ays want to raise fares. >> they were tipped off that he was buying tens of thousands of dollars in lottery tickets with coins. the men would make a detour on the way back to the place they were supposed to take the money to this semi hidden rhode under an overpass and alexandria. they would put it in this brushy area and come back later to pick it up. the men were arrested last night. they were searched the this morning. agents were stunned -- neighbors were stunned as agents carried out boxes of money. >> it is a betrayal of the trust of our customers.

>> metro's general manager would not discuss the case after that. they did put out a statement saying they have commenced an audit of the system to find out how this could have gone on as long as it did agree really more than three years. >> thank you. we are following breaking news right now. and earlier fbi raid on a crackdown of the popular web site. the u.s. is targeting the ismegapoload.com. they seized about $50 million of assets from virginia and washington, d.c. new zealand has taken several of the websites top leaders into custody. >> now for the weather. some of our area will be under a winter storm watch. >> doug hill in the weather

center. >> skies are starting to increase with clouds right now. cold front is all the way across western pennsylvania. there is some snow associated with it. the air overhead is pretty dry. we could see a few flurries across the area later tonight. anything later than that will be north of the hour. toward the maryland pennsylvania line. temperatures are chilly enough. 40 degrees right now in the the district. for the meantime, late tonight at 10:00 that is where flurries are a possibility. tomorrow something else to watch for tomorrow night and saturday. a possibility there and here also of a little winterly mixed with snow or sleet or freezing

rain. all of its changing the rain, but north and west of town they could remain a wintry mix of ice water and could cause some issues. the hit>> a major shakeup in the race for the white house. rick perry is dropping out of the race for the white house. the governor said there was no viable path forward for his campaign. >> i will leave the trail and return home to texas, wind down my 2012 campaign. i will do so with pride. i know i gave up fully of myself of a cause worthy of this country. >> rick perry also endorsed a former opponent, newt gingrich. new gingrich said he is honored to have rick perry's support. he asks rick perry supporters to join his campaign.

>> the other big headline is that newt gingrich's past marital problems. his second wife says he asked her for an open marriage. the interview is causing plenty of controversy. >> newt gingrich has admitted all along that he and his second wife are not friends. she has said in the past she could in his career with one interview. she is now telling abc news may not do that, but it is a scathing attack of how their marriage ended. >> i said to him, we have been married a long time. he said, yes but you want me all to yourself. i just stared at him. he said, cullis that does not care what i do. >> -- his second wife marianne

now describes the shock she experienced because of his behavior. >> he was asking to have an open marriage and i refused. >> all of this up the same time he was chastising bill clinton for his affair with monica lewinsky. >> here is a band she said would call her when he was traveling from their apartment across the street to the capital and tell her how much he loved her and later admitted that clarista was in bed with them while he made the phone calls. >> he has all this nonsense, do you what this person to be president? >> i do not care about his personal life. i want to know how he will enact policies. >> newt gingrich would not comment directly on the accusations. >> i will not say anything about mary anne. mike two daughters have already written to abc commenting that

this is tawdry and inappropriate. >> there has been reports that there was an internal debate about releasing this is. we will talk later about how this but impact voters in south carolina. >>brian ross's entire interview with mary anne is scheduled to air tonight on nightline. >> we are following a developing story from georgetown. a body was found today near the canal road entrance to georgetown university. >> this is why this is so troubling for students here at the university. that is a coroner's van. that is a wooded area woodedcanal road. as the pan over uc the

detectives and the police. they have been here all afternoon. those are dormitories right there. obviously, a disturbing discovery. the call came in around 2:00 p.m.. they called police and police say they found a man and dead inside one of those tents. sources are telling us they do not expect foul play. they are considering the weather. last night to the wind chills were in the teens to mid 20's. hyperthermia is a possibility. they will do an autopsy to discover the exact cause of death. students have been driving by and walking by all day. >> this is not something that happens around here very often. we are pretty surprised. >> as we understand from sources, the man they do believe was homeless.

