A woman is in critical condition after a car crashed in Irvine late Monday.

The incident happened when the male driver lost control of his car at Shady Canyon Drive and Cloverfield in Irvine at around 11pm Monday, Orange County Fire Authority said.

The vehicle then smashed into bushes. The woman was trapped inside vehicle, and after being freed by emergency services was taken to the Western Medical Center in critical condition. The driver was also taken to hospital, though his condition is unknown.

At this time the circumstances leading up to the crash are unknown.

A store clerk chased an armed robber out of a store in Murrieta on Monday.

The worker decided to take a stand when he realized his masked assailant was trying to hold up the USA Gas Station on Winchester Road with a pellet gun.

He challenged the man after his co-worker pointed out the robber was brandishing a non-lethal weapon during the failed heist, which occured  at around 2 a.m.

And when Dennis, who works the graveyard shift at the outlet, said he was going to produce his own firearm the criminal fled the scene, escaping into a nearby field.

"I walked up and I said, 'yep that's a pellet gun,' and I asked him what he was going to do with it, Dennis said, "(He said) 'Well I want a thousand dollars,' and I'm like 'really?' I said, 'there’s only $50 in the drawer.'"

He then told the crook he had a gun stored underneath his counter, and when he bent over seemingly to retrieve it the man ran away.

Dennis chased after him, but was unable to stop him making his escape.

Murrieta Police Department patrol units arrived on the scene within minutes of the call and set up a perimeter, but they were unable to catch the suspect despite an extensive search.

Investigators believe the thief  is responsible for two similar robberies that occurred on January 13 and January 20.

And while officers do not recommend victims follow Dennis’ lead, he was unrepentant about his actions.

"If you want to call it crazy, call it crazy… I don't put up with much," Dennis said.

He is also hoping the perpetrator has learned his lesson, as things could turn out much differently in future encounters.

"If I’m not packing, someone else is going to be packing and he’ll get shot," Dennis said.

The suspect is believed to be aged between 20 and 25-years-old, is around 5’7", 160 pounds, with a thin build.

During the robbery he wore a black jacket, black jeans, and a black ski mask with a white threaded design near the mouth.

Travel bans across the tri-state area were lifted Tuesday morning and subways slowly roared back to life, hours after a debilitating winter storm pelted the region with blinding snow and icy winds and forced officials into a near total shutdown of schools, roads and mass transit systems.

Mayor de Blasio said city schools would reopen Wednesday and hailed the Department of Sanitation for what he called an "extraordinary effort" to clean up the snow and salt streets and sidewalks.

MTA subway, bus and commuter rail service resumed gradually and was running at a weekend schedule capacity -- about 60 percent of weekday service -- by noon. Full weekday service will resume Wednesday, the MTA said. 

Limited NJ Transit service was expected to be restored later Tuesday, ahead of schedule, and full service was set to resume Wednesday. Connecticut Gov. Dannel Malloy lifted the travel ban on local roads in Litchfield and Fairfield counties in the morning and said all restrictions would be lifted at 2 p.m.

All three state bans -- in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut -- had been in effect for nearly nine hours and emergency vehicles were the only ones permitted on the roads. 

Facing blizzard warnings and doomsday snow forecasts, the governors of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut declared states of emergency Monday in anticipation of the storm. But for much of the area, it fell fall short of expectations as far as snow totals and wind damage. 

Initial forecasts projected as much as 3 feet of snow to fall on parts of the tri-state, but snowfall projections were greatly reduced by early Tuesday morning. By the time the snow stops falling Tuesday afternoon, between 4 and 12 inches of snow were expected to be on the ground in New York City. More than two feet of snow were possible in eastern Suffolk County, and more than 28 inches had accumulated in some parts of the county by 9:30 a.m. 

Cuomo acknowledged the storm was "less destructive than expected," but stood by the emergency declarations, saying the travel bans and mass transit restrictions helped officials clean up faster than they would have been able to otherwise and, ultimately, get the system back on line more quickly.

