ABC11 Eyewitness News - Eyewitness News at 5am - August 12, 2026

Episode Date: August 12, 2026

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Right now, live coverage from your local newsleader, breaking stories from overnight and this morning, and your first alert forecast. Here's what's happening where you live. This is ABC 11 eyewitness news. Good morning, Carolina. It's a brand new day. Wednesday, August 12th. I'm Bianca Holman and for Joel Brown. And I'm Anna Rivera. Thanks so much for joining us today. Durham's assistant police chief on leave this morning, follow an alleged hit and run. We'll have an update on the investigation straight ahead. Swapping land. White County officials and school leaders gearing up for a major meeting. Acres of land on the line will explain coming up. And primary results pouring in nationwide, especially in South Carolina,

where a Senate showdown involving Lindsay Graham's sister now heads to a runoff. We'll have all of the highlights. All right. It's time for our first check-off weather and traffic together. Right now at 5 o'clock, old dark 30, still dark out there, Steve. It is. And it doesn't feel that bad out there. We're in the 70s, but dew points have come down.

So get that early morning walk in if you can. I think it'll feel pretty good to you. But today's high still in the 90s. The average is 89, so we're above that. But not bad. It looks like tomorrow and Friday. We're going to ramp those temperatures up, so need to be ready for that.

Yesterday no rain out at RDU. We topped out at 95 degrees, so a little bit cooler. The thunderstorms that came in from the north and west as advertised, hit and miss variety. If you got under one of them, had some really impressive rain. A slow moving almost stalled thunderstorm

brought some really heavy rain there north of Rayford and pushing over. of Fayetteville and also some heavier showers just out to our west. But most of us kind of of missed out on that rain. And now you can see where the axis is. It's lifted a little bit farther to the west of us. So no risk of severe weather for us today. That's shifted well back to the west. Pop-up shower thunderstorm today and tomorrow, Friday into the weekend. We'll keep a one-and-three chance going at our hit a mist storm, but don't cancel any weekend plans. Some clouds around this morning temperatures in the 70s. We'll get up to 86 though by the time we get to that midday hour. Right now,

cloudy, 75 degrees, dew point down to 65. That's notable. Yesterday we had dew points in those low to mid-70, so it feels better. 70, Oxford, 69 in Sanford and Siler City and in the 70s down in Fayetteville. Warbirds in action tonight should be a nice evening for some baseball near 90 start time and getting down to 78 by the time you head home. Tropics are heating up a bit. More on that coming up in a few minutes, Ann. Steve, right now our crash count at zero. Lots of green on the map. Things looking good so far for your Wednesday morning commute. Let's take a live look outside at the DOT cameras. One of our busy spots, 40 in Airport Boulevard, not looking so busy right now.

A major investigation is underway in Durham this morning, following an alleged hit and run involving assistant police chief, Raul Garcia. It happened last week on I-540, and now Garcia is on administrative leave, and questions are growing. Cindy Bay, live in Durham with what we know. Cindy, good morning. Hey, good morning, Bianca. Well, that move with Garcia on administrative leave is standard protocol. while State Highway Patrol investigates. The crash allegedly happened on the 540 toll road in Apex on Friday. According to a State Highway Patrol collision report, Garcia veered into another lane, hit a car and drove off.

The report lists his address as Durham City Hall. It also shows the city of Durham owns the vehicle involved. Upon making contact with another vehicle, whether it's his fault or not, they should immediately pull over to a safe area, primarily on the right side of the road, and call a law enforcement agency to come and investigate it. We spoke with the police procedure expert about what happens next. They say law enforcement agencies typically conduct their own internal investigations after an incident involving one of their officers. And Durham police also tells eyewitness news. The department is aware

of the allegations involving the assistant chief, the mayor's also has a response and that will be ahead on eyewitness news. Back to you. Okay, Cindy, thank you. Happening today, an extraordinary land swap proposal on the line at in Wake County. It involves county land and school land. Leaders want to trade property for new schools, buildings, and housing opportunities. Elena Athens is with us now for a preview of today's meeting. Elena, what are we hearing? Yeah, well, there's going to be a discussion this afternoon about that potential. So there are 415 acres in southeast Raleigh at the intersection of Battlebridge Road

and Auburn Nightdale Road, a planned Way County Animal Center, potential middle and elementary schools are planned for this area. Then in West Raleigh, along Sunday Drive, office space is under consideration for that land swap.

