You often hear people complain about having weak water pressure, but a Woodland Hills woman has the exact opposite problem.

"When I take a shower, it’s like being sand blasted," Suzie Dotan said.

But it’s not just an issue of discomfort.

Over the past three years, Dotan says she’s spent thousands of dollars installing, then replacing, water pressure regulators that can’t handle the water flowing through her pipes.

"My plumber put a plastic bag there," she told the I-Team, pointing to her newest regulator on the side of the house. "If it starts filling up with water, that’s a sign it’s going to fail."

Dotan also showed the I-Team receipts from repairs she’s had to make on pipes that sprung leaks because of the extreme water pressure.

"I can’t tell you the epic failures I’ve had out there with leaks," she complained. She says her sprinkler system once "exploded," and her swimming pool has leaked hundreds of gallons of water into the canyon.

The trouble has led to nasty surprises in her water bills as well.

In December 2013, she paid the Los Angeles Department of Water & Power $185.68 for water usage. In December 2014, she paid $911.49.

She attributes the sharp increase to undetected leaks that kept water flowing to her property, long after she turned off her faucets and sprinklers.

"Emotionally, I hear water and I become crazy," she said.

Dotan’s requests to have the LADWP stem the flow have been unsuccessful.

The I-Team reached out to the LADWP, which says the powerful pressure is a physical necessity to deliver water to hillside dwellers.

The ideal pressure for a home like Dotan’s is "about 55 pounds inside the home, and about 80 pounds outside for irrigation," said the utility’s Director of Water Distribution Joe Castruita.

The incoming water pressure, however, "is working in between 184 and 217 pound operating range, which is normal for that area," Castruita continued.

The solution, he said, is to install the proper tools to handle the flow.

"First and foremost is to have a quality regulator in place (and to) have a qualified plumber make sure it’s installed properly," Castruita advised. "A homeowner can (also) put pressure gauges on each side of that regulator to make (visible) the pressure being delivered and the pressure being used in the house."

Asked if the cost of these additions fall entirely on the consumer, Castruita confirmed, "That’s right."

Castruita says the LADWP has received few, if any, complaints from other homeowners in the area, and suggests Dotan may not have the right equipment installed.

Dotan disagrees, saying she’s heard neighbors complain of similar issues. She’s hoping the utility will step in to regulate the water flow so it no longer causes damage to her property.

"They are killing me, they are financially killing me," she said. "They are making me water psychotic."

Tips for staying within your water budget:

• Check for leaks – toilets, swimming pools and water softeners are prime trouble spots
• Purchase water efficient appliances – toilets are the top source of indoor water use, a high-efficiency model could earn you a rebate and save you money on bills
• Check sprinkler timer – especially after an outage, timers will reset to factory defaults, which may put out more water than you want
• Check irrigation system monthly – look for broken sprinkler heads, leaky valves, muddy spots
• Check pressure regulator – recommended water pressure for indoor plumbing is between 40-60 PSI

A woman kicked through the back window of a police cruiser in Los Angeles.

The glass shattered after she forced her feet through the barrier after she was detained near the intersection of Marianna Avenue and Valley Boulevard at around 11 p.m Thursday, a Los Angeles Police Department spokesman said.

It is believed the woman was intoxicated, though it is unclear she was under the influence of drugs or alcohol.

She was detained after some firemen had to stop her driving off in a vehicle, police said, when they came to the aid of a victim of an assault. LAPD officers soon arrived and put her in the back of their patrol car. Within a few minutes she started yelling and screaming, then smashed the window.

She was placed in leg restraints, then taken to the hospital for a psychological evaluation. 

The woman may be charged later with battery on a firefighter, or with vandalism of a patrol car.

Parents in Washington D.C. charged with leaving their toddlers locked in a freezing car for an hour while they went to a wine tasting at a bar pleaded guilty Thursday.

Christophe Lucas and his wife, Jennie Chang, were both charged with two counts each of attempted second degree cruelty to children.

As a condition of their plea deal, both must take parenting classes and comply with other probation conditions.

Last month, a pedestrian called 911 after she heard a little girl crying hysterically as she walked by a vehicle in Foggy Bottom, according to police. Upon arrival, police found a 2-year-old and a 1-year-old strapped into their car seats in the locked car, with the windows all the way up.

