the news edge. these are undercover officers taking down a suspected thief at a metro station. theft and robberies are always a big concern around the holidays and now cops are on the hunt baiting criminals and watching and waiting to pounce. they let our cameras roll on their operation to send a message. fox 5's will thomas has the news edge exclusive tonight? >> the message is . if you're going to steel -- simple. if you're going to steal someone's electronic device or bike, you might be taking it from a cop. undercover metro transit officers are setting up traps to get thieves the moment they strike. this is metro transit police video shot november 9th. two men caught stealing a bicycle at the prince george's county plaza stop, but they don't get far. undercover officers move in fast. to understand how this fake bike operation works, we're going to start at the beginning with sergeant jason williams. i videotapes all the action --

he videotapes all the action. what do you do with the video if you catch someone? >> we would submit this to the court. that would be played as evidence. >> reporter: an undercover transit officer lays the bait, a $3,800 bike. it's out in the open unlocked, an invitation for thieves. sergeant williams rolling on it all. >> i think he spots that. >> reporter: last wednesday afternoon police say the bait bike lured in some bad guys. >> there was two suspects adults and they were acting in concert. they had identified the bike. when they thought everything was clear, one subject looked out and the other one tried to take the bike. >> reporter: the bike is rigged to malfunction. so catching the thieves doesn't take long. officers arrested both men. me some of the same metro transit officers are routinely riding the rails conducting similar sting operations. officers are serving as decoys, displaying iphones and other

electronic equipment to catch criminals who might otherwise be targeting you. >> it's more of awareness because when you're standing by like this, it gives the thief someone to grab ahold of it and simply run with it. >> reporter: the officers may work undercover, but the department's top brass wants to get the word out as a warning. >> the next person you might rob might be an undercover metro transit police officer, not the citizen or innocent victim that you think. >> reporter: the idea behind these undercover tactics is really two fold. police believe when they catch someone in the act, they're preventing future crimes while the person is locked up and there's the belief getting the word out about these kind of operations will be a deterrent to thieves. >> you mentioned that bait bike was about $3,000 or, so probably a reason why. >> a lot of money. these kinds of bikes are normally ripped off, high end and because the bikes are valued at more than $1,000 in most jurisdictions, it allows police to charge them with felony theft which carries stiffer penalties.

>> remember you can help us monitor metro. if you see something that's not working, send us an e-mail at fox 5 metro at gmail.com. a murder mystery revisited. fairfax county police ask for your help identifying a man acting suspiciously in a parking lot last night, the same area where teenage murder victim vanessa pham was last seen alive in the summer of 2010. fox 5's bob barnard working this one now. >> it's the erie sim laters that have police and murder victims of vanessa pham's family on edge. pham was stabbed to death in her car by somebody who jumped into the front passenger seat in the same parking lot as last month's incident in which main jumped into the front passenger seat of a -- a man jumped into the front passenger seat of a woman's car. here's the video. >> you'll see the victim walking across the parking lot. >> reporter: fairfax county police officer don godhart walks us through the video of

october 27th when that 33-year- old woman was confronted by a man in her car at the fairfax plaza in merrifield. >> she's now getting in her vehicle. he's approach being the rear. >> reporter: he would get into -- approaching the rear. >> reporter: he would get into the front passenger seat. she would scream and run off later providing police with this composite sketch of the man in his 20s or 30s. he's walking away as if nothing happened, but police would sure like to speak with him. >> it is the same parking lot where vanessa pham was last seen alive last june 27th before she was eventually discovered murdered along arlington boulevard and williams drive. >> unfortunately something bad has to happen in order to find out who did this to vanessa and i don't wish that on anybody. >> reporter: we spoke to tracy to via skype from her home in new york. her cousin was vanessa pham, the 19-year-old college student whose murder after leaving this same fairfax county parking lot

