case? >> reporter: as you well know, this jail has been under a crowd for the past couple of years now, and this particular case is strange because this allege willedly happened three years ago, and the the man behind it is apparently right now behind bars. >> here is the mug shot just released tonight of former santa clara county collection correctional officer timmy tri, accused of assaulting a jail inmate in fall of 2013. >> the alleged assault was investigated in october of 2013 and recommendations that charges be filed were sent to the district attorney's office. >> reporter: the district attorney took weeks to look over the case and decided not to file charges against tri back then. the correctional officer is accused of kicking a male inmate in the head and face, causing lacerations to his face and the inmate suffered a broken jaw. sources close to the investigation say tri used excessive force against the inmate after coming to the aid of a fellow officer who was trying to subdue the inmate who was becoming unruly. >> we rent through an internal investigation. he has not worked for the sheriff's office since then. he was immediately put on administrative leave. >> reporter: that paid administrative leave lasted 18 months before the sheriff's department decided to resubmit the complaint in march. it took another five months for the d.a. to press charges tonight. >> reporter: again, tri is being held on $75,000 bail. reporting live in san jose, i'm cheryl hurd, nbc bay area news. >> cheryl, thank you. as we just mention, this is isn't the only problem happening at this former jail. three former deputies are facing murder charges, they are accused of beating inmate michael tyree who was found dead in his jail cell. >> new video may shed light on a cab ride that turned ugly. an angry passenger attacked the driver gouging his eye. stephanie, a lot of this case will rest on what was caught oo camera. >> reporter: that's right, janell. good evening. i spoke about police in san francisco, they say it happened at 3:00 this morning. they arrested the passenger who allegedly tried to use his thumb to gouge one of the driver's eyes. now, we spoke with local cab drivers who say this is the latest example of just how safety has become an even greater risk. in this dash cam video you will only see on nbc bay area a 36-year-old man in the back of an sf super cab appears to do something, it is hard to tell what, but the 65-year-old driver rubs his face. seconds later it is the driver that appears to punch the passenger. the super cab says this is the second such attack on one of his drivers in the last three months. >> i'm not that surprised if. >> reporter: she also drivers for super cab late at night. >> there's a lot of attacks and robberies that i don't hear about. >> reporter: but they're getting caught on camera like this knife attack in 2015. it is one of the most dangerous jobs in the cannot railway. according to u.s. department of labor the homicide rate of taxi drivers is up to 33% higher than rate for other workers. also have the third highest rates of assaults after police and private security guards. >> really it is a security camera. >> reporter: local cab drivers say it is getting less safe because uber and lift continue to eat up business. they now feel they have to pick up riskier fares to make ends meet. >> we're having such a bad night, it is difficult to make money now and we have to take more chances. >> reporter: as for the driver, the alleged victim in all of this, he left the hospital after a few hours and his eye will be okay. the district attorney's office will decide how to charge the suspect. live in san francisco, stephanie chuang. >> thank you. police say a san francisco bartender was trying to close up when an angry customer attacked him and bit off his finger. it happened about a month ago and police are still looking for the man this evening. surveillance video shows him earlier in the night, at one point taking off that shirt in front of the bar, wrestling with one of his friends. police say later that night the man went back to the bar and bit off part of the bartender's finger. if you recognize the suspect or his friend in that video, you are urged to call sfpd. >> it was once called the safest city in america, but now san jose is calling a state of emergency for police staffing issues. the police chief, the police union and the city manager all met today at city hall for an emergency meeting. they talked about the need to reassign officers, taking some from special units and putting them back on the streets. the police union says it needs to have at least 500 officers patrolling the streets and right now they only have about 410. all sides they will work together to try to get 50 additional officers on the street asap. >> a crash new stin ton beach. chp officers say a van somehow lost control on highway 1 and crashed down the ravine. three men were in the van, two were able to get out and climb to the road and flag for help. you can see here chp helicopter showed up and was able to pull the driver to safety. thankfully, no significant injuries will here. a sick coyote walking the streets of danville. tonight the search is on for the seemingly frail animal. a lot of people want to help. the coyote has been spotted in many neighborhoods. terry mcsweeney is in danville this evening. the community is rallying to help. do we know what is wrong? >> this coyote has been staggering around danville in broad daylight, including here near the park, covered the mites. the concern is it could be hit by a car and killed or eat poison. wildlife experts say this coyote has mange. >> they should keep small animals in doors, but this coyote is not a threat to people whatsoever. >> the coyote is so sick it is walking streets in daylight looking for discarded food and road kill. >> i thought it was a coyote, very