Several buildings on a Boy Scouts’ campground near Big Bear were burglarized Monday morning.

Officials initially responded to a call that a transient was walking around with an empty rifle case in the wooded area of the Holcomb Valley Boy Scouts of America Campground at about 11 a.m.

“When deputies got out there they found the suspect there in possesion of a rifle and stolen property,” Tiffany Swantek said, a spokeswoman for the Big Bear Sheriff’s Station.

Geoffry Brister, 22, who did not have permission to be on the location, was found carrying a .22 caliber rifle at the time of the incident. It was later discovered he was on felony probation for carrying a loaded firearm in public.

Firearms, that are usually used for target practice, were among the missing items from the scout buildings.

Brister was arrested and booked on felony charges on suspicion of burglary, vandalism, being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition and misdemeanor charges related to being in possession of methamphetamine.

His bail was set at $60,000.

Crews worked for several hours Tuesday to pull a tractor-trailer dangling off an icy highway bridge back onto the roadway.

While crossing a small bridge on Interstate 45 near Stuart Simpson Road Monday afternoon, the big-rig's cab slammed through a guardrail, left the road and immediately turned toward the small creek below.

The truck's driver managed to slip out of his seat and into the creek below. He then climbed back up to the median where he called police for help.

Help soon arrived, though efforts to remove the truck Monday were slowed by ice on the roadway, live electrical wires on the ground and not having enough equipment available to successfully pull the truck back onto the roadway.

Six wreckers were called Tuesday to secure and pull the cab back onto the bridge. After several hours, and several tense moments where the cables used to hold the rig tore through the trailer, the cab was successfully secured back on the bridge.

"On a grade of 1 to 10, this was about a 15, this is probably one of the most difficult recoveries I've ever been involved in," said Joseph McIntyre, his family-run towing service was one of the companies involved.

The truck hung from the bridge for nearly 24 hours.

"It was just the situation the truck was in, not being able to get to nose of it, not having a lot of room to work, being limited in the space of the freeway," he said.

The group had to secure the truck with chains, wrapping around the trailer and hooking the cab. That was Johnny Monroe’s job, he is the newest guy in the group.

"I chose to, I asked to do it," he said. "I'm just glad it's over with and everyone's safe."
 

Monroe says he didn't think too much about the situation and its risk.
 
"A little bit but like I said if it was my time to go, it's God's will, just doing my job," said Monroe.

The crew tried righting the cab several times, and was finally successful.

"It was just honestly absolute relief, we didn't tear our equipment up we got the job done and myself, my guys and all guys helping us we get to go home safe," said McIntyre.

Once the truck is towed away, crews will install a temporary guardrail and then plow and sand the bridge before reopening it to traffic. NBC 5 has learned the truck was carrying raw rubber to be made into tires.

Lt. Matthew Edwards with the Dallas Police Department said Monday the driver of the truck was fortunate his cab came to rest where it did and that the driver was, "very lucky he got out alive."

While it's not known what caused the driver to lose control, the bridge did appear to be covered with ice. Sleet from a winter storm turned into up to an inch of ice on North Texas roadways overnight Sunday into Monday morning, leading to hundreds of reported crashes.

NBC 5's Ben Russell, Ray Villeda and Julie Fine contributed to this report.

A woman barricaded herself in a Westlake building Tuesday afternoon and remained in a standoff with SWAT officers into the evening, according to LAPD.

Around 11 a.m., the woman, believed to be in her 50s, became belligerent and began waving knives around, according to LAPD’s media relations section.

A mental health worker called police to the building, in the 700 block of S. Westlake Avenue.

Police asked residents to avoid the area.

The woman remained barricaded after 5 p.m.

It's now OK for city workers to criticize Boston's bid for the 2024 Olympics, thanks to a change to the city's deal with the U.S. Olympic Committee.

Mayor Marty Walsh announced the change Tuesday, saying that the agreement with the USOC had been revised to remove any language discouraging city employees from criticizing the Olympic bid. Walsh had earlier defended the stipulation, which civil liberties advocates had criticized.

The Boston Globe reported last month that the "joinder agreement" between the city and the USOC banned city employees from badmouthing the 2024 Olympic bid. The American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts said the agreement was a violation of the First Amendment right to free speech.

"This revised agreement is the result of positive negotiations with the United States Olympic Committee to reach a consensus that accurately represents how Boston is moving forward with our Olympic bid," Walsh said in a statement.

"I want to thank those who have already offered their thoughts on Boston's bid and I continue to encourage all residents, including city employees, to share their opinions over the coming months. My top priority is to ensure an open and transparent process, and it is important that any proposal is shaped by the input and ideas of people from every neighborhood in order to offer the greatest benefit to our city," Walsh continued.