De Blasio echoed Cuomo's sentiments.

"To me it was a no-brainer," the mayor said as he reminded New Yorkers road conditions were still treacherous in spots. "We have to take precautions to keep people safe."

De Blasio pointed out the severe impact on Long Island, which was hardest hit by the storm, as he said how close the city came to being hit: "literally -- about 20 miles east of the Queens border -- 2 feet of snow." 

The U.S. Postal Service said it would not be delivering mail to Nassau and Suffolk counties Wednesday. Islip Airport had 20.9 inches of snow by 9 a.m. Tuesday, and Orient had 28.5 inches.

"Some areas dodged a bullet. That was not the case here in Suffolk County," Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone said at a news briefing Wednesday with Cuomo at his side. "We were hit -- and we were hit hard."

Seven and a half inches of snow fell in Islip during the day Monday, breaking a previous record for Jan. 27, set in 1987. Cuomo said he was redirecting resources from the city and Hudson Valley to assist with snow cleanup in Suffolk County. 

In New York City, Queens has seen the most snow, with 12.1 inches in Glendale at about 9:30 a.m. Central Park had 9.8 inches by 1 p.m. 

More than 7,700 flights in and out of the region were canceled, and many of them may not take off again until Wednesday. Passengers on at least one outbound Virgin Atlantic flight were stranded on the tarmac at Kennedy Airport for about six hours before being stuck back at the terminal after midnight, according to NBC News.

The largest snowstorm recorded in the city was a February 2006 storm that dumped 26.9 inches on Central Park. 

Students returned to a Huntington Beach school after three months away due to asbestos cleanup at the campus.

Teachers and students are back at Oak View Elementary School, where lessons for second, third, fourth and fifth graders will be in the temporary structures. Kindergartners will be moved to a nearby school and first graders will still be bussed outside the district. 

It comes after Ocean View School District officials decided to bus 1,600 pupils to nine separate locations last October after discovering traces of asbestos at three campuses.

"It's all safe, you know the portables have never contained any asbestos… we're bringing our kids back and we’re excited about that," school district superintendent Gustavo Baldares said.

He is also hoping to have all children back well before the end of 2015

"The goal is to have every student back at their home school at the beginning of fall, in their classrooms," Baldaras said.

Parent Martin Guzman said the emergency measures have been hard for his family, as they had to get up earlier than normal to put two of their children on a bus to Buena Park.

"The bus sometimes was too late….it was hard for me," Guzman said.

It is costing almost $8 million to clean up the asbestos, while the district has also been spending $50,000 a week to bus the students to school.

The authority is now under pressure to find a way to replenish the funds. 

Superintendent Balderas said a committee is being formed to decide which school properties might be sold, which could include the district offices.

The Orange County Department of Education has a consultant working with the district to help with a financial recovery plan.

Federal agents took a fugitive into custody in Pico Rivera on Monday, ending a lockdown at nearby South Ranchito Elementary School, officials said.

The man, identified as Alejandro Carnalla, was found hiding in an abandoned home, according to officials with the US Marshals Services.

The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department told the school at 5241 Passons Boulevard to go on lockdown about 3:15 p.m., according to a school worker. The lockdown was lifted about 5:20 p.m.

Parents were allowed to pick up their children.

Prosecutors have declined to charge an 80-year-old California man in the killing of a burglar who falsely claimed she was pregnant.

The Los Angeles County district attorney's office said Monday it will not charge Tom Greer in the shooting of the woman who asked him not to fire.

An autopsy later showed Andrea Miller was not pregnant.

Long Beach police say Greer surprised Miller and Gus Adams when he returned home on the night of July 22 and found them breaking into his safe. The two beat him and broke his collarbone before he got his handgun and started firing.

