With the announcement of new water restrictions in California, this weekend may be a big one for homeowners looking for the quickest, easiest and cheapest ways to make their lawns more drought-tolerant.

The city of LA and many other municipalities still offer rebate to homeowners who replace traditional lawns with those that use less water. Some estimates show rebates averaging around $2,000.

But with the push to conserve more and more water - and sooner, rather than later - nurseries and garden centers are seeing a jump in requests for help.

"This year we've had a hugely expanded area of drought-tolerant plants," said Home Depot associate Ellen Nagler. "It makes a beautiful yard and very easy to take care of."

Nagler said places like Home Depot have upped its inventory of drought-tolerant plants because of the increased demand.

Sherman Oaks resident Allyson Davis says she changed over her own front lawn to a drought-tolerant one in October and this month is starting to see the savings.

"I just got our first water bill that I can really see the difference and it was a few hundred dollars," Davis said with a smile. "So now I just have to figure out who's taking the long showers!"

At the Sego Nursery in Valley Village, Dean Murakami says if there's only one thing people do this weekend, his suggestion is to add mulch.

"If you mulch and especially keep the top inch dry, that acts as insulation and holds the water in," he said, adding that watering your lawn in the early hours (he suggests 3 a.m. or 4 a.m.), you can take advantage of the morning dew as well.

"If they mulch around the plant but not next to the plant, keep the base of the plant clear and two to three inches high of mulch will save you 25 percent of the water," he said.

Murakami says he's seen the changes in buying habits, too.

"People are gonna switch to California natives, that's what's going to happen," he said."

Murakami believes the only downside to changing over your lawn to those California natives is that the younger plants need at least two seasons to take hold and expand their roots - that means heavy watering to start before less watering to save you the monthly bills.

"Watering all the time, smaller amounts aren't going to do anything. We need to water thoroughly and then not water very often," he said.

In Sherman Oaks, Tom Astle says he's been working on the changeover to a drought-tolerant yard for the last couple years.

"In my backyard I have an area of native and other similar plants that I literally never irrigate," he said, adding that he's also allowed his grass to grow longer and thicker to help keep the water in.

"Everything's in bloom, and if you pick native plants and things from similar climates, you'll have stuff blooming all year long," he said. "It's not tropical looking, it's a different look, but you don't have to water it as much."

Astle points to a need to change what people see as aesthetically pleasing in order to move forward with what could be a 40-year drought.

"People used to think of Southern California like you could pound a broomstick and the ground and it would grow," Astle said. "You just water everything and everything is like a lush Hawaiian golf course, but it isn't the climate we live in."

For Davis, she admits the change can be tough. She says her kids were concerned about losing their memories of playing on a lush front yard but says it was a change she's glad she made - even though she knows not everyone is ready to do it themselves.

"I have noticed a lot of people in our neighborhood taking out their lawns," she said. "But I've also notice people still hosing off their driveways and it makes me crazy."
 

Police Friday released security video of a car linked to a child abductor in hopes that it leads to the arrest of the unidentified predator, who kidnapped a 2-year-old girl in Gardena and left her in Cudahy.

Stacy Lopez was kidnapped about 4:55 p.m. Thursday near 149th Street and Western Avenue, where she had wandered away from her mother at a self-serve car wash, Gardena police Chief Ed Medrano said.

The toddler's mother heard her daughter call to her and then she was gone, Medrano said.

The child was dropped off about 7:15 p.m. near Santa Ana Street and Atlantic Avenue in Cudahy and was taken to a hospital to be examined, said Gardena police Lt. Steve Prendergast.

The toddler was treated at the hospital for unspecified injuries she suffered during the abduction, and reunited with her family.

Her condition was not disclosed.

Police believe the child was taken and dropped off by someone in a "clean" white four-door car, possibly a 2008-2012 Nissan Altima with tinted windows.

Authorities Friday released security video that showed the car being driven through an area neighborhood, and police urged anyone with security video possibly related to the case to call them.

"This man is a child predator," Prendergast said. "He is out there, and we need the public's help to find him."

Prendergast said detectives have determined that the suspect is not known to the family.

"This is a 'stranger' abduction -- this is not a 'family' abduction," Prendergast said. "The information that we have is that the victim does not know the suspect."

