charges of child molestation in a neighborhood they say is filled with children. 67-year-old richard lester brod. he was arrested on friday after police say one was -- brod. he was arrested on friday after police say he held down the vick and attacked her. >> it's very disturbing, very predatory. we have significant concerns about his history. >>> police say they found a number of items in brode's home involving child pornography. he's expected in court in the next few days. >>> right now, santa clara county officials are deciding whether to give or take away money from the fire department because of the poor response times. janine de la vega was at the meeting and is live. good afternoon, janine. >> reporter: good afternoon, tori. well, county supervisors say it's unacceptable that the fire department is not meeting its goal to respond -- to respond to emergencies in the required amount of time. now, that county meeting is going on right now. i just got word from one of the people inside the meeting that they took a unanimous vote to withhold the money from the fire department, not to puni

we also heard from the mother of one of those girls. 67-year-old, richard lester pleaded not guilty today to charges of lewd conduct with a child, false imprisonment and assault with an attempt to commit rape. police found child pornography at his house. his wife insists her husband is innocent. >> i'm behind him 100%. i don't believe any of this. he's a good man and this will come out. this will get straightened out. >> the mother of one of the alleged victims says she trusted brody enough to let him play with her daughter and another girl inside his home. >> he just went out of his way to be nice. different stuff started making me feel uncomfortable. he would wrestle with the girls and at first, i didn't know it was in the dark. >> brody is set to return to court on february 19. >>> palo alto police are hoping neighborhood watch groups can become an effective tool. a community meeting will get underway in 45 minutes. police released the latest statistics for crime and car burglaries and home invasions. they are expected to discuss a home invasion where a man and woman in their 80s were

richard lester brode is being held on $450,000 bond. he pleaded not guilty yesterday to charges including lewd conduct with a minor and false imprison machine. the mother of an alleged victim who did not want her face shown says sherr family trusted him -- her family trusted him. >> he went out of his way to be nice. he would wrestle with the girls and at first i didn't know it was in the dark. >> i'm behind him 100%. i don't believe any of this. he's a good man and this will come out. >> brode is forbidden to contact any of his alleged victims. he's scheduled to return to court in two weeks. >>> 7:49. a southern california woman who spent decades on the run after escaping from prison has finally been captured and arrested. police tracked down judy lynn heyman in san francisco 37 years after she escaped from a prison in michigan. heyman pleaded guilty to larceny back in 1976. she was sentenced to two years in prison but escaped after serving ten months. police say she's been living under several false identities even her son didn't know

. >> as we first reported yesterday, santa cruz police arrested 67-year-old, richard lester brody andrged him with lewd conduct for a child under 14 years old, assault with attempt to commit rape, and police say a search of brody's home led to a charge of possessing child pornography. i talked to the mother of one alleged victim who asked us not to show her on camera. >> he's a really sick man. >> did you trust him at one time? >> totally trusted him. >> the mother said she trusted brody enough to let her daughter play with him and another unidentified girl inside his home. >> he would buy him food. he went out of his way to be nice. started making me feel uncomfortable. he would wrestle with the girls and at first, i didn't know it was in the dark. >> brody was charged in court this morning, pleaded not guilty and assigned a public defender. bail was set at $450,000. brody's wife defended her husband. >> i'm behind him 100%. i don't believe any of this. he's a good man and this will come out. this will get straightened out. >> today, the judge issued a protective order for bidding br

lester? >> all right, richard. as we said at the top of the broadcast, president obama spoke with russian president vladimir putin by phone. no doubt a difficult conversation. certainly a delicate balancing act for the u.s. to get involved in what russia considers its affairs. nbc's andrea mitchell is monitoring that end of the story from our washington newsroom. hello, andrea. >> reporter: hi, lester. a senior state department official said that president obama initiated this call to president putin, his some time antagonist, this time, though, after bloody confrontations in kiev and the olympics, the two sides had what was called a constructive conversation, and they both agreed the plan needs to be implemented quickly and the economy needs to be stabilized. although putin sent a deputy to monitor the all-night talks, the russians did not sign the documents. putin now agrees with obama that russia wants to be part of the plan to keep violence from flaring up again, some extreme rebel groups still don't want to gi

richard lester brode was arrested on friday.that afternoon, someone reported that brode was molesting two young girls. their investigation found that brode was bringing the girls into his bedroom, holding them down and attacking them. they say they found several items in brode's home involving child pornography. brode is expected in court in the next couple of days. >>> 7:34. all lanes of eastbound interstate 80 near dixon are back open this morning after an officer-involved shooting. police say a man stole a white pickup truck from concord and was wanted in connection with an armed assault in sacramento. that stolen truck was spotted before 8:00 p.m. by the chp who pulled the man over. police say the man got out of the truck and charged at officers. they shot him once with a shot gun. >> did go down partially in the lanes. as soon as that happened, our officers used caution and approached, moved the suspect from traffic and provided first aid. >> the suspect was taken to the hospital and treated for his injuries. no further inf

richard, what's the latest from there? >> reporter: good evening, lester. yesterday, ukraine's president agreed to political compromises. today, the protesters thought he was showing weakness. and decided to push ahead. and they got even more than they were expecting. this day of revolution began with uncertainty. we saw a few protesters blocking government buildings, not many, but word was spreading that the police had abandoned kiev. then we came to the presidential offices. once the most protected buildings in the city, they were also in the hands of anti-government demonstrators. the state was gone. and demonstrators spoke to reporters. do the protesters plan to take the rest of kiev? or are you stopping here? >> the protesters are taking the whole city. >> reporter: but was that possible? we continued to explore and saw more people coming out. their confidence growing. the government had simply vanished. there was a bizarre carnival mood with a mix of families, children on scooters, men in masks, protesters with makeshift armor, and people walking thei

lester holt. >> i'm erica hill alongside jenna wolfe and dylan dreyer. >>> another huge security effort under way half a world away, in russia where the olympic winter games are five days away. richardar from him whether or not the country is ready to host the world. >>> plus, a former tsa screener offers a revealing look at what he says is really going on at airport security line. if you're nervous about them seeing you through the scanner, you may have had good reason to be. >>> but we do begin with the latest on the allegations from a former aide that governor chris christie did know about the bridge closures at the time they happened. kelly o'donnell live in washington, following this since the beginning. good morning. >> reporter: good morning. so, a key figure in the bridge traffic scandal that has rocked chris christie's administration is making intriguing, new claims that suggest the governor knew more than he has led on. david wildstein resigned from the port authority, responsible for closing the traffic labors fall and he took fifth last month. now, wildstein's lawyer has written a letter to the port authority demanding it pay wildstein's legal fees. buried within the let