The star of a popular reality TV show on MTV was one of eight women arrested in a prostitution bust in Delaware.

Valerie Fairman, 21, of Coatesville, Pennsylvania, was arrested Thursday for prostitution and issued a criminal summons pending an appearance in court, police said. Fairman appeared on season 2 of MTV's “16 and Pregnant." 

Along with Fairman, Brooke Hatfield, 23, of Wilmington; Stephanie Brown, 26, of Newark, Delaware; Dawn Price, 32, of Newark, Delaware; Jaquya Fairley, 34, of New Castle, Delaware; Lindsey Taylor, 30, of Newark, Delaware; Kristina Weaver, 33, of New Castle, Delaware; and Leslie Larkin, 54, of Wilmington, Delaware, were also arrested in the bust.

The arrests were part of a multi-agency operation initiative targeting prostitution in New Castle County.

Delaware State Police, the Wilmington Police Department and other law enforcement agencies targeted the areas of Maryland Avenue south of Wilmington and New Castle Avenue in New Castle.

The areas were targeted after police received several complaints from citizens reporting prostitution and other crimes.

Information on the suspects' attorneys is not immediately available.

Several people were injured Friday afternoon when a car apparently crashed into a bus stop in Glendale.

The crash happened about 5 p.m. at a bus stop at the intersection of San Fernando Road and Sonora Avenue, according to Sgt. Daniel Fernandez of the Glendale Police Department.

Glendale Fire Department also responded to the incident.

Initial reports indicated five people were taken to local hospitals, all with non-life-threatening injuries.

This is a developing story. Refresh for updates.

Firefighters are battling a large house fire in Encino Friday night.

Firefighters responded to the 5100 block of Densmore Avenue where a fire broke out in a single-family home, according to the Los Angeles Fire Department.

There were initial reports of two injuries, but it is not immediately clear if those were residents or firefighters.

The flames were threatening at least one nearby home around 6 p.m.

This is a developing story. Refresh for details.

Police say a man intentionally threw himself in front of a moving car in Brooklyn in what police believe was a faked accident captured on surveillance video, obtained exclusively by NBC 4 New York. 

The driver of the Lexus SUV was traveling near 98th Street and Livonia Avenue in Brooklyn on February 4 when she told NBC 4 New York she saw a shadow appear in front of her.

"I immediately slam on the brakes and then I see a man jump on top of my hood and bounce onto the ground," said the woman who asked to be identified only as Jennifer. 

"I was very horrified. Immediately I was panicking," she said. 

Jennifer checked on the man and called 911. 

But when she saw the footage of the incident, it became clear to her -- and to police -- that it was staged. 

The man was standing in between cars for nearly 30 minutes. Then, with traffic whizzing by in both directions, he leaned out and jumped onto Jennifer's SUV.

"He leaped onto my car," she said. "There is no damage on the grill or the bumper, only on top of the hood." 

Police arrested 50-year-old Andre Richardson on charges of reckless endangerment and filing a false report. Richardson has more than 20 arrests on his record, but none for incidents like this one. 

Law enforcement sources said they believe Richardson was shopping for a victim and that he intentionally threw himself in front of the car. It's possible he was looking for insurance money, the sources said. 

His sister Debora Richardson told NBC 4 New York Friday, "That's not him. He's not like a person trying to profit from it." 

Richardson said her brother has never been hit by a car before and she maintains this was an accident, not a crime. 

"He was going for the bus because he was going to take care of his business and he said that's just what happened," she said. "It's not like he just threw himself out there." 

Jennifer, who has to pay the deductible for the damage to her car, wonders if there are other victims like her. 

"I don't want this to happen to anybody else, to go through the stress and horror," she said. 

He's been called the "Nelson Mandela of Cuba," and he takes that title and uses it to promote an agenda he says is the truth about what's happening in Cuba.

Jorge Luis Pérez Antunez, known on the island simply as "Antunez," spent 17 years and 38 days in a Cuban prison for what he says was his basic human right to have an opinion.

Antunez says in 1990, at age 25, he stood in a public plaza in Havana, listening to Communist propaganda over a loud speaker and chose to speak louder.

"I yelled as loud as I could that Communist was a mistake and Cuba needed reforms," he says.

He would not see his family again for nearly two decades.