Walsh's statement characterized the original ban on employee criticism of the Olympic bid as "boilerplate language that all cities have historically signed regarding city employees and their participation in the Olympic process."

Rich Davey, Boston 2024's CEO, said the new agreement "will strengthen Boston's efforts to work with communities to build a stronger Olympic bid."

The next citywide Olympic discussion is scheduled for Tuesday night at 6:30 at the Condon School Cafeteria in South Boston. 

Additional citywide meetings are scheduled for March 31, April 28, May 19, June 30, July 28, Aug. 25 and Sept. 29.

Washing dishes might be the best chore for a kid.

Doing dishes by hand instead of using a dishwasher might prevent or reduce allergies in children, according to a Swedish study published in the journal Pediatrics yesterday.

The study of more than 1,000 children from Sweden found that those living in homes where dishes were washed by hand were 40 percent less likely to develop allergies compared to those in homes with a dishwasher.

A questionnaire asked parents about their dishwashing practices as well as whether their 7- or 8-year-olds had asthma, eczema or seasonal allergies.

The researchers suggest that allergy development was reduced due to increased microbial exposure from the bacteria left on dishes, and that the exposure is good for children because it may stimulate their immune systems.

The report references a German study from 2004 that compared hand-washing techniques and dishwashers and found that half of the subjects did not clean as well as a dishwasher. That study also found that milk products have the potential to stay on utensils enough to pose health risks.

"People whose immune systems are no longer busy fighting infection become disregulated and allergic,” Susan Wasserman, professor of medicine at McMaster University in Canada, told Live Science. Wasserman referred to the "hygiene hypothesis," a theory that the immune systems of children not exposed to as many microbes do know how to fight off allergens such as pollen.

The new study of Swedish children found that the development of allergies in children was reduced even more once the researchers analyzed other lifestyle factors. Eating fermented foods, living in crowded situations, and being a part of an immigrant family all prevent or reduce the development of allergies.

In the commentary of the study, two physicans at University of California, San Francisco, said that dishwater usage and other lifestyle choices should be researched further.

Kalunda-Rae Iwamizu had it all: a degree from USC, a job teaching at Riverside City College and a happy family.

But in 2010, she lost her job, her marriage fell apart and her home went into foreclosure.

"We ended up homeless in a homeless shelter," Iwamizu said.

Pregnant with her third child, Iwamizu had no family close by and nowhere to turn.

"I remember my first night at the shelter. I put my head in the pillow and cried and cried," Iwamizu said. "My eldest daughter was the most upset about it. She felt I’d failed her. There was that spark that had gone out in me that said 'let’s reignite this fire because you have to do something about this.'"

Eventually, Iwamizu found the helping hand she needed. She discovered a program called Dress for Success Worldwide-West. The nonprofit, run for and by women, started in 1997 and is now in 139 cities and 18 countries. It has helped more than 775,000 women become self-sufficient. The program is best known for outfitting women for job interviews. All the clothing and accessories are donated.

But Dress for Success is much more than a clothing shop. The program also helps women re-write their resumes, find jobs, handle their finances and most importantly, connect them with other empowering women.

Iwamizu believes that connection was most helpful to her.

"Pairing me with other women who are inspirational... a sisterhood of women who support each other," she said.

The organization helped Iwamizu find a new teaching job and get back into a home of her own.

"Because they were able to pull me out of that shell, I was able to move forward," Iwamizu said.

Dress for Success is run by Executive Director Reena DeAsis. She immigrated from the Philippines when she was a child.

"Growing up without a lot... I suppose gives me more fuel to the fire to make me want to make an impact," DeAsis said. "Our key focus is really to help women go from surviving to thriving."

Now that Iwazimu is back on her feet, she volunteers at Dress for Success. It’s her way of saying thank you.

"I feel like giving back is a big part of this for me and I want to see other women empowered," Iwazimu said.

Even more significant is the lesson she’s been able to teach her daughter.

"I want her to know there’s no struggle that’s too great that can truly defeat her if she’s willing to stand up and find the resources," she said.

If you would like to learn more about Dress for Success Worldwide-West by visiting its website. To contact the organization through social media search @DFSWest on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

This Life Connected broadcast report originally aired Sunday, Feb. 22, 2015. The online article was first published Feb. 24, 2015.

With polls in the mayoral contest closing in a matter of hours, Mayor Rahm Emanuel showed no signs of slowing down Tuesday. 

And neither, apparently, did his motorcade. 

The mayor's two-car transport cruised through a red light at 11th Street and Michigan Avenue following a lunch apperance, a Chicago Tribune reporter tweeted. 

Spokespersons for both the mayor's campaign and city office said they were not aware of any such incident Tuesday. 