has not been solved. to says she's just heard about this new case. >> luckily the girl was able to scream and i guess alert the situation. >> police say the man in the october 27th case committed no crime, didn't hurt the woman, didn't steal anything from her, but investigators want to find him just because. a georgia man has been indicted for the murder of a maryland woman. steven mcdaniels accused of killing laurel native lauren giddings in her macon, georgia apartment. the two were both law school students in georgia. court documents say mcdaniel bragged he could get away with murder. giddings remains were found outside her apartment. she was 27. 18 and under, off the streets by 11 p.m. during the week. the law being considered in montgomery county. laura evans is everywhere at 11:00. >> it's an attempt to cut down on teen crime. the montgomery county council tonight considering that curfew to keep kids off the streets in

the overnight hours. critics argue it's unconstitutional, but the county executive and police chief believe it will help cut crime. the council will vote december 1st. a surveillance photo of suspects believed to be stealing from the elderly. montgomery county police say these guys are going after their wallets. in one case think targeted an 89-year-old -- they targeted an 89-year-old man in a medical office. the systems used a stolen credit card -- the suspects used a stolen credit card in this picture at a target store in wheaton. eight d.c. activists abbyed with mayor gray on trial -- arrested with mayor gray on trial this week arrested for protests rights. these eight chose to go to court instead of pay a fine. college athletes who made the team might get cut by the university of maryland anyway. up next the serious money problems that could cause the budget axe to fall. check out some of the other stories on the rundown. news edge at 11:00 will be

right back. >> this is fox 5 news edge at 11:00.  the best place for a vacation is mississippi. you mean louisiana. florida's where folk's want to be. alabama's got you all beat. no matter which state you choose, everyone agrees the gulf is vacation at it's best. mississippi outdoors, louisiana seafood, florida beaches, alabama shoreline. so come on down to mississippi, louisiana, florida, alabama.

the gulf is the world's goodtime headquarters. and we are 100% open for business. bad news for many student athletes at university of maryland. a panel helping the school tackle a major budget deficit is recommending the university cut nearly 1/3 of its collegiate sports teams. fox 5's beth parker with the story. >> reporter: on youtube the lobbying has already started, viral videos urging save the terps. a commission's recommendation means the university of maryland may be closing the door on eight of its varsity teams. on the chopping block, tennis, swimming and diving, water polo, track and field, and tumbling. >> i don't know. the programs that are getting

cut probably shouldn't. we should try to find money from somewhere else. >> i know if i was on the swim team, i wouldn't be happy, but you have to understand it's kind of like a business. everything is about money nowadays. >> reporter: it is all about the numbers. the school is facing a multi- million dollar deficit. at maryland big sport like football are not generating as much -- sports like football are not generating as much money as they once did. >> i don't think we generate enough money with football and basketball. we're kind of in a rut. we have to get out somehow. so i understand where they're coming from, but i really don't think it's fair. >> reporter: according university, current students would be able to keep their scholarships even if their sport goes away. >> there's a certain thing about actual playing the sport that means something to somebody. i used to wrestle in high school and that meant something to me saying hey, i actually wrestled. i had the skill to do this sport. >> reporter: this is not a done deal. ultimately the president of the university will decide what programs get cut. a maryland spokesman told me today this is a detailed report

with sound conclusions. so that may be an indication that the president will follow the commission's lead. beth parker, fox 5 news. coming up next cracking down on the occupy wall street movement, the ruling tonight that has dealt a devastating blow to protesters. plus this heated debate turned violent on live tv. but first the o's going old school, today the baltimore orioles unveiled their new logo for next season similar to the cartoon logo in the team's world series years. the good old days. remember those? i'm sure it's a marketing move to sell more memorabilia, but there's also home the new look will break the team's 14 year streak of bad luck and bad baseball. of @@[ male announc the chicken marinara melt