A "grainy" security video from the area near the crime scene showed the car, Prendergast said, and police were working to enhance the video to determine the license plate number.

Police believe the plate may have been subsequently removed. Anyone within information about the case was urged to call 911 or Gardena police at (310) 323-7911.

A Philadelphia mother of two, who goes by the name of "YoungLioness" on Twitter, was arrested by federal officials Friday and charged with trying to support ISIS with money and resources.

Keonna Thomas, 30, appeared in court in full black dress with only her eyes showing, just hours after her arrest. According to the criminal complaint filed by the U.S. attorney’s office, she wanted to join, fight with and die for ISIS.

The only reason she didn’t get on a plane last Sunday to put her plan into action, was because federal agents spooked her two days before the flight when they raided her home, federal prosecutors argued, saying Thomas was a flight risk and should be detained.

The North Philly woman, who neighbors said lived quietly with her two daughters and grandmother, posted statements on Twitter accounts which led officials to believe she was intent on not only supporting the terrorist organization, but looked forward to martyrdom, federal officials allege.

Thomas, also known as Fatayat Al Khilafah and YoungLioness on social media, began communicating with a man who identified himself as a violent jihadi fighter in December of 2013, according to the complaint. She talked with him about donating money "to the ISIS brothers" and traveling to get more money.

Posts from her Twitter accounts also included statements about dying for the cause.

"I see why the mujahideen [violent jihadi fighters] Sacrifice Dunya [life on earth] for Akhirah [the afterlife] there's no comparison," Thomas tweeted on or about January 1, 2014, according to the complaint. A few days later, "Only thing I'm jealous of is when I see the smiles of shuhadaa [martyrs]."

Federal agents say Thomas communicated with two other co-conspirators about her travel plans and routes to enter Turkey. In one conversation on Feb. 17, a man who'd already traveled to Syria told Thomas his beliefs were so strong he'd either shoot or behead his own wife if she betrayed him. Thomas responded, "cutting head is more personal," according to the complaint.

"You probably want to do Istishadee [martyrdom operations] with me," the man said to Thomas that same day. Her alleged response: "that would be amazing ... a girl can only wish."

FBI agents say they tracked dozens more tweets and electronic messages from Thomas who last week bought a plane ticket for fly from Philadelphia to Spain on March 29 after researching how to get from Barcelona to Istanbul.

Three American flags dot the front awning of Thomas' home on N. 10th Street, which has been under surveillance by the FBI for the last week according to neighbors who watched agents arrest Thomas Friday morning.

"She didn't bother nobody. She came and gone, she was always in her religion attire, you know," said neighbor Roni Patterson, whose children play with Thomas' kids.

Thomas will remain in custody. Her next court appearance is April 8.

If convicted, Thomas would face a maximum of 15 years in prison.

ISIS has claimed responsibility for the videotaped beheadings of two American aid workers, two British aid workers, 21 Christians in Libya and burning alive a Jordanian Air Force Pilot in a cage.

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A man died from an apparently self-inflicted gunshot wound near the new "Despicable Me" ride at Universal Studios Friday afternoon, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.

The shooting was reported just before 3 p.m.

Aerial footage showed rides had been stopped and that area of the park had been cleared of parkgoers.

"LA County Sheriff's has confirmed there was a possible suicide on our property. We are working closely with law enforcement and corporate security," a spokesperson for the theme park said in a statement.

"The safety and security of our guests is always of utmost importance. Business remains open.”

No one else was injured. It's not clear if the man was an employee or a park visitor.

The gun shot was heard by park goers, but the body was discovered in an area not visible to parkgoers.

NBC4 and Universal Studios are owned by the same parent company.

This is a developing story. Refresh for details.

Dozens of Southern Californians who owe money to the IRS say they’re now deeper in debt, after paying for tax negotiations services they’ve paid for, but never received.

Foothill Ranch resident William Wilkerson says he paid the formerly Irvine-based Authority Tax Services thousands of dollars in 2013 to help lower his $18,000 debt with the IRS.

"They said they could negotiate the penalties away," Wilkerson said. "But, they did absolutely nothing!"

Wilkerson told the I-Team he paid ATS $3,500 for their services. He displayed emails that he said were sent to him by ATS, acknowledging payments made, and requesting payment if he was late.