there were two other homeless people living in the tent. they are being interviewed by the police. this is media night tonight with the georgetown hoyas. it we have students stopping asking us what is going on. >> tonight parents and one fairfax community are hoping to learn more about a stranger approaching the an elementary school. it happened one month ago today. since there there has been for more. -- four more. >> parents are going to be able to come here to claremont elementary school to hear details from police to say that there has been polis -- publicity about these events, they have had more calls from people who think they have seen this drug. they just need the right information to identify the driver. >> police cruisers are looking for somebody who has approached

students. she tells us she told her second and fourth graders here about a suspicious man. >> you do not want to scare them too much but you want to be blunt and let them know what is happening. >> since december 19, there have been five reports of a man in a red pickup truck trying to get the attention of kids walking off of school property. the latest event was on tuesday when a man approached date seventh grader. he has tried to walk up to the children at times. >> if somebody is so bold or that would continuously come to where there is police presence -- we know he is out there. >> parents and police and this alexandria neighborhood have been on guard. there has not been detailed information to identify the driver. it is likely the same man. >> a goatee, moustache perhaps,

glasses -- that is all this kids are telling us. >> it is described as having scratches, dance, and rust. >> keep an eye out for it. >> one parent told us after school today that if there is a neighborhood where this person will be identified it will be this one. everyone is talking about this tonight. >> thank you. a community safety meeting will be held tonight at clermont elementary school. the meeting will be in the school cafeteria at 7:30. >> as we told you earlier, we are following big breaking news. a local fbi raid as part of an international crackdown on a popular website. >> for about the last 45 minutes to 60 minutes, we have

seen fbi agents go in and out of this communications group. cogent is an internet service provider. a couple of locations at the dulles area have also been rated. this is associated with federal prosecutors and guiding the leaders of mega upload and shutting down that popular sharing side. it is a worldwide criminal organization involved in copyright infringement and money-laundering. many people probably know about this extremely popular site, they illegally reproduces and distributes popular copyrighted content such as movies tv shows, music, and other software without the authorization of the copyright holder. this organization has made

hundreds of millions of dollars in the last several years. another interesting development is we have also learned shortly after the department of justice took down megaupload.com, the justice department website is under some sort of cyber attack. anonymous is taking credit for going after the doj's web site. there is some huge developments in this case. we will get you updated as they become available. we are trying to reach out to these companies for comment. >> keep us posted jake. coming up -- a mother in jail accused of sexually assaulting a 13-year-old. >> somebody is stealing gas straight from the tanks of cars.

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>> some students at one of the best type schools in the area were suspended because of what went down at a recent house

party. >> at first the students just had to face their parents. after a principle when on a social media investigation, they were punished. >> it all started because of what students posted on facebook. should these teenagers be punished at school for drinking that happened at home decks out here in montgomery county, it is up to the discretion of the school principal. >> chatter on facebook, the principles attention. there was a party on somebody's house where drinking was involved. >> obviously, it is a very stupid thing to do. everybody can see it and adults can see it also. >> montgomery county police broke up the party and gave citations for alcohol possession. the principle using what he found on facebook page is

suspended at least three dozen students. some parents said off-camera double punishment is unfair since the incident did not happen on school property. >> i think the principle should not get involved unless the drinking happened during an actual school activity. >> police say receiving a minor citation is not enough to get a teenager's attention. 239 citations for alcohol possession by miners and arrested six drivers for underage drinking. >> the sanctions at the school are probably a lot more meaningful than what the police officer can give. >> he told our partners recently that quote -- some parents and students out here say it is unfair that these

teenagers at walt whitman high school were punished but other high schoolers at the same party were not. that is because it is up to each school's principal. they want to that rule changed. so far it is not on the table for discussion. >> it looks like the washington monument could reopen to visitors a bit sooner than expected thanks to a local billionaire. david rubenstein is donating $7.5 million to repair cracks at the top of the monument. that damage to my remember happened after the earthquake struck our region last august. he came forward with his offer to help repair the icon. >> the country and the city has been wonderful to me. as with the magna carter and other things i have done, i want to repay a debt i have to the

country. >> congress is allocating the other half of the $15 million needed for the repairs. the famous landmark got about 1 million visitors a year before it closed to the public last year. they hope to have repairs finished by the end of august. >> what a wonderful gesture. they should know what he did. do you think? >> maybe he is a modest man and he does not want them to know. we told everybody now. >> are you ready to talk about flurries and freezing rain backs that sort of thing? >> no. >> ok, then do not listen. first, it is a pretty picture time. this is frederick county at oakdale high school. we will put this in motion because he will see the sun shine fade behind cloudiness as we head toward sunset. the increasing cloudiness