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the occupy wall street protest becoming less of an occupation now that a state judge ruled demonstrators can't continue to camp out there. the judge says the first amendment does not extend to setting up camp for months. provide testers were arrested early in new york this morning. they'll be allowed to come back to zuccotti park in manhattan but without tents or sleeping

bags. >> certainly our billionaire mayor bloomberg is more interested in supporting the financial institutions than allowing us the right to free assembly. >> it is against city law to pitch tents in a public place and mayor bloomberg says that when there's a conflict between guaranteeing health and safety and the right to assemble, health and safety come first for the city. did you see this? an argument. [ arguing in foreign language ] >> see this? an argument between politicians got violent. it played out live on tv in lebanon. they were arguing about what to do with the ongoing conflict in syria. one threw a glass of water. then it was no holds barred till the host and studio crew members jumped in to hold the men apart. the show cut to commercials. here at home nasa wants to know if you have the right stuff, plus facebook dealing with a major spam problem.

shawn yancy has your fox 5 top five. >> up first tonight, brian, if you have dreamed of being an astronaut, now is your chance. no. 5, nasa is hiring. with all the veteran astronauts leaving the space program nasa is looking for some brand-new astronauts and because the u.s. space shuttle fleet is retired, all the new hires will get to fly on the russian rockets to the international space station and eventually on american built commercial rockets and later u.s. crew capsules. no. 4, heads up if you wear contacts. cooper vision is recalling 5 million lenses already shipped to customers. the recall now includes the a very ra sphere lenses. there's -- avera sphere lenses. there's concerned they could be contaminated with soil residue. no. 3, nearly one in five americans over the age of 12 has some form of hearing loss in one or both ears. women and black americans were significantly less likely to suffer from substantial hearing loss than whites, men or

hispanics. experiments believe estrogen and melanin in darker skin may have protective effects on the ears. no. 2, facebook is investigating some gori and pornographic pictures and link -- gory and pornographic pictures and links popping up in news feeds. it's not clear where this spam is coming from or how it's spread. facebook says don't click on any questionable items in your news feed. no. 1 tonight, d.c. drivers are slowing down. a aaa survey found on 70% of the roads it monitored in the region drivers have eased up on the gas. the reason? because of speed bumps, speed cameras and more police presence. among the slower spots now, the anacostia freeway, memorial bridge, canal road and 16th street. brian, that's tonight's fox 5 top five. >> hey little rain today, but more definitely on -- had a little rain today, but more definitely on the way. >> we're really starting to see this fill in from the west and

moving to the east. live look outside, not very wet in d.c. yet and i just checked out our back parking lot at fox 5 and while it looks like we had a few sprinkles come by a while ago, isn't raining northwest at the moment, but probably will be by morning and we'll have probably more moderate periods of rain in the afternoon and south and east of d.c. tonight the action is mostly west of d.c. you can see we've got some light stuff, but this is givenning to fill in and as we get close -- beginning to any and as we get closer, some more moderate downpour, winchester getting more activity. it's all really light, maybe a couple .1s inch of rain in yellow. some of you will get an inch before everything is said and done and maybe a bit more down to our south. we'll put this in motion the last number of hours. we barely scratched the surface, but there definitely is a good batch of moisture up

to our north and more developing down to the south that will be riding along the stalled boundary. that's why we think we're in for some rounds of rain and probably it will be till this time tomorrow night and maybe a few hours beyond to get this entire system out of here. pretty wet tomorrow, make sure to have your rain gear. take the umbrellas and pack your patience. you know how the roads get. here's the deal. a frontal system that came through today will stall to our south and be the focal point for some of this moderate rain. maybe the best chance is slightly southeast of d.c. a stronger front comes through late tomorrow and that will usher in cooler conditions for thursday. high pressure is also going to bring in colder temperatures for much of the midwest. we'll see the skies brightening but maybe a couple leftover showers on thursday morning. we've been in bargain territory with these temperatures, though. tonight will be mild again. in a few weeks, maybe a couple months having a little of this rain at night we'd have to be

