to his suspension or dismissal. detective daniel herzog who actually authorized the arrest abused his authority. in this case the board recommended what's called a command discipline. that could likely mean loss of vacation days or similar internal punishment. late this afternoon james blake released a statement that read in part, i want to express my appreciation to the civilian complaint review board for their quick and thorough review of this incident. of course police commissioner william bratton will have the final say on punishment here and that comes after an internal departmental trial. back to you in the studio. >> more tonight on eyewitness news at 11:00. another breaking news story. an abduction attempt in bridgeport, connecticut. dramatic surveillance video showing a teenager tumbling out what police say is the kidnapper's car. the victim telling officers she was walking to school when a woman in a gray toyota lured her in to the vehicle and assaulted her. suspect described as a female in

she was wear ing a black leather jacket at the time of the incident. the gray toyota is missing its rear bumper. anyone with information asked to call the bridgeport police. we're going to turn now to the ferocious tanker fire. what a mess on the new jersey turnpike tonight. the fuel tanker went up in flames on the northbound side of the western spur of the turnpike in carney after colliding with an suv. the driver of the tanker is still unaccounted for at this hour. the driver of the suv is expected to be okay. eyewitness news crew driving by the scene saw the flames shooting up. firefighters used foam and water to put out the fire. this is now a live picture from newscopter7. eyewitness news reporter jim dolan on the ground with the very latest. >> this traffic isn't back to normal yet but the skies over new jersey have finally cleared but man, this was an enormous

blue skies for well over an hour and a half. you could see the fire from as far away as manhattan, thick black smoke when a tanker truck overturned here filled with fuel and it caught fire. the driver of that honda is expected to be okay. we're not sure what that had to do with this fire. the driver of the truck is still unaccounted for at this hour. all of this happened on the northbound western spur of the new jersey turnpike. that is still closed. the fire was so big they had to bring in foam trucks from newark airport in order to finally put this thing out. it burned for more than an hour and a half. there were mattresses found on the side of the road and it's not clear what role those had in this overturning of the tractor-trailer truck but it is clear they played some role because they're right there, whether the driver was swerving

the driver of that tractor-trailer still unaccounted for. we don't know what happened to him. but the driver of the other vehicle was taken to the hospital, expected to be fine. traffic still a mess but the skies have now cleared. jim dolan, channel 7 eyewitness news. >> thank you. more on the traffic, as you can see, it is a mess on the turnpike, just in time for the rush home. shannon sohn with the latest on that. >> unfortunately it does not look like it's going to get we'll start off showing you the spur. that has all its lanes open. look how bad this traffic is. it takes you back toward metlife stadium and past the tolls at 1816 w. this has been hours. you can see all the emergency crews there. they had to back off traffic stuck behind this accident sitting there for about two hours or so. now what

they've done is shut down the to exchange 15w. that's the eastern spur. that's picking up volume. going to show you as far as we can to give you an idea of this volume because it takes you over to 109 for part of your ride and even the garden state parkway definitely a better way to go this evening. shannon sohn, channel 7 eyewitness news. thank you. a band teacher in westchester county is facing child pornography charges. jeffrey whalen works in an elementary school in yorktown heights where parents today are stunned. joe torres is there tonight with much more. >> jeffrey whalen is a teacher. he lives here in yorktown heights. this school serves several hundred students, all of them 4th and 5th graders. but according to investigators it's

computer, it's what he sent from his home computer that prompted authorities to take him in to custody. >> reporter: allison fastiggi can't wrap her mind around it. >> it's really sad. it's unfortunate. he's a really nice guy and i feel bad for his kids and his family. >> reporter: she's talking about her 5th grade son's band teacher, jeffrey whalen. yesterday investigators with the westchester county da's office arrested the 45-year-old on charges he possessed and distributed child pornography. >> mr. whalen, it's joe torres from channel 7 eyewitness news. >> reporter: the accused teacher was at his yorktown heights home this morning but only said "no comment" from behind his front door. in a statement, the district superintendent told us mr. whalen was not working in the district tuesday and will be on administrative leave pending the disposition of further proceedings. we want to

emphasize that the authorities have said at this point they are not aware of any involvement of district students. roy's daughter is a 4th grader. >> i just told her she's not a good teacher. i didn't tell her what's going on. >> you didn't want her to know? >> no. >> reporter: meantime news of mr. whalen's arrest shocked and surprised his next door neighbor who told us she's glad investigators continue targeting sexual deviants. >> they need help. if innocent children are being victimized it's very sad. >> mr. whalen has already been arraigned and as you saw in the story, he answered the door when we knocked at the front. he's been released as well. he has another court appearance scheduled for later this month. that's the latest from yorktown heights. joe torres, channel 7 eyewitness news. from westchester county to the bronx. right now a search for a sexual predator. police