But when ATS took his money, Wilkerson says, they did nothing in return to help with his debt.

Steve McFarland with the Better Business Bureau says complaints against Authority Tax Service have been increasing steadily over the past two years.

"We have 69 complaints on ATS," says McFarland. "The number one complaint that we hear from consumers is ‘we gave you a deposit as soon as you got our money we don’t hear from you anymore.’"

That sounds familiar to Wilkerson.

Every time he asked about his case status, Wilkerson says he was told he had a new case manager.

"I’ve had probably 8 to 10 case managers," he said.

Wilkerson says the ATS offices also kept moving. The Irvine office closed soon after he signed up, and the company website published a new office address in downtown Los Angeles. Then, the LA office suddenly closed, and Wilkerson was given a new address in Toluca Lake. When the I-Team went to that address, we found a post office box.

Jonathan Kramer, who owns Mailbox Toluca Lake, says he’s been visited by several ATS clients who are furious about their dealings with ATS and want their money back.

"They don’t know what their next step is," Kramer said. "They were hoping to find a live person to settle their issue."

For the $3,500 Wilkerson paid, he said ATS did his 2013 taxes, but his return had to be re-submitted because it had multiple errors. He ended up negotiating to restructure debt payments himself, something he could have done all along for free.

"In all honesty, when it was all said and done, nothing was done," Wilkerson said.

The I-Team reached out to ATS for weeks, before finally getting this emailed response:

"The Managers and Members decided to liquidate the company on August 1, 2014. The company’s rapid growth and the competitive nature of the industry made it impossible for the business to continue. As part of the company’s dissolution, the Managers and Members referred to Liquidation Managers to wind up the company and all of its pending cases. At the time ATS stopped operating, the company was handling over 3,000 cases. As of today, there are less than 1,000 pending. All cases are being handled and refunds where appropriate have been made throughout the process. The Liquidation Managers are committed to getting each client the best Tax Resolution possible."

The ATS website (www.authoritytaxservices.com) says clients with concerns can call its processing center at 800-634-2024.

Police in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, are investigating the brutal killing of a young father whose body was left inside a car with his throat slashed, and was later discovered by a group of children.

The victim, 24-year-old Jamai Francis, is described by family members as a dedicated father to a five-year-old little girl. Speaking exclusively to NBC 6 South Florida, Francis' family, still reeling from the news of his death, say he was a fun person who was all about family.

"Every time you use to see him, he's always laughing, smiling, cracking jokes. Just a fun person to be around," sister Elizabeth Aderly says.

Aderly also shared a video of her late brother at a birthday party for his daughter making cotton candy and jumping around inside the bouncy house.

Francis' other sister, Kadisha Davis, was too emotional to speak on camera.

Aderly says she just spoke to her brother early Thursday. The two spoke fondly of upcoming plans for Easter weekend.

"We were just standing right here talking and laughing," she says.

According to his sisters, Francis left for his girlfriend Vonisha's house located in the 200 block of 24th Avenue in Fort Lauderdale Thursday evening.

Vonisha could not speak through tears, but her mother, Veronica Williams, said Francis was kind and always treated the family well.

"He was happy, sweet and always smiling," Williams said.

From there, the women say he left the house for unknown reasons Thursday evening just after dark.

A few hours later, the neighborhood turned into a crime scene as police responded to calls about a dead body left in an idling car.

According to neighbor Myrtle Blakey, children were outside playing basketball around 10 p.m. in the area of 228 Southwest 22nd Avenue in Fort Lauderdale. That's when they spotted the car going around in circles.

"All of a sudden the car stopped. They went up to see the car, what was going on, and he was laying back. His throat was cut," Blakey says.

The group of children also claim to have seen another man running out of the car. This claim has not been verified, but the police investigation into the death is ongoing.

Anyone with information is urged to call Broward Crime Stoppers at 954-493-TIPS.

Two Chicago men say they were kicked out of a taxi on a city highway because they kissed in the backseat of the vehicle.

Passengers Shadi Ramini and Seth Day said they were on their way to get drinks with friends Wednesday night when they ordered a Blue Ribbon taxi through the Uber app, and then were kicked out on Chicago’s Lake Shore Drive, leaving one of the men injured.