Released in 2007, Antunez says he will not stop speaking out, knowing it could land him back behind bars at any moment. He claims the Cuban government routinely visits his home to ransack the house and has left a large hole in his front door for the purpose of being able to keep an eye on him.

On Feb. 2, Orange County Congressman Edward Royce, R-CA, who heads up the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Foreign Affairs, invited Antunez and his wife, Yris Tamara Pérez Aguilera, to Washington to testify in a hearing called "Human Rights in Cuba: A Squandered Opportunity."

While in D.C., Antunez met with outspoken Congressman (and son of Cuban immigrants) Marco Rubio as well.

Antunez says Cuba is not the romantic island so many foreigners believe it to be and he says the crimes of the Cuban government continue even after Obama's Dec. 17 executive order.

"We feel abandoned," Antunez says of the renewed relations, believing Obama has green-lighted the Castro regime's violations of human rights.

"The regime is stronger now," he says since the announcement, "and oppression is on the rise."

On the topic of the 50-year embargo against the island, Antunez says Obama is wrong that it's a failed policy.

Instead, Antunez says the embargo is the only proof that the U.S. backs those he calls the "true people of Cuba."

Antunez's wife calls the renewed talks a "farce," pointing to the lack of food and things as commonplace in the U.S. as soap and laundry detergent. But that's exactly the Obama Administration's argument for easing sanctions - that the Cuba government has blamed the U.S. embargo for the island's economic woes.

Antunez spent the morning admiring a statue at LA's Echo Park. The statue was placed there in the 1970s, the area once home to a growing number of Cuban refugees after the 1960s exodus.

It is a bust of Cuban Revolutionary Hero, Jose Martí. Antunez says seeing it gives him hope.

"So far from Cuba in a place like Los Angeles," he says. "It shows us the cause is not lost."

Antunez returns to Miami next week and to Cuba in March, where he says he believes the Cuban government may arrest him for having spoken out while in the U.S., but he says he's ready.

"I will not be silenced and I will not leave my Cuba," he says.

A Tulsa County, Okla., sheriff's deputy shot a prison inmate inside a men's restroom at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport on Friday evening, authorities say.

The deputy was accompanying the prisoner during an extradition from Utah to Oklahoma when the two got into an altercation in a restroom in Terminal C while waiting for their connecting flight at about 5 p.m.

The prisoner, identified as 34-year-old Brent James Taff, emerged from a bathroom stall and began assaulting the deputy, striking him numerous times in the face and head, according to a statement from the Tulsa County Sheriff's Office.

The deputy shot Taff in the hand and the thigh, and Taff then ran from the restroom toward the C10 security checkpoint.

***WARNING SOME MAY FIND THIS IMAGE GRAPHIC - Click Here for Witness Photo of Prisoner Shot at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport***

A second deputy who was stationed outside the restroom tackled Taff, and DFW airport police along with TSA officials helped the second deputy get the prisoner under control.

The prisoner and injured deputy were transported to Parkland Memorial Hospital in Dallas for treatment of their injuries, according to a statement from the airport.

No one else was injured.

Part of Terminal C sealed off at DFW Airport. Man confirmed shot. Witness says "blood everywhere." @NBCDFW pic.twitter.com/KAriUU2Fwt

— ScottGordonNBC5 (@ScottGordonNBC5) February 13, 2015

DFW Airport police closed the area near the C10 security checkpoint as part of the investigation.

American Airlines, the only carrier with flights operating in Terminal C, said a few flights were delayed by no more than 15 minutes, and by 6:30 p.m. all operations were back to normal.

Authorities said Taff has a lengthy criminal history dating back to May 1996, including numerous arrests for violation of a protective order. More recently, Taff was arrested in October 2014 for violation of a protective order, stalking, kidnapping and threatening violent acts.

NBC 5's Scott Gordon, Bianca Castro, Ray Villeda and Ben Russell contributed to this report.

The family of a teenager swept out to the Pacific Ocean over the weekend said Friday the 18-year-old football player and Army recruit "is resting in a place that he loved."

Anthony Parnell was visiting from Nevada when he was knocked by a powerful wave into the ocean south of Thousand Steps Beach, in Laguna Beach, on Feb. 8. Friends say he was washed into a crevice while standing on slippery rocks.