lured boys in to seton falls park in the edenwald section. he offered the students ages 12 to 15, offered them money to carry his bags. once in the park we're told he forcibly touched them. if you know who he could be, cops say please call them. a drone crashed on long island in to sag harbor's main street. the drone fell yesterday calling a small fire that was quickly put out by an extinguisher. it apparently malfunctioned. a boy was struck by the drone's propeller but thankfully was not hurt. in less than an hour from now the coast guard will officially end its search of the el faro cargo ship. 33 members are still missing and now presumed dead. the ntsb begins to investigate what caused the

ship to go down last week in the joaquin. right now it's a race against the clock to find the voice recorder which will stop pinging in 30 days when the battery dies. one of the homes damaged in superstorm sandy now repaired government. homes now fixed thanks to nearly $20 million, all of them private donations. stacey sager at the home redux. she's in the rockaways. >> there were holes in my walls. >> reporter: an emotional far rockaway resident describes to new york city's first lady all there was to deal with when superstorm sandy overtook their homes nearly three years ago. homes were gutted. no heat. no hot water. >> we had people looting and were taking my stuff. >> she also had no flood insurance. like many around

the build it back program but she and 500 others would benefit from private money. >> reporter: more than $19 million of it, thanks to the red cross, the robin hood foundation, jpmorgan chase, and the mayor's fund. >> i appreciate the doors that have been open to me. they didn't have to be. >> we have a lot of happy people. this is a good story. >> reporter: this particular funding program has reached its end now. next door to her, rodgers happily waters her front yard. but the memories of the floodwaters remain when she looks at all the vacant lots in her neighborhood. here's her message for the mayor. >> i know like, maybe 12 people still not in their home. off the beach, i know so many people not in a home right now. >> we were able to help 500 families and every family is different. >> reporter: at least one who

>> if you go through the storm, there is light at the end of the tunnel. >> amen. >> and i found the light. thank you. >> in far rockaway, stacey sager, channel 7 eyewitness news. as we continue with eyewitness news at 6:00, on this wednesday night, we're following breaking news on the headstone that fell on a woman at a cemetery. we'll have the very latest. >> also ahead, a routine dog walk in central park turns deadly and that sparks a major investigation. what killed this dog? >> i'm meteorologist lee goldberg. today. temperatures in the mid 70s. this was our warmest day of the week. we have a cold front coming but no clouds in might be a

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quick update on our breaking news story in the new jersey turnpike. shannon sohn has been on there all day. what a mess. slow traffic, both south and northbound around carney, the southbound lanes, a tanker fire because a tanker filled with fuel spilled after it got in to an accident with a honda. the tanker driver still unaccounted for. the driver of the honda went to the hospital but is okay. clearly a mess. it's going to be hours before this thing is cleaned up. another breaking news story, this time in queens.

a freak accident at a cemetery and one woman is injured. investigators say a headstone fell on her inside mount lebanon cemetery in the glendale section. woman was pulled to safety by cemetery workers. injuries not considered serious. not clear what caused that headstone to fall. a necropsy is expected to shed light on a mysterious dog death in central park. the dog was off its owner off its leash running around on 110th street on the west side last night. when the owner found the dog it was dead and suffered some kind of trauma to its head. new york city firefighters getting training and it has nothing to do with battling flames. the nearly 11,000 firefighters at the fdny taking part in a two-year diversity training initiative. the department which is mostly white and male working to become more diverse. a company called kaleidoscope is working with the firefighters to teach them about being inclusive. >> i think what they're teaching folks, the difference

between joking around and what's not joking around and how one should conduct themselves in a diverse workplace. >> some of the training will include role playing. just ahead on eyewitness news, lee says we're in for a little bit of rain and some slightly cooler temperatures.

for us w the centers for medicare and medicaid services recently asked patients to rate the quality of over 3,500 hospitals. fewer than 10% received 5 stars. among them was cancer treatment centers of america in philadelphia.

here's a question for you. how well do you know if it's a newer car with advanced safety features, do you know how they work? lee, do you >> i do. >> the national safety council is launching a campaign to try and cut the number of human errors that lead to car crashes. the council says only 10% of drivers read the car's manual. safety advocates are encouraging all drivers to know how their cars could save their lives. >> the new ones, they brake if they think you're going to run in to something. beeps if you change lanes. everything. >> bent rims every once in a while like today. >> oh, i'm sorry. >> they should have pothole sensing cars.

>> there are apps for that. ? >> you don't have one. >> pot hole ahead. oh, yeah, absolutely. >> okay. all right. bheen -- meanwhile, dip in the temperatures tomorrow. >> not bad. 5 degrees cooler, maybe light fall jacket. on a clear evening, we have a lot to tell you about. looking to the south after 7:00, you may see a virginia. they're doing studies in the atmosphere. they're releasing this chemical that's going to make either a greenish or blue-ish cloud in the atmosphere. there's been a solar storm this afternoon and has been big time northern lights over england that may be visible in the northeast, may be in the far northern suburbs. might see the aurora borealis. lots of colors there. northwest wind at about 7. 73 degrees. 67 is the average.