expected all in front of a cold front. the air outside is pretty dry. because of that, we are not expecting much and the way of the flurries. this is davidsonville 37 hiright now. mated 30's west and south of town. temperatures will fall after the cold front goes through. it is not one of these dynamic cold fronts with wind, it does not have a lot of moisture to support it. 11 degrees in chicago eight in minneapolis -- or is that three degrees tax it is hard to see these numbers. the air is cold but there is no force to deliver a lot of cold air here. the temperatures will be back up in the 30's tomorrow. the cold air will overspread. i mention so much about it

because that is key to what will happen tomorrow evening. take a look at a little moisture coming in. the front will swing in and these guys will be chilly. check out our futurecast. clouds will increase in the afternoon because of this -- an area of low pressure with mixed precipitation. high pressure over maine. the supply of cold air is in place. now we have this usual game we play when we have these cold air situations with moisture moving in from the south. at some point, warmer temperatures will move in and change it to all rain during the day. notice the temperatures -- the sky cover tomorrow. increasing in cloudiness. temperatures will be in the upper 20's to low 30's. if the computer model is right

enough warm weather will cause periods of rain on saturday. there is a concern on saturday. hagerstown frederick temperatures on the ground will be cold enough and long enough that maybe that winter rebecs could be up to one-quarter inch of ice. that is why those areas are under a storm watch tomorrow night. partly cloudy midday and the possibility of a winter remix. a 70% chance of that on saturday. sunday it is damp and drizzly. much warmer on monday and mild temperatures and partly cloudy skies next week. we do not see a threat of travel because of the wintry mix, but the farther north and west to go that could be an issue. >> thank you for that. >> my pleasure. >> to offset the bad news, here is some good news. it is time to announce the winner of today's facebook giveaway.

>> we are giving away passes to a ski resort. congratulations to thomas busl. we will be giving away more tickets tomorrow. the two facebook to sign up for your chance to win. >> apple has a big announcement that could change the way students from around the country. >> will find out what is new at the box office this weekend.

>> a bizarre string of crimes has reached an annapolis car dealership. >> somebody is dealing gas. >> the toyota dealership on west street has fallen victim to vandalism before. according to management, never quite like this. >> that is one of the word is stories i have heard in a while. >> over the past week somebody has stolen gas from about one dozen of their cars, most of them monday night into tuesday morning. the perpetrator did not use a hose. he or she used a drill to tear holes right into the tank. >> i never thought somebody would do something like that. >> with only 3 gallons of fuel

per tank, nobody understands the mode of. but it cost $800 for each new tank. >> we can see an increase in the theft -- something with the gas. >> they describe this as a dangerous crime as a spark could easily ignite. >> gas is extremely flammable. >> nobody from the dealership would speak to us on camera, but management told us they reacted with surprise because it seems like a crime not even worth committing. >> i do not know what i think about that. >> going forward the plan to check with neighboring jurisdictions to see if any similar crimes of taken place. >> thank you. still ahead on abc seven news at 5:00, new developments from

the cruise ship disaster off the coast of italy. to investigators now want to speak with. >> i am not sure she is going to make it. >>baby ava has captured the heart of one community.

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5:00 on your side. >> the boy is a friend of their children and a neighbor. the abuse took place during a sleepover at the southwest washington home. >> the 13-year-old boy apparently told his mother. she called police. a few days later the suspect was in court to face child sex abuse charges. >> a woman who liked to dress up like a vampire allegedly preyed on a 13-year-old boy. >> that is crazy. does she have kids of her own back squats the victim was right across the hall. he came over to play with her children and one of them asked him to spend the night. she took him into her bedroom repeatedly and engaged in sexual activity.

>> that is a child. anybody who is ground that plays with a child like that is sickening. >> she offered him a fruit drink spiked with alcohol. some expressed disgust over the alleged abuse of a 13-year-old boy. >> neighbors say she moved in a few months back. it also say the woman across the hall and the mother became friend. >> i cannot imagine what the mother is going through. she cannot trust her own neighbors around their children because they had a nice little bond pierre >> police said gaskins talked freely about what had happened. she said she did not force the boy and he knew what he was doing. >> what does she mean she knew what he was doing? >> she was released but ordered to stay away from anyone under the age of 16 including her own

children. she will be back in court march 5 to stand trial. >> let's update tonight's top story. two mature workers were charged with stealing what could be hundreds of thousands of dollars in coins from fare machines. authorities say that mcdae and haile still backs of money. hale is accused of using his share to buy lottery tickets. >> we are learning about fbi raids on an international crackdown on a popular website. megauploads.com is accused of copyright violations. the fbi has issued 20 search warrants. >> rick perry is dropping out of the race for the white house.