“We shared just a very small kiss, like a big peck, like, excited to go out,” said Ramini.

Ramini said the cab driver saw the kiss and told them he would not take them to their destination.

The driver then allegedly pulled over on Lake Shore Drive between Montrose Avenue and Irving Park Road, telling the men to get out of the car.

“I got out and then Seth still refused to get out of the car,” said Ramini, adding that about 20 feet up the road he saw Seth get out of the car as the driver took off.

"He gets tripped up in the car and that’s where he got injured," Ramini said.

Day suffered scrapes and bruises on his arms and torso, and road burn on his lower back.

“He’s still, he’s very shaken up about it,” Ramini said.

Day told NBC 5 via email that he will be OK physically, but said, “I should be able to kiss whoever I want.”

“If it had been a female I was kissing, there would have been no problem.The fact that this all happened is mind-blowing to me,” he said. “I hope that this brings up more awareness in general for this issue.”

The men say they ordered the taxi through Uber but Uber said the driver was not employed through their company.

“No rider should ever have to go through an experience like this,” Uber said in a statement. “Not only is this Chicago taxi driver’s behavior unacceptable, it’s in clear violation of Illinois’ non-discrimination law and Uber’s zero tolerance discrimination policy. The driver was immediately removed from the platform.”

The driver leases his cab through Blue Ribbon Taxi in Chicago.

"It is not appropriate [for drivers] to stop like that unless they are threatened in some way," said Alex Jelovac, office manager of Blue Ribbon Taxi, who said discrimination based on sexual orientation is "not allowed at our company."

According to the Illinois Department of Human Rights, the Illinois Human Rights Act “prohibits discrimination on the basis of actual or perceived sexual orientation.”

“It is a civil rights violation for any person to deny or refuse the full use and enjoyment of public accommodations, including such travel services as cab and taxi services, based upon unlawful discrimination,” the department said in a statement. “The Department of Human Rights would need to investigate any complaint to determine if there is substantial evidence of discriminatory conduct.”

Ramini and Day say they reported the incident to Chicago police. While no charges have been filed as of Friday, police said the incident is under investigation.

The search for a missing Mar Vista 15-year-old girl diagnosed with autism has reached a new level, with multiple law enforcement agencies helping to look for the teen.

Detectives say police are exploring multiple possibilities in the disappearance of Kimberly Greenberg, who walked away from her home March 24 and has not been seen since.

The FBI and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children are now involved even as the girl’s best friends handed out fliers, hoping for her safe return.

"When it started there were two detectives on the case," said her mother, Janice Greenberg. "I have now met eight different detectives."

Both her mother and friends agree that it's very unlike Kimberly to disappear for more than a few hours.

But they do disagree about her abilities to take care of herself.

Her mother describes her as autistic in need of medication.

"She's a spectacular child. She's my child. She's not just a child with a disability she's not just a child with autism," Greenberg said.

But her friends say she behaves like any normal 15 year old.

"She makes good decisions. She makes decisions like her age," said friend Madisen Clarke. "She's a 15 year old she functions like a 15 year old."

Detectives are hoping neighbors and nearby businesses with security cameras have surveillance video that might provide clues.

Her friends said Kimberly would not meet up with a stranger who tried to contact her on social media. But both they and her mom say she was upset the night she disappeared.

Kimberly's friends say they have lost contact with her in the past, but this is the first time her mother has said she's disappeared.

LAPD investigators said they've also reached out to the CHP to issue a silver alert, which is a public notification system about missing persons with disabilities.

Mourners on Friday paid their respects to a woman who was killed in a shooting that wounded her 12-year-old son.

Family and colleagues remembered Metro bus driver Denise Berry at the intersection of Rosecrans and Kornblum where she was shot in her personal car on Wednesday.

"To know Denise is to know love," said John Stewart, a friend. "To know Denise is to know caring."

Her death was unexpected and unbelievable.

"The mood is somber. Sad. It's somber. It's was undeserved. Unexpected," said Ed Johnson, an MTA co-worker.

Los Angeles County Sheriff's officials said Berry was killed and her 12-year-old son wounded in a walk up shooting.

The man responsible was Robert Washington Jr. whose feet the Berrys giggled about spotted in a car window.