But wouldn't be the first time the mayor and his entourage found themselves on the wrong side of the city's traffic laws. One January report found he racked up five different red light tickets in just two months. 

The mayor has defended his driving transgressions, saying he personally pays up for violations that he chalked up to a matter of protocol. A Chicago Police Department spokesman confirmed the two-car Emanuel detail is trained to keep cars together.

“I always pay them,” Emanuel told NBC 5 in January. “Since there’s a tail car given, there are some instances where they can’t get through a light because they can’t get separated from the first car. That may be what happened but whatever it is I pay them, even though I’m not driving.”

Still, the report drew a jab from opponents of the mayor's controversial red light camera implementation, who said in a statement that the mayor "has proven once again that he is above his own law" . 

Emanuel is one of five candidates running in Tuesday's mayoral election. If no one wins more than 50 percent of the vote, the top two finishers will face off in an April runoff election. 

For complete Election Day coverage, visit NBC Chicago's Ward Room blog. Click here to follow live results once the polls close at 7 p.m. 

President Barack Obama formally rejected congressional Republicans' efforts to force construction of the Keystone XL oil pipeline, the third veto of his presidency and reportedly the likely start of a wave of vetoes as he approaches the end of his second term.

Prior to notifying the Senate of his Keystone veto Tuesday afternoon, Obama used the power of his pen just two times in his six years in the White House. That matched the number of vetoes made by George Washington.

Obama's first veto — a rejection of a stopgap spending bill meant to keep the Defense Department funded — was described as a technicality by White House officials when it occurred in December 2009. The move was null, however, as Congress approved the defense spending bill before the previous budget expired.

The second time around, Obama withheld his signature — a pocket veto — in October 2010 from legislation that would have made notarizations completed in one state more easily recognized in other states. His office cited possible unintended consequences as the reason for his veto.  Consumer advocates said the bill, if passed, would make it easier for major mortgage lenders to rush through the foreclosure process.

"The presidential power to veto legislation is one I take seriously," Obama said in a message that accompanied his Keystone veto on Tuesday. "But I also take seriously my responsibility to the American people."

Obama has said that his administration is still considering the project to pipe oil from Canada's tar sands to Gulf Coast refineries, though he rejected attempts by lawmakers to force its approval.

The New York Times reported that Obama's move could kickstart a flurry of vetoes from the 44th president as he wraps up his final two years in office.

He would only need nine more to match his predecessor, George W. Bush. However it is unlikely he will swipe his pen enough to match record-holder Franklin D. Roosevelt. FDR vetoed 635 bills during his 12-year presidency. Grover Cleveland has the next highest number of vetoes, 414 measures nixed during two non-consecutive terms in the White House.

Check out how Obama has fared compared to his predecessors. Scroll over for more info on past presidents:

The Los Angeles Lakers announced that Ronnie Price will undergo surgery on his injured right elbow. The surgery will take place on Wednesday, and Price expects to miss the remainder of the 2014/15 season, according to coach Byron Scott.

"He's having elbow surgery tomorrow, so he'll be out for the year," Scott confirmed at Tuesday's practice.

LAL have missed 193 games due to injury this year, a number that should reach 301 at a minimum based on existing season-ending injuries.

• Kobe Bryant Not Enjoying Losing Lakers

— Mike Trudell (@LakersReporter) February 25, 2015

With Price out, the Lakers will have four players on the shelf for the remainder of the season: Price, Julius Randle, Kobe Bryant and Steve Nash. For practice and for games, the Lakers will only have 11 available players for the remainder of the season.

Along with losing a veteran, the Lakers are also short on point guards. Only rookie Jordan Clarkson and Jeremy Lin remain as healthy options to bring the ball up the court, as the skinny Lakers get even thinner.

Price appeared in 43 games and started 20 of them. He averaged 5.1 points, 1.6 rebounds, 3.8 assists and 1.6 steals in 22.8 minutes per game for the Lakers. Although his offensive production may not appear vital, Price provided the Lakers with an experienced point guard who was one the the coach's favorites, especially on the defensive side of the ball.

In his final appearance of the season, Price finished with three points, four rebounds, four steals and five assists in 18 minutes of game time. Players and coaches credited Price with changing the tide against the Celtics and helping the Lakers snap a seven-game losing streak on Sunday.

Ronnie Price doesn't complain about his elbow, says "it is what it is" when asked about it. After miss, he only slapped 5s with left hand.

— Shahan Ahmed (@shahanLA) February 23, 2015

Price's future with the team remains unclear, as the 31-year-old was one of the last players added to the Lakers' roster ahead of training camp.

The driver of the produce truck at the center of the Southern California commuter train crash that sent 28 people to hospitals was being questioned as to why the truck became stuck on the tracks, police said.