south carolina the governor suspended his campaign for the presidential nomination. instead, he endorsed former speaker newt gingrich. >> divers are back in the water searching for those still missing. authorities are searching for a young woman who was with the captain at the time of the wreck. >> this is the woman and italian authorities believe may provide key details in the disaster. on this interview domica defended the captain saying he helped save 3000 lives by steering the ship closer to land. she confirmed she was with him at the time of the wreck but said the captain was still on board at 11:30 that night when she made it off the ship. that contradicts reports from eyewitnesses who said he was on the dock hours before most

passengers the state. he himself has changed his story. first, he said the collision for him into the water. now he says he tripped and fell into a lifeboat while saving others. this call recorded 40 minutes after the ship ran aground. >> as this conversation took place, panicked cruise goers were looking for lifejackets. at least 11 people are confirmed dead.

21 are still missing. >> temper a check on the traffic situation. mike is here with details. >> south on 395 on washington boulevard past the beltway you see delays. as you make the trip to fredericksburg. heavy delays on the interlude from dulles toll road to the 270 spurred. also slow in the virginia on the inter loop and the outer loop has heavy delays. from georgetown pike to 66. >> coming up on abc7 news at 5:00 a fight over taxi service.

>> there are three new movies out this weekend. >> our camera joins us with what movies are worth seeing. >> we have a 9/11 heart tiger

and a history lesson for a new generation. -- a 9/11 heart tiger and a history lesson for a new generation. >> we go into the air with black pilots that broke racial barriers and world war ii. terrance howard and cuba gooding lead a great cast. >> they were flooding these things and maneuvering them in such a way -- it with his fly and turned. it was awesome. >> great action, would in dialogue. a couple of stars. pg-13 "red tails."

three stars is our rating for "haywire." a young but thomas horne holds his own as a kid looking for a message from his father on "extremely loud and incredibly close." three stars. a good dvd for the weekend is "the ides of march." personally, i really like that woman who was kicking the heck out of him. i do not know what that was but i like it. >> she is your type? >> what does that say about you, arch? >> made an impression on you. >> up next, one popular cell phone company is hiking your rates. >> we're starting to see a light at the end of the tunnel.

>> good news in the fight for baby ava's life.

>> now for a heart wrenching story of a little girl fighting for her life. she is at the johns hopkins center one month after a terrific car accident in -- a horrific car accident in ocean city. >> they were stopped at a red light in ocean city when a truck slammed into their car at high speed sending both vehicles 100 feet from the intersection. >> it was a miracle that two people came out of that car. >> ann marie suffered a broken arm and three ministrokes and ava was sent to the hospital with life-threatening injuries. police arrested the driver of the driverandre kaczynski and charged him with a driving with drugs after finding drugs and pcp in his truck.

ava had a large blood clot between her skull and her brain. >> if it is swelling out of control, there is nothing we can give her to keep the swelling from progressing. >> i really was not sure she would make it. >> she defeated all odds and went through surgery. she has opened her eyes and can breathe on her own. >> to hear her voice was awesome. >> the local community has supported them by setting up a facebook page with 6000 followers. >> it is pretty breathtaking. >>ava has a long road ahead of her, and her brain functioning remains unknown. her father is optimistic about his little fighter. >> hopefully she makes it 100%

recovery. i would not expect anything less from where she has come from. >> six days after the accident, the ocean city narcotics police found cpcp and marijuana at his home. police are reviewing his license. based on the maryland deposit law he is currently allowed to drive a vehicle. a court date is set. >> we do our part to help local children stay warm this winter. we donated clothes including 100 brand new code for children as young as 6 months old. >> 7 is on your side with news about at&t. it is about to raise its rates, but only for new customers.