watching for freezing rain, but it's going to stay in the 50s overnight and even the cold air on the other side of the mountains not terribly cold yet. we do see more chilly temperatures coming and we'll drop to the low 50s before this week is done. tonight around 55 degrees, showers expanding. we'll stay mild but have showers for the morning commute. it looks like it's pretty much wet all day long and occasionally moderate rain, sick 3 degrees and again expecting maybe -- 63 degrees and again expecting 1 to 1 1/2 inches for much of the metro area. 66 degrees at noon and 62 degrees by 4:00. as we continue to chase the showers out we think enough cold air will understand in that in the mountains it could -- will end in the mountains in a bit of cold snow. for the evening commute it looks like a better chance of all of us getting wet but you

can see where the acquisition set of heavier moisture on the order of 2 -- axis of heavier foist you're on the order of 2 to 2 1/2 inches -- heavier moisture on the order two of to 2 1/2 inches. here's your five-day forecast, we'll be about 63 degrees time, definitely cooler than today, but chillier stuff coming in at the end of the week. thursday, friday and saturday in the 50s but hey, we think we'll recover to the low 60s on sunday with a few more clouds in the mix as well. don't go anywhere. dave feldman is coming up with your sports report. the news edge will be right back. check it out.

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this is your local nissan dealer sports desk in hd with dave feldman. >> you know, for hard core nhh fans not your average road trip -- nhl fans not your average road trip for the capitals, three games beginning tonight in nashville, then thursday in winnipeg and then toronto. three different time zones, two different divisions joel ward a former predator the last three seasons. 3rd period no score until troy bower risks one. caps 1-0 with 4:46 to. go predators with a quick response. 28 seconds later. shea weber to martin who beats vokoun tied the game at 1-1. final seconds caps defenseman john erskine will lose his

stick. collin wilson down low to erak back to wilson who scores the game winner. the preds had an empty neither and the cap fall 3-1 -- netter and the caps fall 3-1. the skins were busy resigning defensive lineman darrien scott and receiver donte stallworth both cut last week. hankerson was put on season ending injured reserves. safety kareem moore was waived. the redskins inability to run the ball is a big run the burgundy and gold has not won since october 2nd. sunday the redskins ran for 61 yards against the dolphins. the team averaged 54 yards per game during its five-game losing skid. compare that to averaging 104 on the ground when they started the season 3-1. running back by committee is not the problem. >> we haven't had the production i would like in that running game. i thought we did throughout the

preseason and the first four other season games, but we haven't had it over the last five games. we're trying to get back to that. it's a group of people working together, but the key is not -- is the production of the running game to me. that's the key to be effective. we're not as effective as i'd like to be right now. >> he may not be popular in these parts, certainly not in college farc, maryland, but mike -- park, maryland, but mike -- mike shefsefsky with a win would be the most winningest coach. andre dawkins on the steal from chesapeake, virginia, a game high 26. downing by one at the half but 2nd half they pulled away duke

defeats michigan state 74-69. bob night was announcing the game. mike played for bob knight at army. coach k with the most wins in division 1 men's basketball history, 903. tony bennett in virginia hosting win brook close in the 2nd half. cavaliers down one. john evans drives into the lane, gets a foul. he converted a three-point play. virginia up three. winthrop would answer. smith hits the long range-3. then virginia went on a 28-4 run to end the game off the turnover. malcomb brogden to harrell and virginia defeats winthrop 69-48 to improve to 2-0 and george mason 71-39 and virginia tech defeats florida international 78-63 and the nan officially canceled games -- and the nba officially canceled games through december 15th.

i'm dave feldman. brian back with more of the brian back with more of the bbig! big.

big, big. big big big big? big big big big big. big big...big. ♪ big big big -big. -big! [ cheers and applause ] ♪ big big big -big big. -big! -big -big! -♪ big -big. -big big big. big big big. big big big. small. big big big big. small! [ male announcer ] the space-saving, eco-friendly, totally unique smart. unbig. uncar. ♪ taking the edge off with a viral video from one of the best stuntman in the biz. damien walters released this new demo reel. he can jump off buildings, flip over cars and do circus stunts. he's worked on several movies including captain america and the new sherlock holmes. we posted the complete video on the news edge facebook page. now you have the news ed