Adams has been charged with Miller's murder under the theory that he committed a felony that led to her death. Adams is also charged with burglary and robbery.

State water officials say they may dam parts of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta in an emergency measure to protect freshwater used by millions of Californians.

The Department of Water Resources said Monday that if the drought persists they may build temporary rocky barriers blocking three channels on the Delta. They say the dams would decrease the amount of water released from upstream reservoirs to keep saltwater from creeping inland from the San Francisco Bay, contaminating the Delta.

The Delta provides 25 million people with drinking water and irrigates millions of acres of farmland.

Officials say that despite a wet December no major storms have hit California in January to replenish the reservoirs. Officials considered building the dams last year, but spring rainstorms made it unnecessary.

Gov. Jerry Brown declared a drought emergency for California due to critically low reservoir levels and consecutive dry years.

Three people wearing ski masks and armed with at least one gun stole gold nuggets from San Francisco's Wells Fargo History Museum Tuesday morning after they rammed an SUV into the building's entrance.

Police said that at least 10 ounces of gold were stolen, valued at about $10,000.

The robbery took place at about 2:30 a.m. at 420 Montgomery St., where the glass front of the building was left shattered and swarms of police officers were surveying what happened and what was stolen, a police investigator told NBC Bay Area.

A dark Chevy Suburban was towed away just before 7 a.m. Officer Grace Gatpandan said that the three suspects had ditched the SUV, their faces covered, and held the security guard at gunpoint before taking the gold nuggets from a display case.

The trio took off in a second vehicle, described as a four-door sedan. Gatpandan said she does not know if this getaway car was waiting for them with another driver inside or if it was strategically parked somewhere. She said the Chevy was stolen from San Bruno.

Kevin Woodsford, who was on the scene afterwards to replace the glass, has been inside the building before. He noted that the museum has lots of "valuable stuff and antiques you probably can't replace."

"It's pretty crazy," he said. "It's a bold job to pull off."

The museum honors Henry Wells and William Fargo, who founded their financial services company in 1852. The museu's website prominently advertises gold nuggets as one of its featured attractions.

In a statement, Ruben Pulido, a Wells Fargo spokesman said: "We’re disturbed this happened to the Wells Fargo History Museum, but are grateful no team member was harmed. Additionally, the historic stagecoaches on site were not damaged." He vowed the museum would soon reopen.

Police said they have made no arrests but did not there have been several smash-and-grabs recently in the city.

A family has been left brokenhearted after hundreds of dollars worth of Valentines Day gifts were stolen from their front porch in Ventura County.

Birthday presents also were swiped when the package thief struck last Wednesday at around 7:44 p.m, with surveillance footage catching the thief in the act. In total $700 worth of gifts were taken.

If anyone recognizes the culprit they are asked to get in touch with the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department.

A 15-year-old boy bitten by a rattlesnake kept his cool, handling the snake and getting out of the area without panicking, his proud parents told NBC 7 Monday.

Bradley Avey was about an hour into a Sunday afternoon hike with his family in Mission Trails when he moved to join his father Thomas on a rock outcropping. As he walked through two bushes, he said, “Dad, I think I got bit.”

Thomas said he didn’t believe his son at first, but he heard a nervous tone in his voice.

“The next thing I know, I see him reaching down. He grabs the snake, kind of pulls it off his leg, and throws it,” said Thomas. The roughly 3-foot snake had given no warning, and even after it was tossed aside, there was still no rattling.

The two ran back to the rest of the group, where Bradley’s mother Julie got on the phone with 911. Thomas pulled down Bradley’s sock and saw two distinctive fang marks. He knew it had to be a rattlesnake.

His son asked if he was going to die. “I said no, you’re not going to die. You’re going to be OK,” Thomas recalled.

Within ten minutes, they say the San Diego Fire-Rescue helicopter landed on the trails and airlifted Bradley out.