the higher rates are for smartphones and tablet data plans. they go into effect on sunday. for at&t customers already under contract there will be no change. sprint is the only company that still offers unlimited data. >> apple is reinventing the text but today. the newest version of its ibooks app for the i pad. the books will offer questionnaires at the end of chapters and automatically create flashcards for studying. each textbook sold will cost $15 or less. >>"grey's anatomy" is new to 9 on abc primetime. >> i am nervous. i have never had a major surgery before. and when your sister called you to come and save her life, you

take a call. >> how lucky i him to have such a sister. >>"grey's anatomy" is on tonight at 9:00 followed by "private practice." >> now there are four candidates for the republican presidential nomination. rick perry is out two days before the south carolina primary. chris van cleeve is there and we will have reaction. a sitting president pays a does it to disney world. we will tell you why barack obama took a trip down main street coming up at 6:00. >> it is a little warmer than here. >> definitely. what can we do about this tax >> not much, just wait. let's keep you started with a look at what is happening in the storm stand.

snow falling along and behind the cold front as colder air moves across the great lakes. it looks like our air is dry enough that as the snow comes in a lot of it will not make it to the ground. anything more than that will be close to the pennsylvania line and new york state. chilly now in the 30's. once the system moves through to that we will be in the mid 20's. that is the forecast, 24-30. a couple of floors possible across the region. our future cast shows the front moving through. increasing clouds in the afternoon as a low pressure storm -- a low pressure moves throughout the valley. the result may be some wintry weather late tomorrow night. a little sleet and freezing rain. farther north and west toward hagerstown and it points to the west of there, there could be

some issue of travel because of the winter remix. that will move out of town sometime late saturday night. we do have a winter storm watch. you can see if there with western maryland and western pennsylvania, but nothing in the area. a drizzly day on sunday. much warmer with temperatures close to 60 on monday. that is the latest. back to you para >> thank you. we are one day closer to the weekend and one day closer to the nfl division championships. >> they are getting so fired up and involved appear in baltimore it is almost comical. one of joe flacco's neighbors called to report he was skateboarding down the sidewalk. they said, he is going down his driveway. make him stop, he might get hurt. today he was just fine. he continues to answer his

critics with a 12-4 record, a playoff one, and now comes his biggest age of the year. will this continue -- will his teammates continue to write him next >>lukewarm, that is probably the best way to describe the reception he has gotten lately. >> i think i am more shocked just how people can speak about somebody who is just a flat out winner. there is no one side to anything. there is no one player that makes any team great. >>flacco has never missed a game in his four years and the baltimore ravens have never missed the playoffs with him at the helm. earlier this week even safety ed reed said flacco got rattled against the houston tx. >> his reputation speaks for itself. i just what people seem to

forget sometimes. i wish to those guys did not have to come to my defense of all kinds of things. i do not think they have to. the way things are talked about, it just makes it so that somebody has to come out and say something. >> what would a when sunday or better yet another when two weeks later due to his critics that's what i do not care. we could be holding the trophy and the perception will probably not change, but it will not matter. >> we have to recognize that last week the only team and in the nfl who did not have a penalty or a turnover was right here at the council. the other big game, the new york giants and the san francisco forty-niners. the winner of those two games go to the super bowl. coming up next, the fight with the -dad, why are you getting that?

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>> a new company that helps to catch a ride with no cabs are a route has caught some heat from the d.c. taxicab commission. >> sam afford with that story. >> they are operating in cities from paris to san francisco and nowhere has it run into government opposition it has had since it opened what month ago in dc. they say they like their service and an influential council member is speaking out for uber. >> i might say, can you take me to my airport right away? >> she is in her neighborhood of upper northwest. she wants to give the new service uber a chance. >> you will immediately receive a text message with the name and

rating of your driver. >> it links writers with limo drivers who are between the jobs pierre >> they will locate cars around at that particular time. >> last week the d.c. cab commission set up a sting worthy confiscated the vehicle and find the driver $2,000. >> let's not jump on this and try to kill it. let's figure out how we can make it work. >> she says it is not legal under current laws. >> the cannot be both a limousine and a taxicab. they are one or the other. >> we are neither. we are an efficient lead generator. >> minutes after her action, and as to be showed up outside of uber's headquarters. it is expensive. about twice what you would pay for a two mile ride.

>> d.c. laws need to be changed she said for services like uber. she is having a meeting on this later this month. uber and the taxicab commission chairman are scheduled to have a face to face meeting on valentine's day. reporting live, sam ford, abc 7 news. >> that is it for abc seven news at 5:00. coming up at 6:00. >> a big day for the gop presidential candidates as they prepare for a major debate tonight. the latest coming at you next pierre >> skating accusations from newt gingrich's second wife. we have part of that interview and the fallout 24 hours before a vote. >> how about a 20 cent fee for max. >> live and in hd, thi