vic lee, abc 7 news. >> the mayor's office declined to comment on camera. but in an e-mail says the mayor recognizes the needs of the sfpd fleet and will make, quote significant funding for cars in the next year and the following one after that. one source says that will be 70 new cars for the upcoming budget. and another 70 for the following fiscal year in 2018-2019. >>> new tonight, this is not the savannah, but sunny florid where one striped wearing bandit decided to make a run for it. an escaped zebra eluded authority, running through neighborhoods and into backyards. look at it go. according to the local sheriff, the zebra did damage, slamming into the side of a truck and snapping off a side mirror.es a zeb zebra's owner managed to corral the animal and bring it back home. hopefully it's okay and not injured. >> just a little unnerved. a great image there. strange. >>> a windy night across the bay area as we head the weekend. >> sheer live look outside from the abc 7 roof camera. you can see the flag still blowing in the breeze. >> what do we have the

abc7 news reporter vic lee is live from the hall of justice with what we are learning now about the investigation. vic? >> reporter: well, police have been exceptionally quiet about this case, but we are learning something new tonight. a source with knowledge of the case tells us investigators believe the disappearance is not random. he did not elaborate. but that same source also tells us that investigators believe the disappearance is not related to the man's work as an uber driver. in other words, investigators do not believe that a passenger had anything to do with his disappearance. last night investigators from the special victims unit served as search warrant here in the bay view at the maple trade center on the 1200 block of van dyke avenue. a person who answered the phone at the office said, investigators provided no details. the maple trade center is about two miles from where the mercedes was found stripped of everything, including its wheels. the car was found last saturday. the 47-year-old father of two and a full-time uber driver, disappeared the weekend before on mother's day. his

vic lee, abc 7 news. >> the mayor's office declined to comment on camera.l says the mayor recognizes the needs of the sfpd fleet and will make, quote significant funding for cars in the next year and the following one after that. one source says that will be 70 new cars for the upcoming budget. and another 70 for the following fiscal year in 2018-2019. >>> new tonight, this is not the savannah, but sunny florid where one striped wearing bandit decided to make a run for it. an escaped zebra eluded authority, running through neighborhoods and into backyards. look at it go. according to the local sheriff, the zebra did damage, slamming into the side of a truck and snapping off a side mirror. deputies and employees of the zeb zebra's owner managed to corral the animal and bring it back home. hopefully it's okay and not injured. >> just a little unnerved. a great image there. strange. >>> a windy night across the bay area as we head the weekend. >> sheer live look outside from the abc 7 roof camera. you can see the flag still blowing in the breeze. >> what do we

abc7 news reporter vic lee is live at the park with the story. vic? >> reporter: well, dan, bird watchers here believe they are being targeted. now, san francisco police tell us they are investigating and they do have a license plate number of the get away car which a witness gave them during the last incident. and rec and park tells us that they are increasing patrols around stow lake these next saturdays when the crowd of bird watchers is the biggest. stow lake in may, great blue her on nesting season. chicks are nest nesting. down below, crowds watch with scopes and cameras. bill is one of them. >> we look up in the trees and we're watching the babies grow. >> reporter: as the crowd watches the chicks, they're being watched by robbers. >> select the victim and bam like that. >> reporter: that's what happened on saturday about 11:00 in the morning. about 30 people were watching the herons, many of them volunteers working with nancy. she holds workshops for visitors on the blue herons. one of her volunteer photographers became a victim of a grab and

vic lee, abc7 news. >> we are also learning new details about a mob attack on b.a.r.t. a few weeks ago. we reported it at the time by a huge group of teenagers. the chronicle reports the group of 40 to as many as 60 young people was poundeding on the doors and windows on the dublin bound train at the coliseum station, but the operator allowed the automatic doors to open anyway. the paper says the same crowd had apparently swarmed a san francisco-bound trained just moments earlier but didn't rob anyone. the chronicle is also reporting four of the nine cars on the dublin train did not have working surveillance cameras including the car where some customers were beaten and robbed. >> the chp is taking a proactive approach to the new world of legal recreational marijuana. officers are testing a new technology that is designed to enhance the regular field sobriety test. the sobriety test takes into account eye movement and involuntary bodily indicators, but doesn't say if the drug is in someone's system. now with a hand held device an officer can collect a driver's saliva sa