“Being my own son, I can't believe that I was that calm,” said Julie. “But it was because of the awesome dispatchers and the San Diego Fire-Rescue helicopter. When they arrived on scene, they were professional, calm, collected.”

Bradley was flown to Rady Children’s Hospital, and doctors gave him a dose of antivenin.

His parents say he is tired with a leg twice its normal size, but he will be just fine. They wanted to thank all the emergency personnel who helped to save their son.

Keri Carstairs, medical director of the Rady’s emergency department, said if anyone finds themselves in this situation, they should do exactly what this family did.

She said when bitten by a snake, never put on a tourniquet, do not try to suck the venom out and do not cut at the bite. You should get away from the snake, call 911 and wait for help.

While firefighters say they don’t get many of these calls this time of year, Carstairs said it’s not too uncommon.

“In San Diego, we have such a mild climate. Although it seems cool to most of us here today, the mild climate allows these snakes to be outside all year,” she said.

However, it is exceedingly rare for snakebites to turn fatal, according to Carstairs.

As April 15 approaches, the U.S. Treasury Department is issuing a new warning about a scam targeting taxpayers in Southern California and around the nation.

The NBC4 I-Team reported on the scam last year.

IRS Phone Scam Form

Thousands of people have received calls from strangers who claim to be IRS agents, threatening legal action — including jail time — if the victim doesn't send cash or prepaid debit cards for unresolved federal debt.

Investigators say the calls are escalating: so far, more than 250,000 people have reported these calls; at least 3,000 taxpayers have fallen for the trick, handing over more than $14 million in cash and cards.

Californians make up the largest percentage of victims in the country.

"As soon as someone pretending to be [with the] IRS [tells] you that you owe money, and if you don't pay you're going to be arrested," said Internal Revenue spokesman Joe Munoz. "That's a clear sign that it's not the IRS who is on the phone."

With the scam spreading even faster than before, the Treasury Department is urging people not to engage with these callers.

Instead, they should hang up immediately and file a report with the government.

To make reporting easier, the government has created an online form where consumers can describe what happened, and detail any financial losses.

Any information submitted will be secured with a five-digit pin code that will be permanently assigned to the case.

The Los Angeles Lakers will return to Hawaii for preseason training camp in 2015, the team announced on Monday.

Kobe Bryant should be 200 percent recovered from his shoulder injury by that point. Speaking of which, Bryant offered his thoughts on his shoulder injury with one sentence: "I feel like I just returned a 100 yard kickoff in the last two minutes of the Super Bowl to win it all only to have my run called back by a flag on the play."

Back to the Lakers' training camp in 2015, Lakers coach Byron Scott needs to adjust and learn from the failed tactics of the 2014 training camp and first half of the 2014-15 NBA season. Hopefully, the Lakers do not repeat the same mistakes that wore down the 36-year-old over the first half of the 2014-15 season.

First of all, Bryant should be allowed to get himself into shape. The 36-year-old expended a great deal of energy going through Scott's rigorous preseason workouts, and frankly, Bryant should have been saving those sprints for games. A notoriously hard and discipline worker, Bryant should get himself into shape during the off-season, and the Lakers need not break his battered body with senseless running drills. Bryant is not the guy to beat into shape for the start of the season. He cares too much to show up out of shape, and entering his 20th season, Bryant has earned the respect to train on his own.

In the 2014 edition of training camp, Bryant's physical ability in training camp workouts gave Scott a false sense of comfort. Based on what he saw in training camp, the Lakers' coach came away believing Bryant could still play 36 minutes per game at 36 years of age.

Scott got it wrong on his first try, and he needs to get it right on the second go-around.

Although no link between a rigorous training camp and Bryant's shoulder injury exists, the Lakers should learn from all mistakes made in handling Bryant prior to the shoulder injury.

No one wants Bryant to get hurt during training camp. No one wants a repeat of Steve Nash or an injury-plagued final season. Training camp for the Lakers and training camp for Bryant should be two entirely separate experiences. Bryant should be on the beach getting well-earned massages while his teammates work on running drills to the sounds of ear-piercing whistles.