The parents told police they left an iPhone in the car to monitor the children while they attended a wine tasting at Ris, located at L and 23rd streets. According to police, the restaurant manager said the couple was inside for more than an hour. 

If Lucas and Chang follow all the conditions of their probation over a nine-month period, the government will not oppose a defense motion to withdraw the plea and will move to dismiss the case. 

A business owner in Berkeley is not happy someone has been taking his Wall Street Journal.

According to news website Berkeleyside.com, a passerby took a photo this week of the notice addressed "To the Berkeley man who has been taking my Wall Street Journal so many times over so many years." The polite notice was posted in front of the Skylight & Sun on the 2000 block of Blake Street.

The note said the company installed a video surveillance system and caught the person taking the newspaper on March 12.

Berkeleyside reader Marty Schiffenbauer snapped a photograph of the sign (pictured above), describing it as "Definitely very Berkeley!"

Photograph courtesy news website Berkeleyside/Marty Schiffenbauer

Students found a man's body in the swimming pool at Piedmont Hills High School in San Jose on Friday morning, shutting the campus down early because of the investigation.

The students found the body during their first-period swim class, and police got a call at 8:47 a.m., Officer Albert Morales said. He confirmed that the body did not belong to a student.

Homicide detectives were sent to the scene at 1377 Piedmont Road, but said it's too early to determine if foul play is suspected or not, Morales said.

Still, a source told NBC Bay Area the body was weighted down and was covered by the pool tarp when it was discovered, making the scene appear suspicious.

East Side Union High School District Supt. Chris Funk said school closed early at 11 a.m. because of the investigation.

• Navy SEAL Killed During Parachute Training ID'd

The swimming pool at SJ Peidmont Hills HS where a "weighted" body was found this morning at the bottom of deep end pic.twitter.com/SWfZKMk1Kh

— Damian Trujillo (@newsdamian) March 20, 2015

A 49-year-old Bronx man has been sentenced to 20 years to life in prison for lacing his children's pizza with rat poison after he discovered that his ex-wife was seeing another man.

Prosecutors say Leonardo Espinal was sentenced on Thursday after pleading guilty last month to the 2012 murder of his 5-year-old son and the attempted murder of his 7-year-old daughter.

Prosecutors say Espinal penned a suicide note and then fed his children the poisoned pizza. The daughter threw up and Espinal then locked himself and the little boy in the bathroom. When he refused to come out, Espinal's stepmother called 911.

Police knocked the door down and discovered Espinal dazed and the little boy dead in the tub from a combination of the poison and being submerged in water. 

An art student who went missing last week has been found in good health and reunited with her family.

Sahray Barber, 22, had seemingly disappeared early March 9, when she left her apartment in the 1500 block of Northpark Boulevard in San Bernardino. Some of her belongings, including a laptop and her cellphone, were found in bushes near a bus stop where she may have been heading.

It came soon after two kidnapping attempts at the nearby Cal State San Bernardino, and it was feared she may have been a victim. San Bernardino Police Department officials said there a still questions that need to be answered about her disapperance.

'Not everything adds up here," said Lt. Richard Lawhead.

Barber had actually been in the Los Angeles area all the time, and when she saw televised reports she was missing she contacted her father Thursday afternoon. He then got in touch with detectives. Her family has asked for privacy

Police said an investigation will be conducted to determine whether anyone misled their investigation, and if criminal charges should be filed.

The Art Institute of California — Inland Empire student's two roommates had reported her missing. They were previously questioned, along with her ex-boyfriend.

Friends started a Facebook page to raise awareness about her disappearance, while a vigil was also held at her college.

A resident called authorities Friday morning to report a possible home invasion in the Panorama City area, officials later determined it did not occur.

Authorities received an emergency call that two people were attempting to enter a home in the 7700 block of Greenbush Avenue at about 10:46 a.m., according to officials from the Los Angeles Police Department.

The resident went into a room of the house and locked the door before calling officials, Officer Jack Richter said, spokesman for the LAPD.

Police were canvassing the area near the home looking for two possible suspects shortly after the call was made before determining a crime had not occurred.

The man may have heard a noise and was experiencing "anxiety" from the sounds that escalated to the report of a home invasion, Karen Spencer said, spokeswoman for the LAPD.

A fierce fire broke out at a pallet yard in Los Angeles early Friday.