It would give Wake County additional office space. So the options will be discussed today and will likely appear on the board agenda in the fall. Live in Raleigh, Elena, Athens, ABC 11, I witness names. Elena, thank you.

New details on President Trump's recent secret flight out of Turkey. He's now weighing in, telling reporters, he was following critical instructions amid Iranian threats. I just follow what they'd like to do. So I go by Secret Service and the military. They wanted me to go in a different flight, a different plane, equal safety, but they wanted me to do it. So I do it. I do what they say. According to the Washington Post, when the president left the NATO summit in Turkey last night,

the entire world saw him board the older Air Force one in front of cameras. He waved from the stairs and then sneaked out on the other side of the plane into an airport catering truck. That truck then drove into a smaller military jet. American Robert Gilman freed from Russia after four years in prison. He's receiving medical care at a military hospital in Texas. The 32-year-old former Marine had been imprisoned since 2022 for the alleged assault of a. Russian police officer. His release comes amid severe concerns about his health. Reports emerged last week saying Gilman was not cognizant and in near death amid

claims of torture. President Trump says Gilman was freed on a humanitarian basis with no stipulations following talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Developing in Garner, gunfire ringing out at an apartment complex last night. We've got an update coming up later this hour. And Aselma shake up why two council members suddenly resigned last night. fill you in coming up. Good morning, Steve. Hey, good morning there, Anna. Good morning, everybody. Outside. Temperatures are in the 70s, up for 60s at Sanford. Dew points have come down a bit.

So not bad. Plan that morning walk and take the puff out should be pretty good. We'll be in the 90s this afternoon. Not as hot today, but we're going to crank the heat up again tomorrow. All the details after the break. And right now the road's looking good. Crash count sitting at zero. Now let's take a look at those traffic hotspots brought to by the Fred Anderson family of dealerships on Glenwood Avenue. Fred Anderson Toyota. Fred Anderson Kia. Fred Anderson Nissan, all home of the Fred Anderson family plan,

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Fred Anderson Kia, and Fred Anderson, Nissan, all on Glenwood Avenue. Welcome back, everybody. Good morning to you. about today will be in the 90s. Humidity down a little bit though, so I'll take advantage of that and get out for a morning walk. We're still near 90 in Roxburgh, lower 90s in the

triangle of the sand hills with a 1 in 5 chance at an isolated shower or thunderstorm. You'll notice how that thunderstorm complex moved down and towards Atlanta and that went up around Cincinnati moving in the same direction. So that's retrogated a little bit farther back to the west. So we are not under a risk for severe weather for today, although the mountains could

get a couple of stronger storms. 70s early on 80 around 10 a.m. Some clouds around this morning a little brighter by midday. It'll be about 86 degrees at that time. Notice a dew point at 65. That's an 8 degree dew point drop. That's significant. That feels a lot better to you.

So again, enjoy that walk this morning if you can. 69 Oxford, 69 Silas City and Sanford and Fayetteville at 73 degrees. Evening plan shouldn't be bad at all. We'll keep that one in five chance at a stray storm. Numbers getting down to around 80 or so by 9 o'clock in the evening. Another batch of some thunderstorms have been moving across the Ohio Valley, southern Ohio Valley into Kentucky, down into Atlanta. That's where we have that level two risk, turning to a level one, but missing us now. That was over us yesterday, but it's shifted a little bit farther to the west.

So far this morning, all the major hubs looking good. Got your seven day coming up in a few minutes, Anna. Okay, Steve, thank you. Happening today, North Carolina Congresswoman Deborah Ross meeting with Raleigh moms and their kids at groovy duck bakery. The Democratic lawmakers says she'll sleep. RIM rising costs of child care, health care, groceries, gas, and school supplies. And the event is hosted by a group called Moms Rising, with members across the country joining forces to push Congress to make life more affordable for families.

In your voice, your vote, primary results pouring in from key races nationwide, especially in South Carolina where Republican Senate showdown is underway. Darlene Graham has advanced to a runoff after failing to secure enough votes outright to succeed, her late brother, Senator Lindsey Graham. She'll now face Congressman Ralph Norman on August 25th. The winner will be on the ballot in November against a Democratic opponent. Governor Stein is signing several bills into law. And so involving funding and administrative powers will have full recap coming up later on this hour.