The 54-year-old driver, identified as Jose Alejandro Sanchez Ramirez, was arrested on a hit-and-run charge, Oxnard police said. He was found disoriented by a police officer several miles away from the crash scene.

The train derailed about 5:45 a.m. just east of the Oxnard station, near Rice Avenue and Fifth Street. The crash sent more than two dozen people to hospitals, including four in critical condition. The derailment interrupted rail service from Ventura County.

Little was left of the truck except scorched and mangled wreckage, with some debris found in a nearby intersection and some close to the tracks.

Oxnard Assistant Police Chief Jason Benites said during a news conference that when the truck was safe to search, police found no sign of a driver or any passengers. It was a patrol officer who spotted the driver — disoriented, but otherwise OK — several miles away. He was taken to a hospital for observation, Benites said.

Officers were sifting through a complicated scene to determine what caused the crash. Benites said it started when the driver of the box truck, with a trailer, turned onto the tracks instead of nearby Fifth Street and became stuck.

The driver was not arrested, but police were looking into any "potential acts" that would require a criminal investigation, Benites said.

The Metrolink train carrying 48 passengers and three crew members was heading from Ventura County to Los Angeles.

At least seven people were injured, including an infant, in a collision at the end of a police pursuit in South Los Angeles, according to the LAPD.

The three-vehicle crash was reported at 10:09 a.m. at Imperial Highway and South Main Street. The pursuit started minutes earlier about three miles away at West 83rd Street and Vermont Avenue, according to LAPD media relations.

Police had been responding to a reckless driver call following a crash when the pursuit began.

Passengers from both vehicles, including the pursued vehicle, are injured, police said.

Injuries were reported as minor to serious.

The driver of a truck accused of causing a train derailment Tuesday morning that injured nearly 30 people, four critically, was arrested on a felony hit-and-run charge, police said.

Jose Alejandro Sanchez Ramirez, 54, of Yuma, Arizona, was taken into custody in connection with the crash that happened before 6 a.m. on the Ventura County Line tracks between Camarillo and Oxnard, about 70 miles northwest of Los Angeles. He has a valid commercial drivers license and was driving a 2005 F-450 truck towing a trailer filled with equipment, possibly welding equipment, police said.

Ramirez's attorney, Ron Bamieh, said in a statement that his client was driving his company's truck and trailer, owned by The Grower's Company, Inc., when "it became tangled and unable to move off the railroad tracks."

"An investigator with Oxnard Police Department said that it was common for trucks to get caught on the tracks, saying this is at least the fourth or fifth time it has happened at that location. Mr. Ramirez tried to do all he could to extricate his truck from the position it was in but he was unable to do so. He saw the train coming and had to leave his truck to get help," Bamieh said.

Ramirez is a married grandfather who is raising the children of his daughter, who died of cancer, his attorney said.

The engineer of the Los Angeles-bound train used its emergency-braking system after noticing the truck and trailer on the tracks near Fifth Street and Rice Avenue, according to officials with the Oxnard Fire Department.

Witnesses described the sound of metal scraping on metal before a fireball erupted as the train slammed into the truck, which burned along with its trailer after it was sheared in half. Ted Maloney was driving to work when he heard the train's horn, normally three honks at the crossing.

"This guy was just laying on the horn," said Maloney. "I looked up and just a huge ball of fire. I didn't even see the truck because it was all engulfed in flames."

Maloney and three farmworkers who were in a nearby berry field ran to help the victims, he said. After entering the overturned train car, Maloney said he found a woman suffering from a severe head injury and other victims who appeared to be "in a daze."

The train cars were being pushed by a locomotive from the rear at slower than the cruising speed of 79 mph, according to fire officials. The crash sent at least four cars off the track and toppled three cars on their sides near the rail crossing at Fifth Street and Rice Avenue.

Four victims were in critical condition, according to Oxnard Fire Department officials. Doctors at Ventura County Medical Center said three of the nine victims transported to that hospital are in critical condition with head injuries and spine and rib fractures.

"These are the type of injuries we'd expect to see in a major trauma incident," said Dr. Bryan Wong.

The other six victims at the hospital suffered minor to moderate injuries, said Wong. Other patients were transported to hospitals in Thousand Oaks, Ventura and Oxnard.

The driver of the vehicle tried to run from the scene but was detained by police for questioning, according to authorities.

"He was found a little while later some miles down the road," said Oxnard Fire Battalion Chief Sergio Martinez.

The driver was not under arrest early Tuesday afternoon, police said. He was identified as a 54-year-old produce truck driver from Arizona who suffered minor injuries that were not related to the crash, police said.

"It is clear this was an accident, the arrest of Mr. Ramirez is the unfortunate result of Law Enforcement attempting to cast blame on a man who was caught in a tragic situation with no way to stop the oncoming tragedy," Bamieh said. "He does not know how or why the truck he was driving stopped on the tracks, and wishes there was something he could have done to prevent this accident."