After training camp, Scott and the Lakers need to go one step beyond their current concessions. The Lakers should reexamine the idea of playing Bryant 32-33 minutes per game. Dropping that number below 30 minutes per game would serve to preserve Bryant and give him the opportunity to play more games by the sheer fact that he would have less time to injure himself on the court.

The ferocity of Bryant's desire on the court plays a leading role in explaining why he gets hurt. Bryant's competitive fire further explains how he plays through the pain. When Bryant tore his rotator cuff in his right shoulder, he decided to start shooting with his left arm. Of course, Bryant made his first left-handed shot. Somewhere in his head, Bryant had to be dreaming up trash talk based around beating his opponents left-handed.

"Warrior" is the word Bryant's colleagues regularly use to describe him. Often, a couple expletives precede the description of "warrior," but those expletives only serve to better describe Bryant's relentless spirit. He battles. Even in practice, he wants to rip out his teammates' hearts. When asked about how he approached playing against aging greats early in his career, Bryant offered no mercy.

"For me, it was like chasing a wounded gazelle. I really didn't care. I'm going to kill them," Bryant said with the memory of blood dripping from his serial killer smile.

In his final season, Bryant will be the wounded gazelle with a target pinned to his front and back. Scott's job will be to ensure Bryant arrives safely at the finish line, so he can be put out to pasture with respect. Bryant's pasture will probably be somewhere nice--like Hawaii, maybe...

So the Lakers will return to Hawaii for training camp for the 13th time since first going out to the islands in 1988. Most recently, the team held training camp in Hawaii back in 2007. That season, the Lakers started the year with Kwame Brown and finished with Pau Gasol in the NBA Finals.

The 2015-16 LA Lakers can only hope for a repeat of that sort of magic.

A thief attacked a security guard with a metal pipe during a botched burglary attempt at a Los Angeles shopping mall early Tuesday.

The attack occurred at around 12:30 a.m. outside the Eagle Rock Plaza Macy's in the 2800 block of East Colorado Boulevard, Los Angeles Police Department said.

The assailant struck the guard on the knee when he caught him leaving the store after the alarm went off. The victim received treatment but did not need to be taken to the hospital.

It is unclear if the thief made off with any merchandise, and whether there were any other accomplices involved. A search went on for several hours, but it was unsuccessful despite police dogs and a helicopter being called in. The manhunt was called off just before 3:30 a.m. 

The subject is wanted for burglary and assault.

An FDNY lieutenant found and rescued a puppy that had been missing for five months near the department's training facility on Randall's Island and reunited the pooch with its owner.

The dog, Burt, had been missing from its Manhattan home since Aug. 20. Burt's owner papered hundreds of blocks, including 90 in one night, according to a Facebook page dedicated to finding him, over the months that followed to no avail. Then the owner got a call from Lt. Dave Kelly with the FDNY's training bureau.

According to the department, Kelly noticed the dog rummaging for food at night on the grounds of the training facility. He tried to feed it in hopes he could get near enough to corral the animal, but the whippet -- looks similar to a greyhound -- kept eluding him.

On Monday, as a dangerous snowstorm bore down on the region, Kelly set a trap using food and a dog cage and snagged Burt. He scoured social media for leads and found the Facebook page, then was able to reunite him with his "ecstatic" owner, the FDNY said.

Burt turned 1 in November.

Two Chicago twin brothers who provided unprecedented testimony against one of the world’s most dangerous drug cartels were sentenced to 14 years in prison Tuesday.

In announcing his sentence, Judge Ruben Castillo paid special attention to the sheer volume of drug trafficking for which Pedro and Margarito Flores were accused.

"Even though I am not going to sentence you to life, you are leaving here with a life sentence," said Castillo. "Every time you start your car, you have to wonder will that car start or will explode."