$1 billion now up for grabs as the Powerball soars ahead of tonight's drawing. Stay with us for the continuing coverage. And remember you can find eyewitness news live on ABC 11 Disney Plus and everywhere you stream. We are local news. ABC 11 eyewitness news continues now. Permanent civil rights attorney Ben Crump announcing a $50 million lawsuit against Lyft. He's suing the company over two cases involving the victims from the triangle. A lift driver from Kerry allegedly kidnapped and assaulted a mother in Raleigh earlier this year. Diamond Kennedy says that she was heading home from work when Ryan Davy drove her to a secluded area and sexually assaulted her in March. A second lawsuit involves a Durham couple who died in February after riding in a lift in Detroit.

That driver was allegedly speeding when he crashed into a warehouse and ran away from the scene. Crump and the victims held a news conference in Durham yesterday addressing the new lawsuit. It took something for me. I just can't get back ever. And I just want to let everybody know and to be aware that when you're using these ride shares, you can't trust them. Ryshare companies have a duty to their passengers who are trusting them to transport them safely. There is no excuse for this level of negligence. Lyft tells eyewitness news that does not comment on ongoing litigation, but did say, quote, our goal is for everyone to feel safe and respected on the Lyft platform and there is no place in our community for acts of violence,

dangerous behavior or inappropriate actions behind the wheel. Lyft continues its work to promote safety for the millions of people who use Lyft every day. Wilmington-based attorney Patrick Mincy releasing new details about his decision to represent former Miss North Carolina, Brittany Bolton House. He says his team is investigating the organization's decision to oust her last week. Mincy says he's already uncovered evidence against pageant officials. He also vowed to, quote, uncover the truth amid cancel culture. Bolton House claims it was because of her conservative Christian beliefs, but reports emerged showing race, social media posts from her past.

We're awaiting a major decision from state officials on Duke Energy's proposed a rate hike amid the hottest summer on record. The North Carolina Utilities Commission held a high-stakes hearing on the issue yesterday. Initially, Duke Energy wanted people to pay 18% more. The company lowered that to 3.7 after facing extreme outrage. State Attorney General Jeff Jackson addressed the controversy last month. The reason we think that is because we did our own independent analysis of what Duke will need to meet demand. And we think they overshot the mark. We think they can come down significantly and still meet demand. The Utilities Commission plans to make a decision on Duke energy rates in the fall. Happening tonight, a meteor shower will peak overnight

just before tomorrow morning. It's considered the best meteor shower to watch. There will be little to no moonlight in some parts of the country, which should enhance visibility. Parts of the northern hemisphere will also see a total solar eclipse today. The northern U.S. and Canada will likely see a partial eclipse. And a meteor was actually caught on a dash cam in South Carolina. You can see it shooting across the sky. This happened earlier this week in Mount Pleasant. NASA says you could see 50 to 100 meteors tonight.

Or UFOs, depending on who you want. With the percy, it's we get some fireballs in there every once in a while too. So it'd be bright just like that. Okay. So we can confirm that it is a meteor. It is. Okay. Are we going to be able to see it, though?

Oh, yeah, I think so, yeah. I mean, we'll be partly cloudy. It's really after midnight. Get away, I'll show you a graphic coming up, but get away from city lights and things of that nature. Plus, with that new moon tonight, it's going to help even more keeping a dark sky. Out there right now, things are fairly quiet. We do have clouds around this morning, though, and dew points are down a bit.

Take advantage, not as hot today, but right back to feels like numbers around 105 tomorrow and Friday. Both days could feature heat advisories issued by the next. National Weather Service. Weekend rain. Well, don't worry. It's going to be the hit and miss variety for sure. Don't cancel any plans. Tropics starting to heat up. Another couple of waves off the coast of Africa, one with a low chance, but it's right now just off the coast there of Cape Verde Islands. And this one has about an 80% chance of development. This is Invest 92L. And you notice all the models are taken it in the Caribbean. By this time, it's likely going to hit some not really good favorable conditions. A lot of sheep.

in that area. So we'll keep a low chance today and tomorrow we'll go up a little bit Friday, Saturday into Sunday, but still, again, don't cancel plans this weekend. Little better chance on Monday of getting a shower thunderstorm. You see the storms now going from Cincinnati down towards Atlanta. Yesterday that was over the Carolinas. That shifted a little bit farther to the west. We're seeing those thunderstorms rotating around that high pressure. So the likely it is we're not going to have severe weather for today. There's a stray pop-up shower thunderstorm at most. 70s out there early, 80 by midday. A little brighter as we'll see the clouds breaking at 86 degrees at that time.