Rescue crews called off the search for Parnell on Thursday.

"We want to thank everyone for the hard work and countless hours they've spent looking for our Anthony," his family said Friday in a statement.

"He loved the Ocean, the beach and always wanted to move back to CA. The beach reminded him of his Papa Joe (my dad) who he loved and admired so much," the statement read. "He wasn't an adventurer but he loved the beach."

According to lifeguards, the water is dark, cold and the depth of a two-story building. On Thursday, before ending the search, lifeguards used an underwater camera mounted on a long pole to guide divers into the churning ocean.

The family described him as a "good kid who was respectful and would always help even if he didn't want to." They said Parnell played high school football in Las Vegas and had recently signed up to join the Army.

"He is with the king of all kings now! He is resting in a place that he loved."

Orange County Fire spokesman Steve Concialdi said nine people drowned at Orange County beaches last year, those deaths "all avoidable."

Lifeguards warned about "sneaker waves,” a huge splash that comes without warning. Anyone who isn't familiar with the area should stay away from jetties and other dangerous areas.

Stan Chambers, who reported on Los Angeles from television's infancy through its golden era, died Friday morning at 91 years old, according to KTLA, the station where he worked for more than 60 years.

“Our thoughts and prayers go out to the Chambers family,” ‎KTLA President and General Manager Don Corsini said, according to the station. “Stan was a brilliant journalist and one of the best in the business.”

In an August 2010 interview with the Los Angeles Times, Chambers said the story that stood out most to him during his career was the 1949 death of 3-year-old Kathy Fiscus. The girl fell into a well in San Marino, near Pasadena, and Chambers was part of a team that provided hours of continuous live coverage of the rescue effort.

It is recognized as the first live TV coverage of a breaking news story.

He was the first to report on the video of Rodney King's arrest, covered the assassination of Senator Robert F. Kennedy and covered the Rose Parade for years, starting in 1949, according to the city of Los Angeles, which named August 13, 2010, in his honor.

"Stan Chambers is one of the greatest reporters ever to be in our city,'' city councilman Tom LaBonge said at Friday's council meeting.

Chambers retired in 2010, after 63 years at the station. KTLA News Director Jason Ball said he died Friday at home in Los Angeles after a long illness.

Asked in a 1998 interview if he had wanted to be on TV, he said yes, not because he had a burning desire to make a career but because he enjoyed it.

"It's more fun than tennis and golf, and that's what I was doing -- and getting paid for it," Chambers said.

Jonathan Lloyd, The Associated Press and The City News Service contributed to this report.

If you're not insured, there's still time to sign up for health coverage this year under Obamacare before the Sunday, Feb. 15, deadline.

The Obama administration projects that more than 9 million Americans will sign up by Sunday's deadline. That's up from the 7 million it estimates got insurance through the Affordable Care Act last year, cutting the number of uninsured from 17 percent at the end of 2013 to 12.9 percent at the end of 2014.

Here are six things to know about Obamacare enrollment before the Feb. 15 deadline.

Enrollment Is Off Without a Hitch

The 2015 enrollment effort is running more smoothly than it did when the insurance marketplaces first debuted in 2013.

The federal HealthCare.gov website and state-based sites experienced no major meltdowns during the current enrollment period, and wait times at call centers have improved, too.

But there are other concerns and issues to keep in mind when signing up for health care.

You May Have Trouble Getting Covered If You Miss the Deadline

In the first open enrollment period, from late 2013 to early 2014, insurance exchanges extended deadlines for many people, mostly due to technical glitches that slowed the application process.

Since the system is running more smoothly this time around, it may be more difficult to get the deadline extended.

Still, there are some exceptions if you miss the deadline. Certain life events — like getting married, having a child, becoming a legal resident or citizen of the U.S. or being denied Medicaid or Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) — can qualify you for a special enrollment period. 

The next open enrollment period is expected to begin in October and may end in December, rather than extending into 2016.

The Obamacare Law Faces a New Threat

The Affordable Care Act offers subsidized private health insurance to people who don’t have access to coverage at work, but about 8 million people could lose that financial assistance later in the year.