The Flores brothers left a life at the top of the drug world to begin secretly cooperating with federal investigators in 2008. Both men made comments in court thanking the government for allowing them to come forward, and they apologized for their criminal actions.

Prosecutors later Tuesday are expected to announce new charges the ruthless Sinaloa cocaine cartel, led by notorious drug kingpin Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman Loera.

While the two brothers faced possible life sentences, the government asked that they be sentenced to a term of 10 to 16 years, calling them "extraordinary witnesses" who provided "unparallelled assistance" in helping to bring down not only "El Chapo,"  but the leadership of a second cartel and the dismantling of their own Chicago-based cocaine organization.

"The defendants jointly decided to dissolve their criminal enterprise and cooperate with the government," prosecutors wrote in a recent court filing. "Debriefing them took six months of nearly daily sessions."

As a result, 54 defendants were charged in 2009 alone, and prosecutors say some of the cases where the two provided assistance remain so sensitive they still cannot be revealed.

Included in the brothers’ cooperation was the secret recording of more than 70 conversations with cartel members, including two sessions with the elusive “El Chapo” himself. During that time, they enjoyed such favored status with the notorious cartel leader, that they were able to negotiate a reduction in price for their Sinaloa cocaine, from $55,000 to $50,000 per kilo.

Guzman is in custody in Mexico, following his spectacular arrest last year. There are questions whether he will ever be extradited to face charges here in the United States.

Described by the Justice Department as “the most significant drug traffickers in Chicago’s history,” prosecutors said the Flores brothers began their cooperation knowing it put them at grave risk.

“The Flores brothers (and their families) will live the rest of their lives in danger of being killed in retribution,” they wrote. “The barbarism of the cartels is legend, with a special place reserved for those who cooperate.”

As a result, extraordinary security was planned for Tuesday’s sentencing.

Indeed, over the protests of the government, the brothers’ father returned to Mexico in 2009, and within days he was kidnapped and presumed killed.

During their career, the brothers are believed to have been responsible for the importation and distribution of, at minimum, over 70 tons of cocaine, through elaborate transportation schemes which began with planes, boats, and submarines as the drugs left Columbia, entering the United States and making their way to Chicago via a system of stash houses, warehouses, and vehicles with hidden compartments.

“They created massive economies of scale,” prosecutors wrote, noting that here in Chicago the Flores' workers were responsible for the distribution of “ton quantities of cocaine and the laundering of more than $1 billion.”

“The government must consider the extreme danger associated with physically producing the brothers in any venue outside their protected custodial locations,” prosecutors said. As a result, their expected appearance in court Tuesday will mark the first public appearance since their incarceration over six years ago.

A former California Highway Patrol officer who secretly sent himself and his colleagues nude photos of arrested women from their cell phones will spend three years on probation but will be spared jail time.

Sean Harrington, 35, pleaded no contest Tuesday morning to two felony charges of unauthorized access to a computer and copying computer data for secretly sending himself the photos of DUI suspects.

His plea deal means he'll avoid jail time but will receive three years of formal felony probation and a 180-day suspended jail sentence. He must also speak at a community violence solutions class to tell everyone what he did, prosecutor Barry Grove said.

If Harrington had gone to trial, he could have faced up to three years and eight months in prison if convicted on all counts, Grove said.

"You had a person who was in a position of public trust. We as the public gave him a certain amount of power," Grove said. "He violated that  public trust, he abused his power, and now no longer forevermore is allowed to be a police officer. He will be a convicted felon for the rest of his life."

Harrington had been working out a plea agreement with his high-profile defense lawyer Michael Rains for months.

Rains said Tuesday he thinks Harrington received a harsher sentence than anyone who wasn't a law enforcement officer would have, despite potentially facing prison time for the felony charges.

"I think if this would have been a case where it was not a police officer but some other citizen who didn't have a criminal record, it would have been a misdemeanor case," Rains said.

