to get it back. my son would like to have it. i

live in the northeast, pat collins, news 4. >>> a violent day at several schools in the south. news 4's scott macfarlane at the live desk what with what we know now. >>> about an hour ago a suspect was arrested for shooting a student there. the shooting happened at west orange high school near orlando in florida. there was an argument at a soccer field where the buses were waiting to pick up students. that's when police say the suspect opened fire. the student who was shot is in the hospital. and a short time later a student stabbed at another high school in georgia. no word on the con of the student. >>> tonight we are learning new details about the shooting rampage last year inside sandy hook elementary. the 911 tapes have just been released. some of the calls came from inside the school as gunman adam lanza opened fire. nbc news has decided not to air any of those calls. but we are reviewing those transcripts. and jay gray joins us live with what the calls tell us about what happened in there. >> hey, as you can imagine, the tapes are chilling. the 911 dispatcher urging teac

he tells news 4s pat collins someone took the antique right out of the family's yard in mount airy. >> reporter: what kind of person would steal a man's john deere tractor. >> scum of the earth. >> reporter: who would take a john deere? >> i'm not surprised of anything anymore. >> reporter: in mount airy, they take tractor stealing seriously. do you have one? >> i do. >> reporter: hear the story of bob and his antique john deere tractor taken from the front yard of the old family home in mount airy. my trade, bob is an electrician. by faith, he's a mennonite. he doesn't want his face shown for this story. but, if you could look into his eyes, you could see the hurt that's happened here. how important is this tractor to you? >> i'd like to get it back. my son would like to have it, i'm sure. it's something that is passed down. >> reporter: it was 1957. bob was 18 years old. he saved up all his money and bought a dodge car and a 1940 john deere tractor. the car is long gone, but the tractor, the tractor became part of the family. bob, he called the cops, but didn't stop there. he took o

pat collins is in rockville tonight. pat? >> reporter: i'm live at the scene of the crime. the first crime. this is byron. he got big jail time today for a string of violent crimes. they got enough surveillance video on this guy to make a highlight reel. >> byron is a one-man crime wave. today, 35 years was handed down for him to think about the crimes he committed. >> reporter: crime number one, this doctor is depositing checks at wells fargo in rockville. byron steals her purse, her checks, her credit card and her blue prius car. >> i was very afraid, then afraid he was going to kill me. >> reporter: crime two, using the stolen prius, he holds up a rite aid. he's caught on tape by security cameras there. crime number three. the prosecutor says he then drives to alexandria and at gunpoint robs a dunkin' donuts, more surveillance video where the prosecutor says you can see him with a gun and see him pulling cash out of a register. that case is still in the virginia courts. crime number four. after the robberies, the lookout for the stolen prius got more intense. he knew it

in mount airy, pat collins, news 4. >>> still ahead, a local teacher accused of showing up drunk. who spotted trouble that landed a teacher behind bars. >>> a deadly crash. the surprising twist as the victim's family addressed the court. >>> we continue to look back at the legacy of former south african president, nelson mandela who >>> our nation has lost its greatest son. >> we begin at 6:30 tonight with sad and historic news from south africa. former president, nelson mandela has died. one of the most famous statesmen who fought hate. reaction is coming in from all over the world and washington. we begin with pat lawson muse live with reaction from two world leaders. pat? >> we are going to start in new york. members of the u.n. security council interrupted their meeting to stand-up and hold a moment of silence for nelson mandela. here is the video. no one has done more for the united nations. aga again, video interrupting t meeting to stand in a moment of silence in tribute to nelson mandela. here in washington, the president shared his thoughts an hour ago. >> the first thing

pat collins is live with more on the search for this teacher. pat? >> reporter: the victim, a 15-year-old autistic boy. the suspect is 25-year-old teacher. police say while the boy's parents were at church, the teacher went to the boy's home and sexually assaulted that teen. sharon, she's 25 years old. a teacher at the frost school in aspen hill, a school for children with special needs. the victim, a 15-year-old boy, one of her students. now according to court documents, the teacher and the teenager exchanged sexually explicit messages. then they say the teacher went to the victim's residence while the family was out and had sex with her 15-year-old student. >> our victim is a child. and a child with special needs. he should have been nurtured and protected by his teacher, instead, his teacher chose, in her position of trust over him, she chose to violate that trust and further chose to harm this child. >> reporter: as police were getting a warrant for her arrest, the suspect made her escape traveling to new york and then flying to hong kong. >> she

pat collins is live in gaithersburg with an update on this unusual case. pat? >> reporter: jim, the victim is 15 years old. he's autistic. the suspect, she's 25 years old. she's his teacher. now police say she went to house while his parents were at church and sexually abused her student. we begin our story now with words from the victim's father. >> because of my son's autism, his trauma will be long and revealed slowly. >> reporter: ron harding is a minister, with a 15-year-old autistic son. he says his son was a sexual assault victim. the suspect, sharon, his son's teacher at the frost school in aspen hill. a school for children with special needs. in an extraordinary and emotional act, reverend harding and his wife went public today to talk about how this sex assault hurt their son. >> as we drove to meet cps, and we drove by the school, he began to literally rip pieces of the door panel off the inside of our car. it's challenging for him because with autism, he does not display his emotions but feels them deeper than most of us. >> reporter: according to c