"She didn't deserve this," said Robert Collins, an MTA co-worker. "She did not deserve this. I'm out here hurt that a young lady will never grow old, see her grandkids grow because some fool with a gun killed her."

A Hawthorne officer witnessed Washington's attack on the Berrys and shot the gunman dead.

Stanley White is accused of driving Washington's car. He is charged with murder. His hearing was postponed Friday.

"Inside her own car in front of her child," Collins said. "That's what really disgusts me ... That's going to be in his head forever."

A convicted killer who attacked a guard and escaped a Kankakee, Illinois, jail facility earlier in the week was back in police custody in late Friday night, officials said.

Chicago Police officers arrested Kamron Taylor, who had a loaded handgun in his possession, shortly before midnight near 92nd Street and South Stony Island in the Calumet Heights neighborhood on Chicago's South Side. Taylor allegedly has connections to Chicago, according to Kankakee County Sheriff Tim Bukowski.

Taylor was charged with four felony counts relating to possession of a firearm, according to Chicago Police.

The Kankakee County Sheriff's Department first announced Kamron Taylor's arrest in a message on Facebook.

Taylor, 23, was recently convicted of murder and was awaiting sentencing when he got away from the Jerome Combs Detention Center at about 3 a.m. Wednesday.

Officers in Chicago initially identified Taylor based on "unusual tattoos," particularly one that depicted an "unusual name" on his neck, Bukowski said. They were called to the area for a report of a suspicious person and found Taylor when they arrived.

"If you're in law enforcement very long, you just get a feeling that something is not right, and I think that's what happened. And the guy took off and fled and they pursued him,"  Bukowski said.

About an hour before Taylor was caught, the reward for information about him was raised to $25,000.

Taylor allegedly escaped from his two-man cell, hid in the jail facility and attacked a guard when he walked by, beating and choking him, Kankakee County Sheriff Tim Bukowski said. He then took the guard's keys, uniform, and 2012 Chevy Equinox.

Officials do not know how Taylor escaped from his cell, but Bukowski believes the inmate did not enter his cell after the facility went on lockdown.

Questions have also been raised about staff cuts at the jail facility that were made in December. The inmates allegedly knew about the staff cuts and may have tried to take advantage of it, Bukowski said.

"They have nothing else to do. They sit in those cells, and they think about things like this, and they work the system pretty well," Bukowski said.

Police about five hours later found the vehicle allegedly used in Taylor's escape in the 1100 block of South Lincoln, but Taylor remained on the run until late Friday night.

More than two dozen officers searched the area for days, believing that Taylor had stayed in the area. Officials said they believed someone was helping Taylor and late Friday night increased the reward for information leading to his arrest.

The guard remains hospitalized, but his condition has improved, according to Bukowski. The sheriff said officials believe Taylor thought he killed the guard by strangulation and will likely be charged accordingly.

Taylor is currently being held in Chicago, but he will likely return to Kankakee jail facilities.

A man was hospitalized after he was bitten by a shark off the coast of Jupiter Friday, officials said.

The man was about three miles from the coast when he was bitten in the upper torso area, Palm Beach County Fire Rescue officials told WPTV.

The man was able to make it back to his boat after the shark bit him, where he was raced to the Jupiter inlet. The man said he believed he was attacked by a bull shark, which is considered the most dangerous shark in the world.

He was in stable condition at St. Mary's Medical Center and was expected to be okay.

The victim told first responders he was spearfishing for cobia when he was bitten.

Multiple people were hospitalized after a car crashed into a party bus in Inglewood Saturday, authorities said.

The collision happened at the intersection of 84th Street and Crenshaw Boulevard at around 1:23 a.m., a Los Angeles County Fire Department spokesman said.

A number of people on the bus suffered minor injuries and were taken to a local hospital for evaluation and treatment, fire officials said. The woman driving the Chevrolet Camaro was also taken in for treatment.

It was unknown if either of the drivers had been driving under the influence, or whether alcohol or speed played a factor in this crash. There were up to 40 people on the party bus, officials said.

San Francisco Police Chief Greg Suhr said Friday he is recommending several officers be fired over accusations that they have exchanged racist and homophobic texts.

Two officers who were involved in the racist text scandal have resigned. Suhr said Friday he expects more officers may do the same.