Twenty-two units responded to the blaze at P&R Pallets on the 1600 block of East 48th Place, which was reported at 3:19 a.m, a Los Angeles Fire Department spokesman said. The pallets were stacked 20 feet high, and flames could be seen shooting into the sky from several blocks away.

Firefighters battled to keep the blaze from spreading to surrounding buildings, including a facility that sells poultry. No live chickens were in the warehouse.

A knockdown was finally called at 4:26 a.m, and no injuries were reported. Burnt pallets were still smoking and smouldering hours later.

The cause of the fire is still under investigation and the monetary damages are yet to be determined. A caretaker who works at the yard, who regularly lights a fire to keep warm, raised the alarm after being alerted by barking dogs. it is not yet clear if his fire spread accidentally, or if it was started by something else.

A dead gray whale was found floating in the waters near Torrey Pines State Beach Thursday morning, San Diego Lifeguard officials confirmed.

The young whale -- measuring approximately 15 to 20 feet in length -- was discovered about 250 yards off the shore. Lifeguards confirmed the animal was dead when they reached it just before 10 a.m.

Aerial video showed dozens of birds hovering over the carcass, which was floating belly up in the water.

San Diego Fire-Rescue spokesman Lee Swanson said lifeguards were waiting to see if the whale would drift to the shore before beginning any recovery operations. Swanson said officials were trying to determine if the whale would wash up on a city or state beach in order to then decide who would then be responsible for getting rid of it.

Swanson said lifeguards don't have the equipment to haul it off, so officials would need to hire a contractor for the clean-up.

Marine Safety Lt. James Gartland said there was no threat of the animal washing onto the shore. Ultimately, he said officials decided to tow the whale into Fiesta Island on Mission Bay in an operation that would take several hours.

Gartland said the whale would be towed in by the tail. After that, he said a national marine fisheries team will come out and take samples from the whale in order to determine its cause of death. Once that's complete, a team will dispose of the carcass by hauling it to the city dump.

Gartland said it appears the whale has been floating in the water for weeks, as its carcass is very bleached out. He said the clean-up would be inevitably smelly.

“It’s really pungent; it’s usually a pretty stinky operation,” he explained.

Gartland said the last time a whale was found near a local beach was around this time last year near Sunset Cliffs.

The California attorney general's office is appealing a judge's decision to pull Orange County prosecutors from a death penalty case involving a mass killer over a conflict of interest related to a jailhouse informant program.

Superior Court Judge Thomas M. Goethals announced Friday that the notice of appeal has been filed.
Last week, the judge yanked the district attorney's office off the case of convicted killer Scott Dekraai after finding sheriff's deputies on the prosecution team lied or withheld evidence during a hearing on the use of jailhouse informants.

That decision meant state prosecutors would take over the case.

Dekraai pleaded guilty to killing his ex-wife and seven others in a 2011 shooting rampage in a Seal Beach hair salon.

The penalty phase of his case is pending.

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Three men have sued Chicago police over its controversial Homan Square facility, saying police took them there, handcuffed them to cell walls for hours, denied them access to lawyers and refused their requests for food, water and bathroom access.

Their federal civil rights lawsuit filed Thursday — which names three Chicago police officers, other unknown officers and the city as defendants — says police "blatantly violated" the plaintiffs' civil rights.

Police have not responded to the lawsuit, but a police spokesman last month denied similar allegations about the facility, saying that it was not off-the-books, that suspects were allowed access to their lawyers and that the building is considered sensitive because officers there are often working undercover.

In their lawsuit, John Vergara, Jose Garcia and Carlos Ruiz say armed, masked police officers seized them from a Chicago restaurant in 2011 and took them to what they call an "off the books detainment center" on the city's West Side.

"I felt as if I was kidnapped from this restaurant," said Vergara. "Nobody knew where we were, where we were taken — my family, friends, nobody."

"I was so afraid that I try to remember some things, but I prefer not to," Ruiz added. "For me, it was like going to hell."

Blake Horwitz, a lawyer for the three plaintiffs, said the men were chained to a bench for up to nine hours, despite numerous requests for attorneys.

"Four of the men had done nothing wrong at all. They were merely customers at a restaurant," he said.

The men said officers, some still masked, came in and interrogated them, threatening to charge them with a crime unless they gave officers information. 