pat collins was in court with the officer facing child important charges and asked d.c. police chief cathy lanier what it means for the department. >> reporter: teenage girls, cops, accusations of bad behavior, the consequences, hurtful. two seventh district police officers, one charged with taking naked pictures of a 15-year-old girl while he was on duty. another cop has his apartment searched after a 16-year-old girl says he tried to get her involved in prostitution. two cops, two cases, hurtful to the image and confidence of the d.c. police department. >> so many police officers come to work every day and put their life on the line for absolute strangers and never give it a second thought. one action like this tarnishes all of us. itis devastating for all of us. >> reporter: the stanton road apartment case. according to court documents, a 16-year-old girl said a cop here took naked photos of her, gave her the prostitution nickname juicy and arranged for her to engage in sexual attacks. the cop that lives here has not been charged. investigators are trying to verify th

pat collins, news 4. >>> tonight, we learned of two more young women saying they were raped inside theer in d.c. the alleged victims are teenagers who say two men took them to the pool and assaulted them back on november 9th. one of the men being investigated works at the aquatic center and is accused in another sex assault in a pool locker room. we are still waiting to hear back from d.c.s parks and rec department on whether the suspect still works at the swimming pool. >>> st stabbing of creigh deeds prompted major changes in the department of behavioral health and services. he was stabbed by his son austin last month. his son killed himself a day after being released from custody. mental health officers say they will introduce procedures to make sure hospital beds are available for those who pose a danger to themselves and others. it will go into effect january 13th. >>> president obama will join world leaders in south africa next week to pay tribute to nelson mandela. there's been a tremendous outpouring of apexfollowing the accident accident affection for a man. >> reporter: the m

pat collins is live outside the scene. >> reporter: during the holiday shopping season, you expect to see an increase for certain crimes. nothing like what happened here at the potomac festival shopping center on potomac mills road. >> it's definitely one of the more odd cases we have had to deal with. >> reporter: it happened december 13th. the friday before the friday before christmas. it happened outside hh gregg, here in potomac mills. it happened around 6:00 in the evening. police say a young woman, about 19 years old was walking with a male companion. she was attacked by a man who had his pants pulled down to his knees. her male cc%ag'ion and other customers came to the rescue. >> luckily, the victim wasn't injured. obviously startled for every good reason. but she wasn't injured, it's a good thing. >> reporter: charged with attempted rape, a 23-year-old, jaguar robert williams palmer. >> you never know. you have to be alert. >> always be alert to your surrounders. he ran up to both of them and assaulted her. but they were able to intervene quickly. >> reporter: coming up at 6:0

news 4's pat collins is live in fairfax with details. pat?> reporter: barbara, i would like to begin this story with a simple question. what do you think inmates do while they're in jail? >> watch television. play cards. >> read. do something creative, i hope. >> serve time and try to get by. >> reporter: what if

coming up, pat collins joins us with the latest details of a prostitution race. we'll have reaction from chief cathy lanier. >>> the tree lighting is less than an hour away. we go live as we wait for the first family to join the celebration. >>> it could be your chance to cash in. why so many are talking about mega millions on this friday. >> veronica is tracking the nasty weather coming our way. >> of course the weather we get on sunday, a winter storm watch for sunday through monday morning. in just a couple minutes, how much snow your neighborhood will get and the impact. it's all in a couple minutes. >>> some incredible pictures out of dallas, texas where firefighters battled a stubborn underground fire. it happened on main street in downtown dallas. an electrical vault caught fire. 100 firefighters were called to the scene. they evacuated dozens of people from a nearby hotel. it took several hours, but firefighters were able to contain the blaze. there was no major damage and no one was hurt. >>> good news on the job front. signs the job market is getting st

pat collins is talking with the tractor owner. his story is coming up an news 4 at 5:00. >>> we are in the final moments of hanukkah 2013. there's a reception getting under way at the white house. this is the first of two hanukkah receptions the president and first lady will host. the president is expected to speak soon. we'll bring his comments as soon as we get them. >>> this year, fewer holiday wreaths will add dorn the graves at the cemetery. >>> where students get to browse a salad bar at lunch. >>> after a shocking revelation, what celebrity chef had to say today, day two of the fraud >>> there may be fewer holiday wreaths at arlington national cemetery. wreaths across america fell short on donations this year. they will place 100,000 wreaths at arlington, 35,000 fewer than they hoped. it's possible the donor who is typically sponsored a wreath are buying wreaths for cemeteries closer to home. >>> thousands of students at seven d.c. elementary schools will be enjoying the fruits and veggies of a let's move effort. new salad