"It just makes me sick to even talk about this," Suhr said. "There were eight standing officers who engaged in such repulsive conversation via text that I have suspended them and they have been referred to the police commission with a recommendation of only termination."

In addition to the two officers who have resigned, two were reassigned and sent to the police commission for discipline. Four others face lesser punishments.

The names of the officers have not been released by police, but attorneys representing them have identified them as Michael Robison, Noel Schwab, Rain Daugherty, and Michael Celis.

The texts included slurs against blacks, Mexicans, Filipinos and gays. They also feature officers and civilians using the phrase "White power" repeatedly.

What’s now been dubbed “Textgate” stemmed from a federal investigation into Sergeant Ian Furminger, who was convicted in February of fraud and conspiracy. Investigators searched his private cell phone and uncovered countless racist and homophobic text messages, some of which were exchanged with other San Francisco police officers. Court documents revealed by federal prosecutors in a motion to deny bail made some of these texts public.

One read, “All n___s must (expletive) hang.”

In another, someone asks him, “Do you celebrate [Kwanzaa] at your school?” to which he replies, “Yeah, we burn the cross on the field. Then we celebrate Whitemas.”

San Francisco Public Defender Jeff Adachi said this shows an endemic problem plaguing the SFPD.

“This is very unusual because we’re getting a view of sort of what’s going on between at least this group of police officers from one police officer’s private cell phone,” Adachi said. “We would not know this if it were not for the federal corruption trial and investigation that resulted in learning about these texts.”

Tony Brass, the attorney representing Celis, said it’s unclear whether San Francisco can even terminate these officers because of a law that indicates the department has a statute of limitations on when it can act or penalize an officer for conduct. Brass said he believes SFPD knew about these text messages for more than a year – passing that statute.

"Naturally the texts are offensive and the community has legit concerns, but terminating a police officer is not that simple," Brass said. "There are rules."

Adachi issued the following statement Friday:

“Chief Greg Suhr’s recommendation to terminate officers accused of sending racist and homophobic text messages is a step in the right direction, and I strongly encourage the police commission follow suit.

The characterization of these hateful statements as innocent banter is dead wrong. This casual dehumanization leads to real life suffering and injustice. It foments a toxic environment in which citizens fear and distrust the police, brutality reigns, and good officers are less effective.

The chief and the police commission should require all SFPD officers to undergo at least 25 hours in racial bias training. Furthermore, they should institute a policy requiring officers who witness a colleague engaging in racial bias to report it to their superior officers or face discipline.

Training and reinforcement is the only way to ensure that racial bias by police does not harm our citizenry.

We look forward to reviewing all the cases and reports made by the officers involved in sending or responding to the racist texts. We expect that this will significantly widen our investigation."

NBC Bay Area's Kristofer Noceda, Jean Elle and the Associated Press contributed to this report.

Photos of a massive school of sharks spotted just south of the Sebastian Inlet in Indian River County Thursday have Facebook users speculating about just what type of sharks they are.

John Massung of Indian River by Air tells NBC 6 South Florida that it's typical to see sharks in the water in north central Florida, but not quite like this.

"It looked like they had traveling in mind. They were heading north," he says.

Massung says the powerful camera he normally uses is in the shop, but even with his backup lens, he was able to catch incredible views of the sharks from his powered parachute.

"It was something to see," he says. "I did fly on for about a mile, and it didn't end!"

Massung says another person was flying to the east of him and the sharks were out that way as well. He was even able to spot a manatee and her baby calf swimming among the sharks.

"They weren't bothering anything. They were just swimming," he says.

Since sharks don't come with name tags, Massung posted the photos to the group's Facebook page asking for input as to what type of sharks they are.

Since then, the post has been shared more than 1500 times with users speculating that they're anything from spinner sharks to black tips to bull sharks. 

 While he doesn't proclaim to be an expert on marine life, Massung, who is originally from Pittsburgh, says he routinely sees sharks coming in through the inlet and into the Sebastian River this time of year as they prepare to give birth.

He says the group of sharks were still in the area Friday, but conditions were not as clear for photographs.

This isn't the first time a post to the Indian River by Air Facebook page has picked up steam. Last August, Massung snapped an incredible photograph of a group of rays coming into the ocean. The group was so large they couldn't all fit in the frame, so he zoomed into a cross section to see the rays layered on top of each other.