abc 7 news reporter vic lee shows us, some of these cars should have been taken out of service yearsingleside police station bunch up in one car when it should have been only two officers. they tell us on some days it's four to a car. so where do you put the bad guy? on other days they wait for shifts to end so they can get a car. police union president marty halloran. >> if we don't have the vehicles out there so the vehicles can respond to these hot calls, these a pryori calls, response times are going to go up. >> reporter: many in the fleet of nearly 1,000 black-and-whites and unmarked cars are a disgrace to the force. faded oxidized paint on the exteriors of the cars. worn and torn seats. old two-way radios, some with frayed wiring, rusted floorboards, and cars with a lot of mileage that should have been retired years ago. deputy chief robert moser. >> about 32% of our fleet is over ten years old. we have about 30 -- another 30% of our fleet that has over 100,000 miles. >> our neighboring agencies, they retired their vehicles well before 100,000 miles, or within three, four, or

here's vic lee with a story you'll see only on 7. >> halloween night 2012, benjamin pesa was shot in the head. it's been a miraculous recovery. his brain wund was so severe, doctors gave him a 25% chance of living. he was in a medically induced coma for a month. >> i still have like memory issues, like short-term memory. >> reporter: today he still has problems with cognitive functions, but otherwise he's doing well. the shooter, 00 saelee. they had left a halloween party when they encountered saelee. saelee groped his girlfriend. that led to an altercation, where saelee grabbed his gun and started firing. saelee's attorney was just trying to protect himself against the group charging at him, hurling racial insults. >> he was acting in self-defense against a hate crime assault. >> reporter: last april, i injury acquitted saelee of most of the attempted murder charges, but they hung on one charge related to pesa. then two weeks ago, the judge released him while he awaits a new trial. >> there was brain matter on the pavement as a result of the gunshot wound and we're oppose said to th

here's vic lee with a story you'll see only on 7. >> halloween night 2012, benjamin pesa was shot in's been a miraculous recovery. his brain wund was so severe, doctors gave him a 25% chance of living. he was in a medically induced coma for a month. >> i still have like memory issues, like short-term memory. >> reporter: today he still has problems with cognitive functions, but otherwise he's doing well. the shooter, 00 saelee.sael they had left a halloween party when they encountered saelee. saelee groped his girlfriend. that led to an altercation, where saelee grabbed his gun and started firing. saelee's attorney was just trying to protect himself against the group charging at him, hurling racial insults. >> he was acting in self-defense against a hate crime assault. >> reporter: last april, i injury acquitted saelee of most of the attempted murder charges, but they hung on one charge related to pesa. then two weeks ago, the judge released him while he awaits a new trial. >> there was brain matter pavement as a result of the gunshot wound and we're oppose said to this release. >> r

. >> news reporter and bay area institution, if you will, vic lee. >> that's right. the joint asian pacific islander legislative caucus presented vic its excellence in journalism award yesterday at the state capital. >> vic is a legend. he's worked here in the bay area for more than four decades. the last 11 years our honor here at abc7 news. >> he's really an amazing reporter, tireless worker known for his unbrideled enthusiasm fr his job. more importantly he's a wonderful person and a nice guy. we tease him. he comes to work every day. he can't wait to get out and tell a story. >> how true. however i forgot, very important thing, he's a fabulous dancer and a real foodie as well. have you heard him sing karaoke? >>> tonight, breaking news as we come on, what could be a new bombshell. did president trump ask former fbi director james comey -- to shut down the federal investigation into retired general michael flynn, the national security adviser who survived just 24 days on the job. "the new york times" reporting moments ago, the president said to comey, "i hope you c

abc7 news reporter vic lee investigates if the cit >>> i'm alma daetz.n abc7 news at 6:00, a sudden reversal of napa high school football player for hazing can return to class. find out why he says he won't be going back to napa high. also. >> people who came are afraid of going through customs when they enter the country. >> facing the fear, see what san francisco is doing to perrer persuade foreign tourist s to keep coming to town. the winchester mystery house is going to be in a movie. coming up on abc7 news at 6:00. larry, kristen? >> see you then. >> finally pictures by our viewers, you'll see a theme. we want to thank tug boat dicky for pictures of the seagulls. they do not mind the gray skies. >> dave sent us this amazing shot from milpitas, ball eagle. quite a shot. are you getting the theme yet? >> dog tired adventures shot of their dogs, pictures taken in danville. use the hashtag #abc7 #abc7 #ab >> a lion. >> the keepers posted him of being frightened by at soap bubble. not his finest moment, but part of his tenth birthday party celebration. >