"The officers say, 'We found these drugs, we are going to pin them on you unless you give us information,'" Horwitz said.

Horwitz said that his clients were told they couldn't report the incident after their release.

"I just think that we deserved due process. We just didn’t get that," Garcia said.

Horwitz said the tactics used by police paint a pattern at the Homan Square site. 

"It seems that there’s something particular about Homan Square where [suspects are] taken off the grid and that kind of thing," Horwitz said.

Chicago police said in a statement that "arrests and interview procedures are "matters of people's most basic rights, and CPD abides by all laws, rules and guideline pertaining to any interviews of suspects or witnesses at Homan Square or any other CPD facility."

The Homan Square department has become a target in recent months following reports comparing the center to the terrorist detention facility in Guantanamo Bay.

Last month, police denied allegations that suspects taken to the facility were beaten and denied access to their legal representation.

“If lawyers have a client detained at Homan Square, just like any other facility, they are allowed to speak to and visit them," police spokesman Martin Maloney said.

He refuted the suggestion that the facility was off-the-books, saying that there's always a record of anyone who is arrested by police officers.

He said the building is considered "sensitive" because officers who work there are often involved in undercover assignments. Other units housed at the facility include the Bureau of Organized Crime, SWAT Unit Evidence Technicians, and the CPD ballistics lab, he said.

"The allegation that physical violence is a part of interviews with suspects is unequivocally false, it is offensive, and it is not supported by any facts whatsoever," he said.

Earlier this month, about 200 people protested outside the building, calling for it to be shut down, after The Guardian reported on what it called an "off-the-books interrogation compound" and "the domestic equivalent of a CIA black site." 

A 15-year-old boy surrendered to Philadelphia Police in the robbery and shooting death of a man who police say was targeted because he appeared old, police told NBC10. The boy was the third suspect sought in the deadly encounter.

Tyfine Hamilton's father helped negotiate the arrest, sources said. He is now being interviewed by homicide detectives at Philadelphia Police Headquarters in Center City.

Hamilton was wanted for the murder of 51-year-old James Patrick Stuhlman. Last Thursday, Stuhlman was walking his dog, Molly, along the 6400 block of Woodcrest Avenue in the Overbrook section of the city when he was approached by three teenage boys, police said.

Homicide investigators said the teens planned to rob the man after playing a game of basketball. They chose him, investigators said, because he looked old and his dog was "weak." Stuhlman pleaded for his life before he was shot once in the chest, police said. He died on the street with his dog at his side.

Hamilton's alleged co-conspirator, 15-year-old Brandon Smith, was arrested Thursday and charged with murder after police spotted him in Overbook, police said. A 14-year-old was also arrested and charged with robbery, as well.

Stuhlman was shot over nothing, police said, as not one item was taken from him.

Hamilton has not yet been charged in the case.

Juan Rivera, an Illinois man who spent nearly 20 years in prison for a rape and murder he didn’t commit, will receive a $20 million settlement for his years behind bars, setting a new U.S. record for an individual case of wrongful conviction, his attorneys announced Friday.

The settlement equates to about a million dollars for each year he spent behind bars and brings Rivera's case to a close. 

"No amount of money could ever sum up to 20 years of prison," Rivera said. "I went through a living hell while I was prison so to say that $20 million is a wonderful thing, of course. You know, I could live more comfortable now, my family can, I can go to college, get my education the way I’ve always wanted, but I still would prefer my 20 years with my family than $20 million."

Rivera was convicted at the age of 19 in the rape and fatal stabbing of 11-year-old Holly Staker in 1992 and served almost 20 years of a life sentence at Stateville Prison in Joliet, Illinois.

Rivera's conviction was appealed three times, and each time a jury found him guilty

During his last trial, in 2009, advancements in technology allowed investigators to test DNA recovered from Staker's body. The genetic profile recovered from the fingerprints, hair and other evidence collected at the scene of the crime could not be traced back to Rivera, nor was it a complete match of any other profile already in the national database.

The majority of the case prosecutors built against Rivera revolved around a confession he signed. Though he admits to initially lying to investigators about where he was the night of the crime, Rivera argues the confession he signed after a four-day police interrogation was coerced.

In December, 2011 the 2nd District Appellate Court north of Chicago overturned the conviction saying the evidence against Rivera does not go beyond a reasonable doubt. He was released Jan. 6, 2012, a day he declared his new birthday.