The Supreme Court is set to consider a case, King v. Burwell, in which Obamacare opponents argue that the law's wording lets the federal government pay health care subsidies only in states that have set up their own insurance exchanges, according to The Associated Press — something that most states haven’t done. The people who wrote the law, however, say it provides subsidies to people in every state.

Should the plaintiffs win the case, people in the 37 states where the federal government is running insurance markets could lose their subsidies. The court is expected to rule on the case in late June.

Some Could Face Stiff Premium Hikes

Many consumers who already signed up for Obamacare may experience a sticker shock during this enrollment period. They could see their premiums increase sharply if they automatically re-enroll in their current plans, instead of choosing new, lower-priced versions.

Learn if you qualify for lower costs on health insurance coverage here.

There's a Tax Penalty This Time

This if the first year consumers have to consider their health insurance at tax time. If you don’t have health care coverage in 2015, you’ll have to pay a penalty when you file your 2015 federal income tax return in 2016.

Federal health officials predict that 2 to 4 percent of taxpayers will end up paying a fine, which amounts to $95 per adult ($47.50 per child), up to $285 for a family, for the 2014 tax year. The penalties go up to a minimum of $325 per adult for the 2015 calendar year and $695 per adult for the 2016 calendar year.

There are exemptions from the fee for not having health care coverage — for instance, if you're uninsured for only one or two consecutive months of the year, if you were covered by May 1 of last year, or if the cheapest available coverage would have cost more than 8 percent of your household's income.

You Must Be Able to Prove Your Legal Status

You must be able to prove your legal status to qualify for Obamacare, health officials have warned.

About 200,000 people will be dropped from insurance policies at the end of February because they have been unable to prove they are legally living in the U.S., the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services said. That's in addition to 112,000 people were dropped from their plans in September.

Authorities say actor Gary Busey has struck and slightly injured woman with his car while backing out of a shopping center parking lot in Malibu.

The accident happened shortly before 3 p.m. Friday on the Pacific Coast Highway.

A statement from the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department says the 70-year-old Busey was backing out of a parking stall when he hit the woman. She was treated at the scene and released.

Busey wasn't immediately cited, and investigators say there's no evidence that alcohol or illegal substances were involved in the mishap.

A message seeking comment from his spokesman wasn't immediately returned.

Assemblywoman Melissa Melendez, R-Lake Elsinore, was under fire Friday from a Los Angeles-based Muslim advocacy group that called her use of the phrase "Islamic savages" in a tweet "hate rhetoric."

"Statements like these cause mistrust and fear of Islam and Muslims," said Haroon Manjlai, with the Council on American-Islamic Relations of Greater Los Angeles, or CAIR-LA. "It is unbecoming of a public elected official to issue such bigoted statements."

On Tuesday, Melendez posted a tweet saying "Gut wrenching news today. American Kayla Mueller murdered by Islamic savages. There MUST be consequences. MM."

She ended the Twitter post with the hashtag #standupagainstIslam.

Mueller, of Prescott, Ariz., was captured by the terror group Islamic State while working on behalf of a Middle East-based relief organization in Syria. The 26-year-old Mueller apparently was killed last week in a Jordanian air strike against an IS stronghold. Manjlai criticized Melendez for seeming to associate all Muslims with terrorism.

"Hate rhetoric can and does lead to hate crimes against people," the CAIR-LA spokesman said. "We call on Assembly member Melendez to retract and apologize for her anti-Muslim comment and for smearing the faith of more than 1.6 billion people."

The lawmaker released a statement Thursday insisting she never had any "intention to offend peaceful Muslims.

"However, I've had enough of Islamic extremists and terrorists who oppress women and burn people alive in the modern world," Melendez said. "This isn't about hash tags; it's about America standing up with our allies and putting an end to the barbaric behavior we are witnessing around the world."

Melendez is a U.S. Navy veteran in her second term as a member of the state Assembly.

A reward for information leading to the arrest of the person or people responsible for firebombing the front door of an African American family's home last week has jumped from $30,000 to $50,000.

Someone threw a burning tire through Ron Clinton's front door about 2:15 a.m. Wednesday in the 700 block of 11th Street, according to the Manhattan Beach Fire Department.

The flames destroyed part of the foyer. The smoke damaged everything else, Clinton said. His family made it out safely, but they are living in a hotel now and fear the case is a hate crime.

