recently had a hearing for violating his probation. >> you don't want to say it's the price of breaking the law. because you don't want to see it happen to anyone. it's not a favorable outcome. much rather would have seen him caught and dealt with by the courts. >> reporter: wjz did speak to the driver of the jeep, caught up in the crash. he was traumatized by what happened, but declined to talk further about the tragic event. >> reporter: and two more people were also involved in that accident. none of them had life- threatening injuries. they are lucky to be alive tonight. and that car that mccoy was driving was stolen from howard county. kai, back to you. >> all right, mike. thank you. mike hellgren, reporting live. toliveer is being held at the baltimore county detention center, on half a million dollars bail. we are following the daring rescue of two aid workers held by somali pirates. denise is in the newsroom with details of the risky operation. >> reporter: well, the same navy seal team that killed osama bin laden, carried the overnight raid. they saved american aid worker jessica buchanan and paul hagenfisted of denmark. both were kidnapped in october and held for ransom for the past three months. nine pirates were killed in the raid, but there are no casualties among u.s. troops. >> denise, thank you. buchanan and fisted are now on their way home. we'll have more on the reaction from the hostages all new at 5 5:30. gabrielle giffords steps down from congress. she is focusing on her recovery from a gunshot wound to the head a year ago. alexis christoforous reports for wjz, with the emotional farewell. [ applause ] >> reporter: lawmakers cried and cheered, putting politics aside as they said goodbye to representative gabrielle giffords. >> i am so proud of my friend. >> reporter: her friend, congresswoman debbie wasserman schulz, broke down before reading giffords' resignation. >> i have more work to do on my recovery before i can again serve in elected office. >> reporter: the arizona democrat stepped down to focus on her recovery. one year after being shot in the head at a political event near tucson. her goodbyes to washington began last night at the state of the union address. the room erupted in cheers as she entered and president obama greeted her with a long embrace. this morning in the house, colleagues from both sides of the aisle had warm words, as giffords' husband, mark kelly, watched from the gallery. >> gabby's courage, her strength, and her downright fortitude, are an inspiration to all of us and all americans. >> reporter: she has brought the word "dignity "to new heights." >> reporter: once her letter had been read to the house, giffords herself herself walked it over to speaker john boehner, who was moved to tears as members rose with a standing ovation. giffords' farewell may be just a temporary break from public life. "i will recover and return" she said in her resignation letter ," -- "and we will work together again ." giffords' final act in congress was voting on legislation she introduced, imposing tougher drug penalties on drug smugglers along the border. facing the death penalty. a man charged with killing a howard county man appears in court. steve mcdaniel watched as officials gave their notice that they seek capital punishment against him. he is accused of killing laura giddings. she had just graduated and planned to return to laurel before she was killed. a young man shocked by a taser dies. now there is a verdict for the frederick county sheriff's deputy who fired that weapon. wjz is live downtown at the federal courthouse. adam may has the emotional reaction to today's decision. adam? >> deliberations only took a couple of hours. the jury quickly citing in favor of the deputy. >> tears flow outside the federal courthouse after the family of jurel gray loses their $145 million wrongful death lawsuit. >> where can i go? >> reporter: a judge accused rudy torres of wrongdoing. the deputy responded to a fight in this frederick neighborhood, firing a taser twice, killing the 20-year-olds. >> i think it has to be remembered that this is a tragedy. at the end of the day, no one wins and no one loses today. >> that man is free to go on and live his life the way he wants to. and i have to go to my son's burial plot and visit him. so i'd like to know how he sleeps at night with that. >> reporter: the jury's decision outraged gray's parents, who claimed their son was tazed without being given a chance to comply with police. >> he's not the first person. and now he's not going to be the last person to die from the taser. >> her emotional attorney agrees. >> i love this country. sometimes. this country breaks my heart. >> reporter: the jurors say the evidence was clearly in favor of the deputy. >> it was not a malicious act. he did not have any intent on