mangy, just running down the street. >> reporter: on the websites next door, residents report numerous spottings of the animal. >> it is refreshing to deal with a community that seems to really care about this animal's welfare. >> reporter: jim ross, out for a walk with his dog koda says he's not concerned over one sick coyote. >> you have cougars and bobcats, you have raccoons which the county thinks it is a protected species so they're everywhere. >> we would like to animal to be brought into the backyard to take care of gophers so hopefully he can be rehabilitated. >> reporter: danville residents are asked not to feed him but to report any sightings. a new case and a troubling trend involving air bnb. police say this man, david lefevre rented an apartment using air bnb. before he was supposed to stay there he cancelled his reservations. then they believe he burglarized the apartment and then tried to buy a new phone in the name of the apartment owner. he was then arrested. >> taking a hard line against hard alcohol on cam pause. stanford is cutting down on high-volume drinking effective immediately. hard alcohol is now banned at all parties on campus, including fraternities and sororities. however, students 21 and over will be allowed to keep no bigger than a pint size bottle of alcohol in their rooms. the university says the new policy is not related to the sexual assault case involving former stanford swimmer brock turner. >> what's an injured worker like you supposed to do if he can't get treatment he needs? >> for me it was reaching out to the media. i had nowhere left. >> that chp officer hurt on the job turned to nbc bay area to expose the problem. i'm liz wagner. coming up next we investigate the statewide system that injured workers say is stringing them along. mom, help me, they have me in a van, i don't know where they're taking me. >> a mom tricked into thinking her daughter was kidnapped. you won't believe the length scammers went to convince her this hoax was real. and good evening. i'm meteorologist jeff ranieri. stong ranger is up and running tonight, and we are able to track some of this poor air quality in the atmosphere. we will tell you more about stormranger and what it means for our weather when a storm rolls in in just a few minutes. at nbc bay area we're driven by one phrase. we investigate. >> we investigate the powerful and hold them accountable for you. >> four years, 400 investigations and counting. count on the bay area's biggest investigative team. >> to tackle big problems and issues that affect you. >> we've investigated billions in public money. >> our stories have changed numerous laws and policies. >> and we've recovered millions of dollars. >> rereal results, real excellence in jurm. >> but you know what we're most proud of? >> you. >> us. >> together we're making the bay area and beyon . you're watching nbc bay area news. with the bay areas biggest investigative unit holding the powerful accountable. nbc bay area, we investigate. >> she was scammed and scared. a mom tricked into thinking her daughter was kidnapped. tonight she's sharing the scary ordeal. here is the scam. crooks force families to wire them money to stop the kidnapping while using a voice system to sound like your relative is screaming in the background. now, the milpitas mom we spoke to didn't want to show her identity, but she said she is stunned crooks are using high tech gear to not only rob you but to incite fear. >> he was going to take the receipt for $200. he said, i'm going to hold her up and show her what her life was worth to you before i shoot her in the head. >> now, that mom finally connect with her daughter and found oud she was never kidnapped, she was find. she did get police involved but it was after she paid the crooks. all they want is to get back on the job. tonight injured workers tell us the state system that's supposed to help them heal is just stringing them along instead. >> liz wagner joins us now. it exacts a lot of people. >> reporter: more than 1 1/2 million people have open workers' comp cases. we investigate claims that dysfunction in the system is causing injured workers more harm than good. ryan snyder is a proud chp officer who patrol the north bay on his motorcycle. >> when you go away from something and you have an impact on somebody's life, that is something you don't ever forget. >> reporter: he was in napa on august 3rd, 2013 when a drunk driver turned in front of him. this is the dent snyder made in the car. he hit the pavement chin first. >> i still have the scar and some of the asphalt oil to go with it. >> reporter: he got stitches and surgery but three years later his neck and back still hurt. >> you squirm, you sweat, you twist and move and there's no way to getaway from it. >> reporter: he says he's in constant pain, in and out of work and fed up. >> now i feel really frustrated. >> reporter: snyder says routine denials and delays in treatment have dragged out his injuries. >> they take so long to get approved or they just never get approved at all. and it is hard to get better under those circumstances. >> reporter: snyder's doctors requested and rerequested medical services more than 300 times. our investigation found the insurance company for snyder's employer approved many drugs but denied treatment his doctors say would have fixed the pain like this one. >> right now testing the nerve. >> reporter: snyder's pain management specialist finally performed the treatment in june, but doctors requested it four times since last october. >> reporter: what are you doing while waiting for treatments to be approved? >> most of the time just hurting. i've spent a lot of time just laying on a heating pack. >> reporter: he's got burn marks on his back to prove it, but snyder had to pay for the heating pad himself. >> worker's comp denied the heating pack. >> reporter: the