abc7 news reporter vic lee joins us with new information. >> reporter: hodges appeared in court the second a est ared. last month he was arraigned and he pleaded not guilty to child porn charges. now, the s.f.p.d. is still investigating this case to see if he actually harmed any child he came into contact with. well, today we found a parent who says his child had a close call, and he wonders whether other parents had the same experienc experience. the judge did not allow our camera in the courtroom, but this swim instructor nicolas hodges, his parents came today. in court their handcuffed son acknowledged them with a smile. john thai was also here. >> it was really disturbing to hear what happened. >> reporter: hodges taught thai's 6-year-old here at the swim school in the presidio. he was a swim instructor here for the past two years. parents liked and trusted him. hodges had also been with kids at the house trampoline park right next door to the swim school. he worked here, too, for several years. the charging documents say he had more than 600 files of child porn on his computer and cel

. >> and a well deserved honor for abc7 news reporter vic lee.e sen tir of the picture. yesterday he received the excellence in journalism award from the joint asian pacific islander legislative caucus at the state capital. you know vic is a legend. he's worked in the bay area for more than four decades shlg the last 11 with us here at abc7 news. he's just a great reporter, a tireless worker with an unbride led enthusiasm for his job. he truly loves his work. >> and we love him. it's great. >> true. >> what did president trump say when he met with the russian foreign minister? >> it's a conversation that is the talk of the nation. tonight how the president and his national security advisor are responding to reports that mr. trump revealed classified information. >> and a father's warning for all parents. we hear from a father of a teenager who died from a caffeine overdose. >> also ahead, the romper trend is targeting a new market. men. check out the romp him. the design is already getting a lot of support. >> announcer: live where you live, this

vic lee, abc7 news. >> police say an oregon and california are investigating a reported kidnapping of a san jose state student just hours before her graduation. the 22-year-old woman was found by county sheriff's deputies friday night near banddon, 95 miles from california. she was forced to drive north until the car ran out of gas. at that point she escaped. she was found running along an oregon road side. >> and she hid in tall grass next to -- we have a lot of grass next to the ocean. she was able to hide at an old lumber mill site, and he did not locate her. >> the woman says the kidnapper hit her. she was taken to a hospital then treated for facial injuries. the san jose police department tells abc7 news they are actively investigating this incident. >> all right. turning now to our weather, let's take a live look from our mount tam camera. you can see it's been a gray day around the bay area. >> spencer christian, you have some explaining to do. >> i know it's cold outside. what is going on here? still a gray day. live doppler 7, this is not your typical end of may day. lots of

abc7 news reporter vic lee investigates if the city is doing enough to replace aging squad cars.at 11:00. >>> contrary to popular belief, having a baby and becoming a mom may actually make you smarter. according to several recent studies. abc7 news reporter kate larson shows us why so-called mom i bra -- mommy brain is more of a myth than reality. >> reporter: there is a popular misconception among moms, while your belly expands your mind shrinks. >> you forget things, like dementia, pregnancy dementia. >> reporter: even saint luke's ob/gyn acknowledges the myth behind mommy brain. >> it is deeply entrenched in the psyche of the pregnant ladies whenever they have lapses in their memories, they immediately attribute it to the fact that they are pregnant. >> reporter: but everyone has lapse in memory on occasion. it's just that when there is a baby on the way, or a newborn at home, women and society sometimes blame it on mommy brain. the doctor says there is no scientific evidence that suggests women lose any mental a quity before or after pregnancy. >> in fact it is the other way

vic lee, abc7 news. >> and you can listen to the full interview with the parent on our website, abc7news.com. >> new at iv, antioch police are searching for a man accused of robbing a bank inside a super market a few hours ago. it took place inside a safe way in antioch just before 1:00. sky 7 shows the police activity outside the store. the website east county today.net reports a man with a gun hopped the counter at the bank. a woman at the store requested medical attention. it is not clear if she was actually hurt by the robbery suspect. >>> police continue to investigate a home invasion robbery. the family in pittsburgh, police a a group of armed robbers broke into their home around 10:30 last night. they ordered the family into a downstairs room then made off with several items including jewelry and cash. paramedics treated one resident but no one was seriously hurt. police are looking through surveillance video to see if they can identify the intruders. >> new details on the deadly police shooting at a restaurant on san francisco's market street last week. police just released some dram