Ramirez has worked for the company for the past 12 years, his attorney said.

A preliminary investigation indicated the driver was southbound on Rice Avenue when he turned onto the tracks instead of Fifth Street, police said. It was not immediately clear why the vehicle was stopped on the tracks, police said.

"(The truck) was actually stuck there," said Oxnard Assistant Police Chief Jason Benites. "We are looking into this as to whether there are any criminal acts.

"We don't know if it was on purpose or whether it was a mistake."

Benites described the driver as "unsettled" when he spoke with officers.

The 51 people involved in the crash included passengers, conductors and the truck driver, fire officials said. Authorities asked people seeking information about passengers to call 877-248-8381.

Fire-rescue personnel set up a color-coded triage area with green, yellow and red tarps at the site. The tarps indicate the severity of the victim's injuries, with red being the most serious and green indicating minor injuries.

"The extent of injuries ranged from significant head trauma and extremity trauma to neck and back injuries and trauma that you'd generally get from being thrown around," said Steve Caroll, of Ventura County Emergency Medical Services. "We did transport a total of 28 patients and we have 23 on scene who were not transported who did not complain of any significant injuries."

All Ventura County Line trains will be delayed, with tracks remaining closed between Oxnard and Camarillo. Trains will travel as far as Oxnard, where buses will provide transport. Repair work on the tracks is expected to continue into Wednesday morning.

Officials with the National Transportation Safety Board confirmed a crash investigation team is headed to the location.

The collision follows two major crashes involving Metrolink trains in the past 10 years. In January 2005, a truck abandoned on a rail line near Glendale caused a Metrolink train to derail and strike other trains on either side of the track, killing 11.

In 2008, a freight train and Metrolink train collided head-on in Chatsworth, killing 25. Authorities determined the Metrolink train went through a red signal before entering the single-track section.

The train involved in Tuesday's derailment consisted of four passenger cars and a locomotive at the rear. The engineer was in the first passenger car — known as the  "cab car" -- and was operating the train from there. The engineer and the  conductor were among the injured, according to Metrolink.

The cab car and the third and fourth passenger cars were newer  cars, equipped with "collision energy management technology," which is  designed to "send the impact outward instead of inward and prevent  crumpling," said Metrolink  spokesman Scott Johnson. The second passenger car was an older car,  retrofitted to accommodate bicycles.

Metrolink is in the process of installing a Postive Train Control system throughout its network. The system is a GPS-based technology designed to prevent collisions by automatically slowing or stopping trains. The federal government has mandated the implementation of the system by the end of this year.

That system, however, is not designed to stop collisions with vehicles that are driven or parked on tracks, like the crash that occurred Tuesday.

There are 228,000 street crossings in the country, about 140,000 of them on publicly owned roads, according to the Federal Railroad Administration. About 53 percent of the public ones are equipped with active warning devices.

Collisions at the crossings have dropped by 85 percent from a high of more than 13,500 in 1978 to just over 2,000 in 2011, according to the administration. It attributes the dramatic decrease to engineering improvements, better enforcement of traffic safety laws and education of motorists. The administration estimates that 94 percent of collisions and 87 percent of fatalities are the result of risky behavior by drivers or poor judgment.

Noreen O'Donnell and Jason Kandel contributed to this report.

It’s the moment drivers dread most: looking in the rear view mirror, and seeing those flashing blue and red lights. Now, a survey reveals that getting hit with a speeding ticket in Southern California could cost you much more than you expect.

According to the consumer finance blog NerdWallet, the Los Angeles metropolitan area is the most expensive place in California to get a speeding ticket. Glendale, Compton, Inglewood and Lynwood also made the survey’s top ten.

Rounding out the list: the Northern California cities of San Francisco, Oakland, Sacramento, Richmond and Daly City.

In California, the base fine for a speeding ticket is around $35 for going 15mph over the speed limit. If you surpass the posted limit more, that fine can climb anywhere from $70 to $100 dollars.

But the fine is just the start.

According to NerdWallet’s recent analysis of state records, once convicted, California drivers can end up paying more than 20 times the amount of the actual ticket, after city and county taxes, court fees and raised insurance rates are factored in. That results in an average cost of $709.59 for a ticket with a $35 base fine.

Drivers tagged for speeding in the L.A. area spend an average of $907.22 a year in fines, fees and insurance premium increases.

But some Southern Californians have found a way to avoid the fines, including Los Angeles resident, and Maserati owner, Ralph Lacher.

"Three tickets… within a year," he said, describing his recent driving record to the I-Team.