we'll be closer to that tomorrow. weather headlines look like this. rockets in southern sky. aurora is in the rain returns friday and might be a couple thunderstorms around in the afternoon. weekend ahead. i think it dries out just in time. we're near 70 again by sunday. 71 in manhasset right now. winds really pleasant evening and this is our mildest clouds will gather later tonight. clouds mixing with sunshine tomorrow. at times partly to mostly cloudy. clouds working in right now. couple sprinkles upstate. we'll have a dry night. this front is coming in to upstate new york. you can see how the winds are shifting from west here to northwest. more of a northerly wind. good news is the core of the cold air is missing us to the north. we do lose a few degrees tomorrow. next front is friday. sweeps down through upstate new york. the strongest part of it

bypasses us to the north. i think we'll have a couple showers, maybe a rumble of thunder in the afternoon. cooler, clouds mixing with sun tomorrow. looks like more of the clouds will be south and west during the afternoon hours tomorrow. overall, partly cloudy day. 69 degrees. then on friday you may have been hearing about showers, especially in the afternoon. i'm a little concerned about showers sneaking in to the northern and western suburbs. a thunder shower in the afternoon as a cold front approaches. more of a summery type cloudy skies. 58. milder night. clouds and sun tomorrow. a little bit cool er than today and a few more clouds. tomorrow night, partly cloudy skies and 58. your 7-day accuweather forecast. not raining all day, a better threat of showers in the afternoon and early evening. 76. then it's out of the day. we'll clear out quickly saturday. a little breezy especially in the morning and sunday we're pushing 70 again

and should be warm in to early next week. not bad at all. i was concerned saturday could be wet but that storm is getting out of the way. rob is up next with sports. >> season is all coming together. we got the hockey season beginning, football season continuing, baseball season ending and continuing. straight ahead, the mets get back on the field for one more workout before they head west. they open the playoff run friday in los angeles. plus the yankees go home, bounced from the playoffs last night. won and done. way back when, in the neighborhoods of new york... the working people, the people who really make this city work-- the beat cops, nurses, teachers, and engineers had affordable health care thanks to an upstart mayor, and a couple of non-profits called ghi and hip-- now called emblemhealth. because emblemhealth believes that working new yorkers deserve quality care,

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so much emotional baggage in history, dodgers versus mets. >> that practice today, they took attendance. they're all in their places with bright shiny faces. mets carry the new york banner to the playoffs hoping it pays off with a pennant before

too long. preparations for the national league division series against the dodgers continued today. another workout at citifield this afternoon. everybody was there. yes, that does include matt harvey. he was late for yesterday's practice. the team has moved on from that. they face clayton kershaw in game 1. mets have left for the west coast. they'll be ready to roll for the opener come friday night. >> all they want to do is win. everybody's got each other's backs, no matter who's in the lineup. they're cheering for them. you don't find that a lot of places. >> you stay focused, you stay concentrated at the task at hand but you enjoy the moment. >> the yankees' shortest playoff run in their history opened and closed on the same night, last night. they lost to the astros in the a.l. wildcard game. one-shot deal and yanks were shut out 3-0. dallas keuchel allowed three singles in six innings. he was yanks never monitored any kind of challenge. they made the playoffs for the

missed out on a division title, lost. the season ends with the yanks stepping out of the way. >> i feel like we overachieved for five or the end of the day none of that really matters. >> love the guys in here. we battle till the end and just didn't happen for us. >> we beat the odds in a lot of different ways. it's plenty of positives. >> props to our front office who put us in a position, we're going to be around for a long time. let's get to football. jets are on the bye week. giants get the 9ers sand -- sunday at the meadowlands. odell beckham, jr. was there. beckham faces an $8600 fine for throwing a punch in the bills game. some of the bills criticizing beckham, saying he's a prima donna. fine. >> i don't know if they hear so

much about other people, so now, okay, he's what they're talking about now. i can make my name off of him or i can do whatever i need to do to get in that light. these are grown men out here. i don't think anybody should be talking about what happened after they lost the game. also here in town today, nfl team owners are meeting. they agreed to keep playing those international games for at least the next 10 years. they'll talk about stadium deals. the always popular nfl in los angeles discussion and why the commissioner still fights deflate-gate. >> our rules and integrity of the game aren't because someone is popular or somebody is a super bowl champ or not. they're to be applied evenly. our teams expect that. that's our job. are you ready for some hockey? ready or not the puck drops on the new nfl season tonight. rangers coming off that season that saw one win short of a conference championship. tonight they get

it going again. stanley cup champion blackhawks are in chicago. >> now it's the first test and i'd say it's a great opponent, big stage right off the bat so it will be good for us to see where we're at. >> so again, the seasons are going like this. baseball season continues tomorrow night. laura behnke on her way to los angeles. we'll have her reports starting tomorrow night. >> four major sports. >> and then some. >> are you going to do a prognostication on the dodgers-mets? >> you never know when that thing is going to come up. let's check in with sade. >> an 800-pound man kicked out of the hospital, all over one phone call. we'll tell you who he called that got him the boot. plus, another benefit to exercise when you're expecting a baby. those stories and much more tonight at 11:00. >> that's it for us for now. thanks for watching. busy news night . i'm bill ritter. >> and i'm liz cho. eyewitness news returns