Fire investigators won't say they've uncovered evidence of a hate crime, but NBC4 has learned that they've met twice now, with investigators from the FBI and ATF.

Clinton, though, is convinced his family was targeted for the color of their skin.

"I don't have a message to that person. My message is to the people who have showed support," Clinton said.

Hundreds poured into the streets of Manhattan Beach last Friday to support the family.

Clinton and his wife admitted they thought about leaving Manhattan Beach. That changed after the overwhelming support they now know they have.

"I have to admit, initially, we considered it, but you know, this community is just too amazing for us to let one individual force us to leave," Clinton said.

Although Valentine’s Day is a happy day for many people, it is sad and lonely for some who feel broken-hearted.

Well, as it turns out, a severe loss can cause a real "broken heart."

The medical term is takotsubo cardiomyopathy.

It happens when a sudden surge of stress hormones attack the heart and cause its muscle to fail.

Dr. Elaine Kamil suffered from the condition a few years ago after a tragic loss

"We lost our 31-year-old son at the time, Adam," she said. "It was a horrible experience."

The emotional toll eventually took a physical toll, when Kamil awoke in the middle of the night with chest pain.

"So I thought this couldn't be a heart attack, but then it was really bad pain and it didn't get better, so I woke up my husband and made him take me to the emergency department," she said.

Dr. Puja Mehta of the Barbra Streisand Women’s Heart Center in the Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute explained what was happening.

"The heart basically stops working properly, so it balloons out and there’s dysfunction of the actual muscle and people go into heart failure," she said.

The condition affects post-menopausal women most often, but it can affect anyone.

The good news is that when Broken Heart Syndrome is treated quickly it may actually be reversed. The longer the patient waits, the more likely it is that the damage can be permanent.

So, if you get chest pain or any other unusual symptoms after stress don’t ignore them. In many cases doctors can fix a broken heart if you get to them soon enough.

Southern California couples are blaming a Long Beach-based videographer for ruining their wedding day memories.

Los Angeles newlyweds Julio and Mercy Corpeno are among the alleged victims. They hired Treymaine Williams, of Treyski Entertainment and Twilight Filmworks LA, to shoot and produce their wedding videos, and claim he failed to deliver what he promised.  

"Biggest mistake we did for our wedding day," the groom said. 

The couple showed the I-Team a $1,400 contract they signed with Williams before their big day, guaranteeing a 45-minute edited reel that was to be delivered within three months.

Instead, they say they waited a year to get nothing more than an 11-minute highlight reel that was poorly shot and put together: during the ceremony, the vows are practically inaudible and there are no close-ups of the bride’s face.

"I really wanted video of that moment," Mercy said. "I feel like he ruined that part of the wedding."

The Corpenos aren’t the only pair complaining.

Jayvelin and Sebastian Wilczek of Fontana, and Amanda and Chris Hayman of Pearblossom, also reached out to the I-Team, saying they’re devastated over their missing videos. A search of the Yelp review website turns up more than a dozen complaints against Treyski Entertainment.

And it’s not just the brides and grooms who are unhappy: freelance photographer Jake Moore says he worked for Williams, and is still waiting to get paid.

"It is plain wrong, what he did and continued to do," Moore said.

Going in search of Williams, the I-Team caught up with a Long Beach man who said he rented office space to the videographer.

Max Kamakani said the rent has not been paid on time, and added that couples have been stopping by the building in search of their wedding videos.

The I-Team reached out to Williams, who responded to questions about his business practices in a phone call.

He admitted that he owes former employees, clients and landlords, and said he was "overwhelmed," but insisted he’s working to make good on all his promises. He also said he's now offering couples free copies of the raw footage from their big day, if they provide him with a hard drive.

That may not be enough to satisfy Julio Corpeno, who worries his wife will never get over her heartbreak.

"After $1,400, that’s not what I’m interested in," he said.

Consumer advocates urge caution when hiring a photographer or videographer for a once-in-a-lifetime event like a wedding. Some tips to making the best hire:

• Seek out references, and call them
• Check review websites, like Yelp
• Interview several candidates
• Establish in contract whether you’ll receive all the raw footage and/or negatives, or just a produced reel/limited stills

If you have a tip on this story — or anything else — the I-Team wants to hear from you. Give us a call at 818-520-TIPS or email nbc4iteam@nbcuni. 