harming, injuring, killing this young man. >> i sleep with it every day. >> what's that like? >> i hope you never know. i hope you never know. >> reporter: and despite this incident, both the deputy and his boss, the sheriff of frederick county today told me they believe that tasers remain a good, effective tool for law enforcement. we're live at the federal courthouse downtown, adam may, wjz eyewitness news. >> adam, thank you. almost a dozen marylanders have died in taser-related incidents. a johns hopkins student spends several hours trapped inside a cave in western maryland. the 20-year-old became stuck between rocks, about 200 feet into a cave in washington county. that accident happened last night, during a hopkins exploration class. rescue crews spent nearly five hours, freeing the student and pulling him to safety. week traveled to the scene in western maryland. we'll have much more on the story coming up new at 6:00. we're following breaking news. a major change in the ravens anxiety coaching staff. sports director mark viviano joins us to explain why defensive coordinator chuck pagano is leaving the team. >> reporter: kai, chuck pagano has a new job as the head coach of the indianapopis colts. -- indianapolis colts. he became a hot candidate after the baltimore ravens defense ranked third in the nfl after his third quarter. he interviewed and today named the choice the colts. he'll take over for mike caldwell, after mike was fired for a 2-14, the worst in the league. he becomes the fourth ravens defensive coordinator to become an nfl head coach. and they'll be looking to hire their fourth different defensive coordinator in four years. rex ryan and greg madison had the position before pagano took over this season. >> pagano just released say disaiment saying -- statement, saying it is difficult to leave the ravens, but that he couldn't pass up this opportunity. taking on long-time rival, duke university. the big game brings worries about possible rioting on campus. wjz is live in college park. derek valcourt explains why concerns are so high this year. derek? >> reporter: last year, the student government was able to plan a number of post-game activities, in order to try to prevent rion thing. -- rioting. but today is the first day of classes here on campus for the entire semester. and that does not leave the student government with a lot of time to plan alternatives for tonight. >> reporter: students started waiting in line at 5:00 tuesday to be among the first inside the comcast center tonight, as maryland takes on long-time rivals, the blue devils. >> you have to come in here and support. >> i think this is the base game of the year. win or lose, i still love my terps and i'll hate duke, no matter what. >> reporter: in past years, it has sparked post-game riots. this video of police manhandling one student during a 2010 riot, made national headlines. tonight, police are once again preparing for possible problems. >> if history repeats itself, then i would expect a celebration. >> reporter: campus police say thentire force will be on hand, during and after the game. dozens of officers from prince george's county and other nearby jurisdictions will also be at the ready. >> starts to become unruly. people start committing crimes, we need to be able to respond. >> reporter: younger people, seemingly unconcerned about carnings -- warnings from the school about possible expulsion for those caught rioting. >> we win, we can't be held responsible for our actions. and i'm feeling pretty good for this game. >> reporter: but for older students, fallout from past riots is still fresh in their mind. >> in the end, it's not worth it. >> relax. it's just a game. >> reporter: school officials did send out an e-mail of the possible penalties if they fail to act with dignity and respect. we're live in college park, derek valcourt, wjz eyewitness news. >> the game gets under way at 9:00 tonight. but first, the school will hold a ceremony to name the basketball court after former coach gary williams. another mild winter day right now. the skies are calm. you can leave your heavy jacket at home if you're headed outside. wjz is live with first warning weather coverage. meteorologist bernadette woods and bob turk are updating the conditions. bob? >> not that warm. but it's pretty nice this time of year. take a look at temperatures. we got up to 49 this afternoon. we're stillald 43 now. 47 in cumberland. and 45 in easton and d.c. the air is still pretty dry. but it will get back in the 30s. i would definitely take a coat of some kind. now, we do some weather headed our way. bernadette woods had a look at what is on tap for tomorrow and friday. bernadette? >> that's right. there's another storm moving in our direction. the clouds starting to take over in some places. they will really thicken up