"It was an amazing picture, and we had 110,000 hits in just a couple of days," he says.

For more photos and videos, visit Indian River by Air.

A San Diego man convicted of identity theft and extortion after posting more than 10,000 sexually explicit photos of women to his so-called "revenge porn" website was sentenced on Friday to 18 years behind bars.

The sentencing of Kevin Bollaert ended an all-day hearing where a number of victims told of the humiliation inflicted by his website. Bollaert burst into tears as he listened to testimony from his mother and victims.

The sentence was at the high end of the range; Bollaert faced a maximum of 20 years. In explaining his punishment, the judge noted that he stacked the sentencing terms based on the multiple victims.

Considering credits for good behavior, Bollaert could be eligible for parole after 10 years, the judge noted.

Bollaert also must pay $10,000 in restitution.

It was the first case of its type in the United States, and California was the first state to prosecute someone for posting humiliating pictures online. Bollaert was convicted of 27 counts of identity theft and extortion in connection to the thousands of photos posted online.

Once they were published, Bollaert would then demand hundreds of dollars from individuals to remove their photos through a second website he owned.

Prosecutors called Bollaert "vindictive" and claimed he took pleasure out of hurting his female victims with the internet being his "tool of destruction." 

In court Friday, his parents told the judge their son has said he has shown remorse.

"He has said many times he wishes he never made the website...If he could go back and change it all, he would," they said in a statement to the court.

One after another victims shared how they were damaged by Bollaert's actions.

"It's just broken me on a level that's not describable," one woman told the court. "The only thing I have left is shame and anger."

Another explained how she is haunted by her photos being made public, saying,"If someone looks at me? Are they remembering me?" She also described her experience as a daily struggle.

A third victim said she has a hard time acknowledging Bollaert as a human being.

The case centered on a now defunct website called YouGotPosted.com, created by Bollaert so ex-husbands and ex-boyfriends could submit embarrassing photos of victims for revenge. The photos also linked to victims’ social media accounts.

Prosecutors say those who wanted to get the pictures taken down were redirected to another one of Bollaert's sites, ChangeMyReputation.com. There, the victims were charged $300 to $350 to have their photos removed.

State law prohibits anyone from putting identifiable nude photos online after a breakup, punishable with $1,000 or six months in jail.

A man was shot and another assaulted at Burbank Town Center early Saturday.

The two men were hurt at the intersection of San Fernando and Magnolia boulevards outside the mall at around 1:26 a.m, Burbank Police Department said.

Albert Vasquez, 24, of Los Angeles has been booked for attempted murder in relation to the incident. A gun was recovered at the scene.

The shooting occured after two seperate groups clashed. There around five people in the shooter's group and up to six in the other. Police believe neither group is local.

Both victims had been watching a movie, before getting involved in the fracas. The shooting victim was hit in the leg, and is expected to survive. The other man suffered head injuries during the melee, but is also expected to be fine.

After the fight Vasquez allegedly ran across the 5 Freeway in an attempt to escape, but was caught by police officers. Police say the fight may have been gang-related.

A man in his 60s was assaulted by armed home invaders in Leimert Park Friday, said police, who are still searching for the attackers.

He was attacked after opening the door to a woman who knocked at his house on the 3800 block of Cherrywood Avenue, a Los Angeles Police Department spokesman said.

When he answered, two men in their mid-20s forced their way inside, one of whom was carrying a gun, police said.

The victim suffered cuts and bruises to his face during the attack, and was later taken to a hospital for treatment, police said. He was expected to be OK.

An unknown amount of money was taken from his house, and all three of the robbers were on the loose, police said.

A vehicle plunged over the side of a road in Topanga Canyon Saturday morning, sparking a small brush fire, fire officials said.

The crash was reported at about 10 a.m., Los Angeles Fire Department officials said. Firefighters on the ground and in a helicopter searched but found no sign of anyone connected to the vehicle.

The car crashed one mile north of Pacific Coast Highway on Topanga Canyon Boulevard, according to a tweet from the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department.

Topanga Canyon Boulevard was closed in both directions for hours at the location of the crash, sheriff's deputies said. The fire was quickly contained.