He said because of Harrington's position of authority, prosecutors insisted on felony charges.

Rains said he thinks Contra Costa County Superior Court Judge Terri Mockler recognized that Harrington had taken steps to take responsibility for his actions, including swiftly resigning once criminal charges were filed rather than forcing the CHP to take lengthy steps to terminate him.

The judge "wanted him to benefit from education that simply putting him in jail or making him wear an electronic bracelet never would have given him," Rains said. "I think the judge was thoughtful in the sentence she imposed, and I ultimately appreciate it as his lawyer."

The deal on Tuesday is a change from when Harrington pleaded not guilty in November. Since his arrest on Nov. 3, 2014, Harrington has been out on bail, and in November, Rains had told NBC Bay Area that he was working out the plea deal and that the charges didn't "warrant custodial time."

Harrington was charged with stealing nude photos from the  cellphones of two arrested women, but prosecutors said he admitted during interviews to stealing photos from women's phones four to six times during the last few years and fowarding them to colleagues.

The case, first reported by the Contra Costa Times, was blown open in October 2014, after a 23-year-old San Ramon woman said half a dozen nude and semi-nude selfies had been secretly sent from her phone to an unknown number traced to Harrington.

Harrington had forwarded the messages from his phone while the woman was in county jail after a DUI arrest in San Ramon in the early hours of Aug. 29, investigators found, after they obtained search warrants for him.

Further investigation revealed that Harrington had previously stolen private photos from the phone of a 19-year-old DUI suspect arrested in Livermore on Aug. 6 while she was in the hospital and forwarded them to his own.

DUI charges against both women have been dropped.

Neither of the other two CHP officers to whom Harrington had forwarded the photos, Robert Hazelwood and Dion Simmons, face charges.

Bay City News and NBC Bay Area's Mark Matthews contributed to this report.

A Southern California police dog who was shot while protecting his handler in November is back on the job — with a bulletproof vest in tow.

The police dog, along with six other members of the West Covina Police Department, were honored for services "above and beyond" their calls of duty during the annual City of West Covina Public Safety Luncheon Monday at South Hills Country Club.

Two-year-old Reiko was awarded the Medal of Valor "for courage under fire and act of bravery without regard for his own safety." He was the WCPD’s first community-purchased police dog, bought and trained with donations from local businesses and residents in December 2013.

Reiko was shot as police searched for a person wanted in connection with a homicide outside of a West Covina church on Nov. 23. They found a man who fit the description on the roof of a house in a nearby neighborhood.

Officer Bryan Rodriguez deployed the dog after the suspect jumped down to the driveway, said police. Once Reiko reached the gunman, the man fired at the dog and the officers.

The K-9 was shot "dangerously close” to his spine, according to a statement from the West Covina Police Department.

"For him to jump in there and take that bullet, it's just amazing," said Officer Bryan Rodriguez in November. "He saved myself and my partners. He did something a lot of guys wouldn't do."

Reiko, a Belgian Malinois, underwent two surgeries and weeks of rehabilitation on his journey to recovery. Police officials expected Reiko to be back on patrol in three or four months but his condition improved much quicker than anticipated. They released an image of the dog in his new bulletproof vest. 

A Newhall man was charged Tuesday with sexually abusing and killing his 19-day-old daughter, whose body was found in the cab of a pickup truck, prosecutors said.

Matthew Brendan Warner, 30, faces one count each of murder, assault on a child causing death, torture, oral copulation or sexual penetration with a child 10 years or younger and aggravated sexual assault of a child, the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office said.

His arraignment was set for Feb. 18.

Bail was set at $2.25 million. Warner faces a maximum penalty of life in state prison if convicted of all charges.

The murder and sexual assault of Ellorah Rose Warner happened on Friday. Her body was found in a pickup truck cab in Santa Clarita the next day, officials said.