But Lacher hasn’t had to pay the city or state a penny of that; instead he paid Ticketbust.com.

"Ticketbust.com is a service that helps people contest traffic tickets using what’s called a ‘trial by written declaration,'" said company president and CEO Steve Miller.

He was referring to the option printed on every ticket, giving drivers the opportunity to document in writing a legal challenge to a citation. Ticketbusters.com, and companies like it, guide drivers through the process, then send a copy to the court; the officer who issued the ticket must respond in writing.

"One way tickets are dismissed [is that] officers don’t like to respond to those," explained Miller.

"Officers are paid to go to court, they get paid overtime, they show up in court," he continued. "They are not paid extra to fill out paperwork and respond to a trial by declaration."

Miller told the I-Team drivers can challenge their tickets on their own, by submitting a "trial by written declaration" form to the designated traffic court by mail or in person, with the bail amount in full, prior to the date on the citation. If the ticket is dismissed or the traffic officer who issued the ticket doesn’t appear, state law requires the court to refund the full bail amount, and the case will be closed.

"That one document can really be the difference between insurance, points on your record, your livelihood," added Miller.

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.com.

Four Wesleyan University students have been arrested in connection with MDMA, or "Molly, overdoses that sent 11 off their peers to the hospital over the weekend, according to the Middletown Police Department.

Of the dozen people hospitalized Sunday night, two are still receiving treatment at Hartford Hospital. School officials declined to comment on their conditions, citing privacy concerns.

Wesleyan students Eric Lonergan, 21; Andrew Olson, 20; Zachary Kramer, 21; and Rama Agha Al Nakib, 20, were arrested Tuesday on drug charges and immediately suspended from the school.

"The University takes allegations of the distribution of drugs seriously and is cooperating with state and local officials," Wesleyan University President Michael Roth said in a statement Tuesday night. "We will do everything we can to make our community as safe as possible."

The charges are as follows:

• Lonergan has been charged with possession of a controlled substance and 16 counts of illegally obtaining or supplying drugs. His bond was set at $100,000.
• Olson was charged with two counts of possession of a hallucinogen, sale of a hallucinogen, possession of less than half an ounce of marijuana, possession of marijuana with intent to sell and possession of drug paraphernalia. Olson's bond was set at a total of $175,000.
• Kramer was charged with possession of drug paraphernalia, possession of a regulated substance and possession of less than half an ounce of marijuana. Bond was set at $75,000.
• Al Nakib has been charged with three counts of possession of a controlled substance, possession of a controlled substance with intent to sell and possession of drug paraphernalia. Her bond was set at $100,000.

Middletown Police Chief William McKenna said all four students were in custody by 8 p.m. Tuesday, adding that police searched "certain locations in and around the campus" to collect evidence.

Investigators are also working to identify chemicals included in the MDMA that sickened students on Sunday.

“This particular batch may have had a mixture of several kinds of designer drug chemicals, making the health risks unpredictable and treatment to combat the effects complex and problematic,” McKenna said Tuesday evening.

It's not the first time the campus has had a close call with Molly. An email sent to students in September said several of their peers were hospitalized after taking the drug.

A spokesperson for the university said Wesleyan is taking steps to keep students both informed and safe.

"The drug ‘Molly’ is widespread and becoming increasingly more prevalent on college campuses nationwide. Following the student hospitalizations in September, Wesleyan's Health Services Department emailed information to all students warning about the dangers of the drug," Lauren Rubenstein, Associate Manager of Public Relations at Wesleyan, said in a statement Tuesday.

Rubenstein added that the information is posted on the Health Services website and will be distributed to students again in light of this weekend's overdoses.

"Wesleyan also offers a wide range of drug prevention, education and treatment programs and resources, and responds to drug and alcohol violations with sanctions, as appropriate," she added.

Students, however, have expressed doubts over the university's ability to mitigate the problem.

"I don't really think it's something a university can control as a unit," said Wesleyan sophomore Hailey Sholty. "I think it's something that individuals control themselves."

Police emphasized Tuesday night that the investigation is ongoing and that "offenders will be held accountable."

All four students arrested will appear in court March 3.

Anyone with information is urged to call Middletown police.

He's a dad and a Marine. Now he's the subject of one of those unforgettable moments.

After seven months serving overseas, Gunnery Sgt. Juan Jimenez surprised his two children at E. Hale Curran Elementary School in Murrieta on Tuesday.

Jimenez was separated from his children while serving in the Middle East, where his unit provides mechanical support for aircraft fighting the terror group ISIS.

First-grader Juan Jr. and preschooler Isabel were surprised during library reading time when their father walked in.

Fittingly, the class was reading the book "Hero Dad" by Melinda Hardin when Jimenez made his entry. The book is about a boy who compares his father, an American soldier stationed in the Middle East, to a superhero.