And we'll see still some passing clouds. We'll call it a partly sunny day. Isolated pop-ups are possible still, though, later this afternoon. Not completely dry, but again, the coverage is probably going to be somewhere between 20, maybe 30 percent, and that's about it. Now, notice the trend here last few days. It's been above average, and that's not ending anytime soon. We'll dip a little bit, but still above average over the weekend. and right back to near 100 degrees as we get into Monday.

So a lot of heat coming over the next five, six days or so. 75 in the North Hills. Look at that dew point at 65. That's down significantly. So it'll feel better if you want to get a walk or jog in this morning. Upper 60s in a few areas out there this morning, but most of us closer to 70. Bulls at action this evening should be pretty nice.

88 before and about 78 by the time you head home there later on the evening hours. And if you're out late tonight early tomorrow morning, best viewing between midnight and dawn, 60 to 100 per hour. Look off to the northeast, but just stare at the sky. Every once in a while, you'll see one moving on by, and at times maybe a bit of a fireball as well. 100 to 105. I've leaned closer to 105 tomorrow. Same thing on Friday, maybe even higher than that.

And this front gets closer to us an evening shower, thunderstorm as possible as that front moves on by. We'll be in the 90s today, but not as hot as yesterday. And then a stray shower, thunderstorm possible. Upper 60s and low 70s for you as we go overnight tonight. First of all, it's seven day then. Feels like numbers are going to be approaching heat advisory criteria Thursday and Friday. Spotty storm over the weekend, little bit cooler than Monday we heat up again. Steve, right now the road's not heating up at all.

We're really not seeing any issues that you need to worry about. Lots of green and no crash icons. Let's take a live look outside of the DOT cameras. This is I-885 and Cornwallis Road. A lot of darkness out there, which means the traffic is still light. former President Barack Obama launching a new podcast. We'll tell you why and what he's focusing on coming up after the break. Alerting you first.

First alert weather on ABC 11. The FBI is warning parents about a growing cyber threat targeting children on social media, with hackers taking over accounts in an effort to obtain intimate photos. ABC's Hannah-Botton explains in today's tech bites. In today's tech bites, a new warning about hackers stealing intimate photos from social media accounts. The FBI says cyber criminals use the picture. to extort the victims or just publish them online. They're targeting adults and children, especially young boys.

They recommend using unique passwords. Next, Zoom has patched a major security vulnerability highlighted by a cybersecurity firm. Researchers say it involves Zoom's feature, allowing users to draw on their screen while sharing it in a meeting. The flaw would have allowed attackers to join meetings and wreak havoc without detection. And finally, Anthropic is adding an invisible watermark to text written by its clod chat bot. The mark is a hidden pattern in the word choices. Readers can't see it, but detection software can. It complies with the new European law, but impropic is applying it worldwide.

Those are your tech bites. I'm ahead at the top. Have a great day. Legendary singer Rod Stewart canceling the rest of his tour after undergoing heart surgery. The 81-year-old says he's very much on the end, but doing well. He was said to perform six shows for his Las Vegas residency, plus other concerts throughout the fall. The British performer also suffered a respiratory infection, laryinitis, and vocal strain in June. But Stewart insists he's not ready to retire just yet. Well, from the White House to the Sound Boost Studio, former president Barack Obama launching a podcast all about his favorite books. It's called A Great Book with Barack Obama.

He'll highlight six reads. He says dramatically influence his life. Sun's special guests will also join him with several those episodes. Obama's podcast will be available starting September 24th. The Shard stars Kaya Gerber and Homer Gear following in their famous parents' footsteps by gracing the September cover of Vogue magazine. The young actors mirroring Cindy Crawford and Richard Gear. Those two were married from 1991 to 1995. They posed for the 1992 cover 34 years before their kids.

And this comes as Kaya Gerber and Homer Gear promote the Shards. The new series takes place in 1980s, Los Angeles and follows a group of wealthy privileged prep school seniors who find themselves in the path of a serial killer. Episodes 1 through 4 are now available on FX, Hulu, and Hulu on Disney Plus. 527 now in a major investigation underway this morning after Durham's assistant police chief was allegedly involved in a hit and run. Everything we know, straight ahead. Plus, Wake County officials and school leaders holding a major meeting today.

Details on the budget and land swap proposal making headlines. We'll be right back.