Granada Hills Charter High School scored a competition- record 59,167.1 points out of a possible 65,400 to win the Los Angeles Unified School District Academic Decathlon for the fourth time in five years, district officials announced tonight.

Ten other teams qualified as wild card entrants for the California Academic Decathlon, which will be held March 20-21 in Sacramento: defending national champion El Camino Real (58,223); defending district champion Marshall (56,458.6); Franklin (55,166.5); Garfield (50,790.6); Bell (49,744.8); Hamilton (48,943.8); North Hollywood (46,232.2); Van Nuys (46,058.7); Grant (45,459.3); and Harbor Teacher Prep (43,178.2).

Irene Lee from Granada Hills was the top individual scorer with 9,461.4 points, tying the record among all competitions. Kim Monson of Narbonne won the Coach of the Year award. The Academic Decathlon began Jan. 31 at the Roybal Learning Center near downtown Los Angeles, with teams from 59 high schools competing in the speech, interview and essay categories.

The competition concluded Saturday with tests in art, economics, language and literature, mathematics, music and social science and the Super Quiz, also at the Roybal Learning Center. The study topic was alternatives in energy. The results were announced at an awards ceremony at Hollywood High School.

A teen was wounded in a shooting on a public bus in South Los Angeles Friday night, the victim of a stray bullet officials said.

The 17-year-old, a basketball player, was hit in the side but didn't  suffer life-threatening injuries. He was was treated at California Hospital and released to recuperate at home, officials said.

The incident began when three men approached a woman in a car at about 10:15 p.m. at West Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and South Western Avenue, according to Los Angeles Police Department spokeswoman Sara Faden. One of them spoke to the woman, who began driving away. 

That man fired at the woman's car, shattering glass but not injuring the woman. She drove herself to a hospital to be treated for cuts.

Instead, one of the bullets hit a moving Metro bus and struck the teenager.

Michael Larkin and Asher Klein contributed to this report.

A person died in a multiple vehicle crash on the 55 Freeway in Santa Ana late Friday.

A second person was hospitalized with unknown injuries after the smash, which happened just before midnight just before the Dyer Road exit just before midnight, California Highway Patrol said.

It is unknown was caused the crash that led to this fatality. 

A sig alert was issued for all lanes on the northbound 55’s Dyer Road east on-ramp until further notice.

A person was hospitalized with burn injuries after a fierce fire broke out at an apartment building in Upland early Saturday.

The two-alarm blaze broke out at around 1 a.m. at the two-storey building at 1365 San Bernardino Road, Montclair Fire Department said. Units from Upland and Riverside County Fire Departments were also there.

When firefighters arrived two apartments were alight, and the flames were threatening to spread to two adjacent apartments.

It took 10 units and around 22 firefighters in total to put out the fire. The incident was knocked down in around an hour.

The burn victim was taken to the hospital for treatment, and had also suffered smoke inhalation. No one else was injured.

Four residents were displaced due to the fire, and they will receive aid from the Red Cross.. Some cats were also rescued from the flames.

An investigation is underway to discover the cause of fire. The value of the damages is currently unknown.

President Barack Obama's Bay Area visit included signing an executive order, attending a fundraiser and helping a woman check off an item off her bucket list.

On Friday, moments after Obama's motorcade left a Democratic National Committee fundraiser in San Francisco, a woman in pink standing in a sidewalk-filled crowd was overcome with joy at the sight of the president.

"Oh my God I saw him!" yelled Susie Siegel. "I can't believe it!"

Siegel then turned to an NBC Bay Area camera and confessed the following:

"I can't believe it! That was on my bucket list!," Siegel screamed. "I said 45 was going to be the best year of my life!"

Siegel works as a kindergarten teacher in San Francisco.

"I love him and I want to meet him," she said of the president. "I think he should visit my kindergartners."

Obama later in the evening dined with senior staff and friends at Spruce, a restaurant in San Francisco's Presidio Heights.

Earlier in the day he visited Stanford University to announce an executive order encouraging information-sharing of cyberthreat attacks between the private sector and the government as part of an effort to clamp down on high-profile hacks of personal data from businesses and health insurance companies.

Obama departed from San Francisco International Airport Saturday morning for Palm Springs.