state requires the test to go through utilization review to decide if treatments are necessary. doctors working bow half of employers or insurance companies approve or deny care based on a set of guidelines. we asked the state for complaints about the review process. in just one year, 2013, injured workers, their attorneys and their doctors submitted nearly 1,100 complaints and thousands of pages of documentation. this person says delay and denial tactics have caused deterioration of body parts. another writes, i have suffered needlessly for too long. are injured workers getting the medi-cal care that they need? >> no. >> reporter: jeffrey stevenson is snyder's primary doctor. >> this is an ice pack to kind of numb your knee. >> reporter: he has seen more than 35,000 injured workers in his career. he said the reasons they are denied treatment often don't make sense. >> we tell them we can get them better, we give them hope and utilization review takes it away. >> reporter: stevenson says the problem got worse after 2013, when new reforms were enacted. employers are saving more money than expected but it may come at a price. >> denials have increased to all-time highs. >> reporter: dr. ruben caller shared numbers from his practice. reviewers approved 10% of his requests last year. >> we look at practices around california, there's consistent denials going on. >> reporter: the california medical association surveyed doctors in 2013. two-thirds reported denied care. >> one thing i would never wish upon anyone to be injured is to be injured under a, woulder's compensation claim. it is a nightmare. >> reporter: research by the california workers' compensation institute paints a different picture. the group found only 4% of treatment is modified or denied. >> does that figure sound right to you? >> no. >> reporter: he lobbies goes for wokerres comp doctor thes. he says people with complex injuries suffer. >> the experience with injured workers being denied care speak much louder and a difficult story. >> reporter: our investigation found it is impossible to know how many treatments are approved or denied. the ept did of industrial relations, the agency that oversees workers' comp, doesn't keep track. >> reporter: is it a problem that utilization review outcomes aren't public information? >> they really should be general knowledge. >> reporter: we asked director christine beiger for an interview but our request was denied. today at age 35 with three kids to support, officer snyder is facing possible immediate, medical retirement. >> we're talking about a career that's been a dream since i was a teenager. >> reporter: as he fights for a job and treatment, he wants lawmakers to hear this. >> changes are direly needed. we have to do something to fix this. >> reporter: now, earlier today director christine baker released a statement supporting a new bill that would send fewer requests through the review process. she says this would speed up care to injured workers and get them back on the job faster. to read the full statement you can go to our website, nbcbayarea.com. janell. >> thanks, list. if you have a tip for our investigative unit give us a call at 888-996-tips. you can send an e-mail to the unit at nbcbayarea.com. >> our chief meteorologist jeff ranieri is with us talking about our tuesday forecast and the newest high tech tool we have. >> and it is called stormranger. if you have not seen it yet and you love anything to do with weather, you're going to love stormranger. let's get you a live view of this. our crew is out there making sure that doppler radar is working just right, and not only a doppler radar on that, hoisted up 15 feet in the back of the truck, but an x-band radar to track smoke, a 360-degree camera and we also have a weather station as well. let's get you right now into the live sweep. it is mobile, as we mention. so yesterday we had it in san jose. tonight we have it in dublin, and that's because tri-valley really has had some of the worst air quality, at least as of lately. a lot of it is trapped throughout the valleys. right now because the x-band in the doppler radar is so powerful because we can move it and get it close to the surface, it is actually picking up some of the smoke and haze in the lower atmosphere. that's this little bit of green, orange and yellow on the 580 corridor, so that's likely tomorrow again where we will continue to have problems with this haze until we get a wind to move this on out. right now at the truck we are currently finding in dublin 58 degrees, 84% humidity and temperatures dropping to 56 by 6:00 a.m. what about the rest of the bay area? well, fog comes back to san francisco, and we'll start in the mid-50s and patchy loud clouds for the peninsula. south bay starts with haze and 53 degrees. as we move into the forecast for tuesday, you will find across south bay it will be comfortable, near average. this will put morgan hill at 83 degrees, san jose 84. peninsula, half moon bay, a colder westerly wind has us at 60 degrees. san francisco stays with low to mid-60s. for noshl, east bay and for tri-valley it goes on the warm side for livermore at 87, but that's my hottest forecast tomorrow. for oakland you can see it is a comfortable 69 degrees. up towards north bay, anywhere from 83 in napa to mill valley expecting 71. air quality will be moderate for the peninsula and the south bay, and, again, we'll likely see on-again, off-again issues with the air quality as the fires continue to burn towards the south. in san francisco temperatures remain in the 60s throughout the next seven days. for the inland valleys we'll stay with mid-80s as we head throughout the next extended forecast. no 90s, no 100s. that means a good week across the bay area. >> perfect. >> thanks, jeff. the cost of a life-saving drug sky rockets. coming up, what is being done to get to the bottom of it. and