tonight. and the rain will start to arrive tonight. and pick up more so tomorrow into friday. this goes all the way to the deep south in louisiana, with pretty hefty thunderstorms on the southern fringe of it. now, for us, what we're expecting is maybe at the very, very beginning of this, that there could be a little ice mixed in. but in is really going to be a rain storm for us. you can see more ice pushed to the north of us, where there is going to be cold air holding on longer. we're looking at rain heading your way. we'll have a look inside. still ahead, thousands line up to say goodbye to joe paterno. the emotional memorial service for the penn state football legend. president obama hits the road in the battle for the white house. the new political attacks from his republican rivals. soon, pain to cross over a maryland bridge that sparked controversy for months will never be the same. i'm weijia jiang, with what you need to know, coming up next. it is a pleasant wednesday night. bob will have more on the rain in the updated forecast. ,,,,,,,,,, [ male announcer ] ziploc presents ziplogic. ♪ 4 pounds of sirloin. but only wrap half... i'll just throw it out anyway. 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[ female announcer ] s.c. johnson. a family company. a greek shipping company pleads guilty to polluting at sea and tries to cover it up. it came at a plea agreement in federal court in baltimore. as alex alex demetrick explains, the case was heard here, because this is where the whistle-blower alerted the coast guard. >> reporter: when ships are in port, time is money. safely using unused oil. in federal court in baltimore, a greek company, which manages ships, pled guilty to dumping, after a crewman alerted coast guard inspectors. on ships ai whistle-- a whistle- blower can make the case. >> definitely helps the process, points us in the right directions and keeps us from just going around in circles sometimes. >> reporter: under the plea deal, the shipping company pled guilty to four counts, including obstruction of justice, and falsifying documents. it will pay a fine of $925,000, and another $275,000, to help clean the chesapeake. under the law, salvatore lopez could get up to half of that $925,000 fine. his lawyer says the philippine resident desperately needs the money, after blowing the whistle and being black-listed. >> he has four small children, one severely disabled. he is without money because he did the right thing. >> reporter: the judge will ultimately decide just how much of that $925,000 salvatore will receive. until then, he remains a whistle-blower in limbo. >> he has no job. the steam ship company won't hire him. >> and without that, there would be no trip to court. >> today's plea agreement is only one of two expected in the agreement. the owner of the ship is also charged as well as the greek company that managed the ship. if you're waiting for someone to get home from work, let's check on the roads with kristy breslin at wjz traffic control. >> hi, kai. hi, everyone. definitely getting a lot busier out there. the harrisburg expressway in that northbound direction. we're up to 20 minutes there from shawan to belfast. also, west side inner loop. that delay continues to stretch from wilkens to security boulevard. traffic only moving at 40 miles an hour. on the north side inner loop, you the slow down there, from harrisburg expressway to perring parkway. and sluggish as well, from 29. heavy from pulaski highway. we also have an accident, up in the harford county area. northbound 95 at the aberdeen exit. and another at cherry dale. also south broadway, at east lombard street in baltimore city. let's now take a live look. as you can see, things still a bit slow there on the west side at wilkens avenue. disney on ice is celebrating 100 years of magic. and they're coming to the first mariner arena, february 8th through 12th. you can get your tickets today. back to you. >> thank you. the leader of baltimore's archdiocese is now weeks away from becoming a cardinal. today marks the first public appearance of edwin o'brien since the announcement of the pope. >> fresh in from rome, cardinal edwin o'brien held a news conference. and he was surrounded by portraits. >> it's nice to be in the hall of fame like this. >> reporter: on january 6th, o'brien was in rome, when the pope made the announcement. >> he went through a list of 22 names. and my name was number 8. it was exciting. >> reporter: o'brien's short tenure in baltimore was sometimes controversial. he closed catholic schools, lived low enrollment, and today, he addressed another controversial issue, same-sex marriage. >> 30 states, where legislators have passed this. the people's vote has voided it. and we have every reason to believe that we have a strong, grass-roots coalition here that will uphold the