"You hope that the $20 million is enough of a disincentive for behavior to change. That’s what you hope," said Rivera's attorney Locke Bowman. "You hope that people would rather investigate the case properly, they’d rather pursue appropriate procedures for interrogation, they’d rather handle the evidence the way it’s supposed to be handled than face these kinds of consequences."

Rivera, now 42, says he's not angry about what happened to him, but said he is resentful. 

"I’ve gotten threats, I’ve gotten different kind of looks so I live my life always looking behind back," he said. "There are others that still believe that I’m guilty, so I still live my life on pins and needles not knowing who to trust."

Attorneys announcing the settlement Friday said Staker's killer remains at large and may have been involved in other killings since Rivera's conviction. 

On Friday, Rivera said he hopes to use the money to go to college to study business management and accounting, to put his nieces through school and to help pay for his mother's medical bills. 

A Staten Island man has pleaded guilty to illegally killing a deer in what may be New York City’s first-ever poaching case.

David G. Oakes was ordered to pay $3,000 in fines after entering guilty pleas to several charges including illegal taking of a deer without a license and trespassing.

Oakes was arrested by state environmental conservation officers at Schmul Playground, in the Travis-Chelsea neighborhood on the west side of the island, on Nov. 11.

He declined comment to NBC 4 New York on Friday.

The Staten Island Advance reports that the man was nabbed after officers caught him dressed in camouflage, carrying a bow. He allegedly set up cans and bait piles to lure the deer into his sights, and had no hunting license.

The man hadn’t actually killed a deer when he was arrested, the Advance reports, but told police he had taken down an eight-point buck in the same spot a year before.

Oakes’ conviction comes as the city’s least populous borough sees an explosion in poaching instances, the Advance reports. The paper reports that at least one poacher killed a deer with a shotgun, but most illegal hunters have used crossbows and composite bows.

Hunting is illegal on Staten Island and in New York City’s other four boroughs. Westchester and Suffolk counties permit deer hunting, but only with a bow.

Deer populations have risen exponentially on Staten Island in recent years. 

Ever enjoy a bacon cheeseburger on a sunny patio of a Southern California restaurant? And did you have your pup with you, at your feet, lapping from a bowl of water kindly provided by the restaurant?

Then please raise your hand, now, if you never, ever sneaked your dog a bit of bacon.

There are no hands raised, we'll assume, because every hand belonging to every hound-adoring human has waved the under-the-table bacon strip at one time or another. 'Fess up, hands of SoCal. We know.

If only there was a menu just for dogs, you likely thought, then I could keep my bacon.

The Morrison wants you, and all pooch people — pro-poochists, if you prefer — to keep their bacon. The Los Feliz pub just introduced a special dog menu designed solely for their four-footed, furry-faced, tail-thumping guests.

Guests we'll assume are not picking up the check, so perhaps you, as the person in this equation, will need to discuss that first with your dog. (Hope this conversation isn't awkward.)

There are three selections on the dog menu priced at six bucks a pop. Where's the Beef? is chopped hamburger beef with rice, Cock-a-Doodle-Doo is chicken and rice, and Frannenweinie has, you betcha, hot dogs (chopped) and rice.

It's a wide range for a pup who probably sticks to the same foods on her home turf. You could visit three weekends in a row, giving your Pug or Mastiff the chance to place snout to supper on each selection, and let her decide her favorite.

But, honestly, everything is a dog's favorite, which is why we love them so. That bird, that Frisbee, that smell, this fallen bit of ham? ALL of those are a dog's favorite ALL THE TIME.

(Forgive the all-caps, but dogs are pretty much all-caps, constantly, right? Right.)

As for the bites for the diners actually eating off the table and not from a dish below it? Posh burgers are the theme, with fish tacos and steaks making cameos. And there's beer. Mucho craft beer straight from the taps.

We can only guess The Morrison's menu'll be a happy hit with the muttlies. And, of course, their people, who no longer have to do that hand-sneaky-under-the-table thing.

They can spoil their canine bud, full-on, just as long as the human involved knows his dog definitely is light in the wallet. And light on actually having a wallet, or pockets, or a purse, pretty much.

Ah, the Life Carefree. Dogs, you've got it made.