After a heartfelt reunion with their father, Jimenez's son already had plans for dad.

"Can we go to Chuck E. Cheese?" he asked.

Jimenez happily obliged Juan Jr.’s pizza request.

The Marine told NBC4 that he was able to stay in contact with his children through the Internet while he served overseas, but "it’s not the same as being able to hold them and talk to them."

He is currently based in Camp Pendleton, the major West Coast base of the U.S. Marine Corps.

"I just miss them," Jimenez said. "They’re my whole life."

Rahm Emanuel failed to clinch another term as Chicago's mayor on Tuesday, setting the stage for an unprecedented runoff election against challenger Jesus "Chuy" Garcia.

Results showed the incumbent mayor with about 46 percent of the vote, short of the 50 percent-plus-one support he needs to win another term outright. Garcia, a Cook County commissioner, came in second place with 34 percent. 

The results mean the two will face off April 7, a potentially embarrassing result for a high-profile politician who has already spent millions in his re-election bid. It is the first time since the city changed its election system in the 1990s that an incumbent mayor is forced into a runoff. 

"We have come a long way and we have a little bit farther to go," Emanuel told supporters. "This is the first step in a real important journey for our city. To those who voted for me in this election, I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart. For those who voted for someone else, I hope to earn your confidence and your support in the weeks to come." 

A boisterous Garcia celebrated the outcome as a win over moneyed interests and other powerful forces supporting the incumbent, saying the results show "the people have spoken."

"Nobody thought we’d be here tonight," Garcia said. "They wrote us off; they said we didn’t have a chance. They said we didn’t have any money while they spent millions attacking us. Well, we’re still standing! We’re still running! And we’re gonna win!" 

Emanuel, a former White House chief of staff, struggled to rise above 50 support throughout the campaign, even as he outpolled his four lesser-funded and known challengers. A late campaign blitz that blanketed the airwaves and a public appearance last week with President Barack Obama — a move seen as an effort to appeal to undecided African-American voters — couldn’t propel the 55-year-old mayor to victory.

The 55-year-old Democrat anchored his re-election bid on first-term efforts to better the lives of Chicagoans, highlighting pushes to expand access to early childhood education, raise the minimum wage and improve the city’s business climate and infrastructure. But he faced criticism for other major policies pursued during his first term, including his decision to close dozens of schools.

The school closures fueled a tumultuous relationship with the Chicago’s Teachers Union, which went on strike in 2012. The union, which also clashed with Emanuel over other changes to the city’s education system, endorsed Garcia after a brain cancer diagnosis sidelined its own president, Karen Lewis.

Political expert John P. Frendreis said while Garcia is “funny, he’s got a good speaking presence, he’s been around long enough, he’s got this colorful nickname so people kind of know him,” it was the support of the teachers that made the race competitive. 

“It’s really the school controversy, the closure of schools, the continued opening of charter schools and then the ... battle with the CTU and Rahm that has generated any kind of heat in this and has made him even remotely vulnerable,” the political science professor at Loyola University in Chicago, said ahead of Tuesday’s race.

Emanuel's “bare-knuckles” approach to running the city, despite yielding results in some areas, also hurt his standing with some voters, analysts say.

“He’s reasonably good at his job,” Freindreis said. “Now where he has stumbled is that he is a tough guy and he is a bully and sometimes he is just too smart for his own good and so he’s rubbed people the wrong way because he’s not nice.”

Emanuel’s challengers criticized him throughout the campaign for not doing enough to help bring jobs, safer streets and other opportunities to all Chicagoans. Garcia told NBC Chicago he would, to hire a thousand more police officers, reduce class sizes and standardized tests and “invest in neighborhoods to attract manufacturing or industrial-creation jobs.” In addition to the backing from the teachers, he also gained headlines for winning the endorsement of the liberal political group MoveOn.org. The group applauded Tuesday's results as a "huge win for progressives and working families across Chicago." 

Even if Emanuel succeeds in winning a second term in April, some observers say the education initiatives he pushed in his first four years could take a hit in Chicago and beyond.

“Over the next few years you could have mayors, some Democrats and some Republicans, in cities
across the nation saying I’m going to pick the kids over the unions,” said Keith Koeneman, author of “First Son: The Biography of Richard M. Daly.”

Check back with NBCChicago.com for more on this developing story. For complete election night coverage, visit the Ward Room blog. 

A man wanted on a federal warrant for failing to appear for sentencing in an aggravated assault case set off a wild chase that started in New Jersey and ended on the Brooklyn side of the Verrazano Bridge when he tried to flee the U.S. Marshals searching for him, authorities say.

Chopper 4 exclusively captured the dramatic sequence of events Tuesday. 