we have jimmy. >> hey, guys we're back with jordan spieth here. in one year, north america will see its first total eclipse and happening now, trending on our twitter feed, mark your calendars. in one year north america will see its first total eclipse since 1979. this is when the moon crosses between the earth and the sun, and it is supposed to happen next august. also on our home page, the the a's fine two of their players for getting in a clubhouse fight. billy butler and danny valencia disciplined by the team. busler is on the seven-day concussion disabled list. stay connected to your world wherever the world takes you. get the nbc bay area app. >> introducing "nbc bay area responds." call 88-996 tips or individual i think our website. (whispering) what are you doing up? (whispering) mom said i could have a midnight snack. well, i say it's late, and you need to go to bed. why? because i am the boss. you're not the boss, mom's the boss. well, technically, we are co-bosses. technically, mom's the boss. mmmm. shhh. the family favorite. yoplait. cost of epi-pens has congress demanding answers. =vo= an outcry over the sky rocketing cost of epipens has congress demanding answers. the cost has gone up over 400% since 2008. it is used by people with severe allergies to treat potentially deadly reactions. house leaders are now asking mylan, the maker of epi plans, to justify the cost increase. take a look. that's the japanese prime minister, transformed into super mario during last night's closing ceremony of the olympic. the tokyo olympic are four years away, but it already has a lot of people buzzing. could gaming be an olympic sport? yes, gaming. here is nbc bay area's ian cohl. >> playing video games in competition or any support is a growing past time around the world. you can get paid for it, play the sold-out stadiums and millions of viewers online. there are even plays for an e sports venue in oakland. some national e sports federations are pushing for it to become an olympic sport. >> it absolutely has the infrastructure and organization and potentially a qualifying method for creating and servicing these teams that could compete. you have to adapt to the situation you're in. >> reporter: others like a tap player on league of legends for san jose's club team doesn't know if society would accept it. >> obviously it doesn't require, you know, you to run as fast as usain bolt or swim like michael phelps, but there's talent required. >> reporter: sports like surfing will make their olympic debut in 2020, but there's a move to get chess included in future games. but now you won't see gamers going for gold. nbc bay area news. >> gaming. >> hot new thing, right. up next, what's the deal with colin kaepernick. we're going to check in at 49ers headquarters. for twenty years, box tops for education has helped schools earn over 750 million dollars to get what they need! families at lawton alternative school in san francisco collected box tops to help pay for field trips like the 5th grade overnight trip! don't be absent from helping your local school! buy 10 participating box tops for education items and get 60 bonus box tops with the just for u digital coupon when you shop today at safeway! offer valid 8/1 - 9/1/16. digital coupons valid when downloaded to your club card. throw a football. okay. football season is a few weeks away and it is tough to be the starting quarterback when you can't throw a football. >> but that's the position colin paper nick found himself in. he is back and trying to make up for lost time. here is colin resch for 49er headquarters. >> it has become an out of sight, out of mind situation. he says the sore throwing shoulder that prevented him from suiting up this the preseason felt really good on monday, no setbacks. with blaine gab ert, jeff driscoll and christian ponder playing well against denver, the pressure has to be mounting important kaepernick. he has to play well this friday against green bay to insert himself back into the 49ers' quarterback situation. as for ponder, the 49ers called him this time last week and he put down his paint brush. >> interior or exterior? >> exterior in the heat of the summer in phoenix. it was nice to get a break from that. >> reporter: house painting takes a back seat when trying to resurrect an nfl career. the 12th overall pick in the 2011 draft, he finds himself trying to make a team with fellow 2011 drafties blain gab ert and colin kaepernick. >> you know, it was fun to reconnect with guys. i think it is a great quarterback room, we are competing with each other and a i'm happy to be a part of it. >> reporter: he should be. after turning heads in denver, seven for eight passing, two touchdowns. in santa clara, colin resch, nbc bay area. >> it will be an interesting season to say the least for the 49ers. >> a shipwreck being explored off the california coast. these are live pictures. we will tell you more next. the family favorite. yoplait. well at least he's wearing shoes. well done champ. get gooey, flaky, happy. toaster strudel. a closer look at a piece of history... at the bottom of the ocean floor in our own scientists right now are getting a closer look at a piece of history at the bottom of the the ocean floor. it is in our backyard, raj. >> it is the uuss independence used in world war ii. these are live images thanks right now to a robotic under water vehicle using sonar producing these images. scientists want to say they want to map the wreckage and have it viewed online. it is right off the coast of half moon bay way down deep. >> i think i saw some treasure. no, maybe. thanks for joining us. have a great evening. >> bye, folks. [ cheers and applause ] ♪ >> steve: from studio 6b in rockefeller center in the heart of new york city, it's "the tonight show starring jimmy fallon." tonight, join jimmy and his guests -- robert de niro, jordan spieth,