sanctity of marriage. >> reporter: o'brien's successor should be named in the next two to three weeks. he says the next leader of the baltimore archdiocese, must focus on increasing the number of priests and nuns. and consolidate the difficult task of consolidating parishes. >> we're going to keep life vibrant life. we're going to make sure we're not struggling along with half churches till -- filled and wondering what's going to happen tomorrow. >> reporter: cardinal does admit o'brien leaves for a special mission in haiti. he will then go to rome, where february 15th, he will officially become a cardinal and get that red hat. >> what a ceremony it is, too. >> oh. it's amazing. all right. we have some rain headed our way. not that much tomorrow. but tomorrow night, friday morning, looks pretty wet. 43 now. did get up to 49 today. east/southeast winds. barometer holding steady. come back and take a look at the rain chance after this. ,, -dad, why are you getting that? -that's my cereal. is there a prize in there? oh, there's a prize, all right. is it a robot? no. is it a jet plane? nope. is it a dinosaur? 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[ male announcer ] and we think that's the best prize of all. ♪ shot with clouds out there coming in the region. thicker and getting lower overnight. perhaps by morning, drizzle or showers possible. most of that rain is not going to be heavy at all. it will keep us cloudy. temperatures generally in the mid- to upper 40s. but there's a pretty good slug of rain coming tomorrow night, into friday morning. so your friday morning drive may be impacted by some rain. take a look at temps and conditions. another mild afternoon, considering our high now. average is now 42. we're at 43. got up to 49 this afternoon. briefly. yesterday, remember, we were at 59 degrees. way above normal. 47 in cumberland. 45, d.c., and 41 down in ocean city. a bit of a breeze coming off the ocean. and ocean weather temperature is around 39, 40 degrees. so there's representative down there. the dew point is 29. still pretty low. dry air for the time being. but it will moisten up. the dew point will come up tonight. 41, kent island, annapolis down by the bay. and 45 in washington. east winds now, off the atlantic ocean. generally today, they're going to start turning more to the south and southeast and bringing that moisture. but keep us in generally mild air. when we talk generally, normal lows in the 20s. tonight, about 34 by morning. now, to our north, as you mentioned, probably from harrisburg, maybe up by pittsburgh, a few spots, northern pennsylvania, might see a touch of sleet. maybe a freezing drizzle tonight. as this low passes to our west, it will bring warmer air, over top of this cooler air. clouds being created to the south. few clouds. will clear out for a while before more clouds roll in. across portions of indiana and ohio now. a little sleet coming down with temperatures there in the mid- 30s. it's going to warm up there as well. also, light flurry activity across northwest pennsylvania. and western new york. here's that low pressure. it's going to bring a lot of mild air ahead of it. be in the 60s down there. it will clear our region by friday afternoon. we'll start seeing more sunshine, dry conditions. the weekend now looking pretty good. looks like low pressure will pass well to our south this weekend. so taking any chance of rain or snow away from us this weekend. temperatures generally in the 40s for highs this weekend. it will get chilly again, but not until monday. tomorrow night and friday, up to the north -- northern new england will see some snow. we'll just see some rain as that warmer air continues to filter in. tonight, southeast winds at 5 to 10 knots. and the small craft advisory on the bay tomorrow night. and friday, as that low gets a little stronger. so tonight, clouding up. maybe a little shower and drizzle, spotty stuff later on. 34 by morning. 46 tomorrow. still above normal. just a bit of rain. the steady rain, maybe even thunder, late tomorrow night and friday morning, as that front comes through. >> all right, bob. thank you. still ahead at 5:00. rescued in the middle of the night. new information about the hostages saved if so from -- from somali pirates. cruise disaster in italy. an update from the man in charge of the recovery mission. dropping the number of suspensions. and keeping kids in class. i'm gigi barnett. coming up, the policy school leaders may have to change. that story is straight ahead. ,, we know everyone's looking for ways to save. why not save on car insurance? [ coin drops ] [ high-pitched voice ] thanks. [ normal voice ] you're welcome. get a free quote at progressive.com. it's 5:29. 43 degrees and partly cloudy. good evening. thank you for staying with wjz eyewitness news. here are some of the storie