It started when a U.S. Marshals task force working with the Monmouth County Sheriff's Office went to a home in Old Bridge, New Jersey to act on a lead they'd gotten on 41-year-old Anthony Mazza, the U.S. Marshals' Regional New York/New Jersey Task Force said. 

The officers were staking out the home when the suspect's vehicle appeared, with Mazza in the front passenger seat, according to authorities. A woman was driving the car, and another man was in the backseat. 

Mazza apparently noticed the Marshals, and the car took off, authorities said. The task force officers attempted to pull over the vehicle in a traffic stop, and as they got close, Mazza allegedly pushed the woman out of the car and onto the road.

Mazza took off in the vehicle, and U.S. Marshals gave pursuit. He was believed to be dangerous, sources said. 

The woman was found to be OK.

As the car approached the Garden State Parkway, the U.S. Marshals reached out to New Jersey State Police, who took over the pursuit, according to the Marshals. As Mazza went onto the Outerbridge Crossing into Staten Island, Port Authority police were then notified, and they tried to set up roadblocks on the New York side.

Mazza managed to avoid the roadblocks and continued onto the Verrazano Bridge and into Brooklyn, at which point the NYPD and MTA police got involved, according to authorities.

Police radio transmissions obtained by NBC 4 New York reveal officers communicating urgently to have the bridge closed. 

"Could you have the highway shut down please? And notify TBTA to shut the bridge," one dispatch stated. 

TBTA is short for Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority, the legal name for the MTA.

Chopper 4 showed nearly half a dozen vehicles, many with sirens blaring, zipping across the span of the Verrazano and on residential streets before the runaway vehicle crashed on the Brooklyn side shortly after 2 p.m.

The runaway car wove to either side of the road as it tried to evade the police cars and managed to separate from the cruisers for a moment on the Brooklyn side of the span before police caught up. 

Chopper 4 showed the getaway car and the law enforcement vehicles speed past other cars in the Bath Beach neighborhood, including ones stopped at a traffic light, before a marked police car bumped into the getaway car from behind. 

A person in a red shirt was seen getting out of the passenger side of the vehicle and trying to run after the crash. Mazza momentarily appeared to try to flee again, but the banged-up car couldn't go far. 

MTA Bridges & Tunnels officers surrounded the vehicle and took Mazza into custody on 14th Avenue, the agency said. The person in the red shirt, identified as Timothy Isaken, was also apprehended. 

Resident Danny Castillo was inside his home when he heard the chase-ending crash that wrecked his red van parked outside. 

"I hear 'boom, boom, boom,' he hit three cars here. I see cops and helicopters everywhere," he told NBC 4 New York. "They ran out and chase some guy." 

"It was unbelievable, I've never seen anything like that happen, over here, especially," said Castillo.

Local police protocol for chases generally calls for a balance between apprehension and maintaining public safety. 

Mazza was charged with eluding and aggravated assault on police, and Iskane was charged with obstruction. They were first taken into custody at the 68th Precinct station in Bay Ridge. and then moved to the 121st Precinct station on Staten Island. 

It's not clear if they had attorneys. 

Two Port Authority police officers were treated for minor injuries. No one else was hurt, officials said. 

Mazza's aggravated assault case stemmed from a domestic violence incident, officials said. 

An Orange County spa owner has been arrested on allegations he sexually assaulted a woman under the guise he was training her to use a "soon-to-be-patented" cosmetic device, officials said Tuesday.

Raymond Newton Baker, 72, is accused of assaulting a 29-year-old woman several times over a three-month period, Orange County Sheriff's Lt. Jeff Hallock said in a release.

The woman met Baker, who owned Beautiful Image LLC in Laguna Niguel, through a Craigslist job posting for the opening of a second spa in Fashion Island, Newport Beach, Hallock said.

Baker paid her for training and later said he changed the business name to Bio Nova, LLC, Hallock said.

He allegedly assaulted the woman under the guise he was training her to use a "soon-to-be-patented" cosmetic "Micro Current" device designed to reduce age lines, cellulite, and promote weight loss, officials said. The woman alerted authorities earlier this month.

Deputies say Baker claimed 18 other "females participated in his training program and failed for various reasons," Hallock said.

Investigators believe there are more victims who've had contact with Baker, falling victim to the medical device plot.

Baker was arrested Feb. 19 on suspicion of penetration with a foreign object and sexual battery. He was released on bond and is due in court pending charges being filed by the Orange County District Attorney.

Anyone with information or who believes they were a victim should call Orange County Sheriff's Department Special Victims Unit Sgt. Wade Walsvick at 714-647-7418 or 714-647-7000.

Anonymous tips may also be submitted to Orange County Crime Stoppers at 855-TIP-OCCS (855-847-6227) or at occrimestoppers.org.