A manhunt has ended in Northern Virginia after a man escaped from immigration officials. 

Marlon Carlos Rivas-Mendez, 27, fled from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody as he was facing deportation and being driven to Washington Dulles International Airport, law enforcement sources tell News4. 

He is now in law enforcement custody, ICE told News4 Monday afternoon. 

Rivas-Mendez escaped from a car traveling south on Dulles Toll Road near Old Ox Road in Sterling, sources say. He ran into a wooded area. 

Loudoun County police say Rivas-Mendez is a Sterling resident who initially was arrested Monday morning. He was transferred into ICE custody about 11:10 a.m. without incident. 

But in federal custody "Rivas-Mendez assaulted the transport personnel and escaped custody on the Dulles Toll Road," a statement from the Loudoun County Sheriff's Office said. 

ICE, Virginia State Police, Fairfax and Loudoun county police and Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority officers all hunted for Rivas-Mendez. 

Video from Chopper4 showed the extensive search underway. 

Finally, more than three hours after he was taken into ICE custody, he was found about four miles away, near Mercure Circle and Old Ox Road. 

He was taken back into custody without incident, Loudoun County police say. 

Rivas-Mendez now faces local charges of assault and battery, and he is in ICE custody. 

Sources said Rivas-Mendez stands 5-foot-11, is Hispanic with fair skin and was wearing a white T-shirt, camouflage shorts and no shoes. He had a handcuff around one wrist.

Anyone with information on Rivas-Mendez's whereabouts was asked to call 911 or 703-777-1021.

Sikorsky Aircraft has signed nearly $4 billion deal with the United States government to build Black Hawk helicopters.

It is a big score for a company whose future in Connecticut was teetering not so long ago.

In the months since the state reached the deal to keep the Lockheed Martin company, headquartered in Connecticut, this is the second major order by the U.S. military of helicopters that will be made in Stratford.

For managing supervisor, Brad Batchelor, the new order of the 257 new H-60 Black Hawk Helicopters means "a lot of job stability." He has worked for Sikorsky Aircraft for nearly 35 years.

"I’m proud to say that," Batchelor said. 

Sikorsky announced the 5-year contract to build the Black Hawk helicopters for the U.S. Army and Foreign Military Sales is worth $3.8 billion.

"The Black Hawk is the universal utility helicopter," Batchelor said. "It’s the work horse of the military– all branches."

Back in April, Sikorsky announced plans to produce 200 King Stallion Helicopters for the U.S. Marine Corp.

It has been almost a year since state lawmakers approved a deal with $220 million in incentive to keep Sikorsky in Connecticut through 2032.

"It’s tremendous," said Ellie Taylor, who has lived in Stratford for 15 years. "I don’t know what we’re going do when they do leave."

This is the ninth time the U.S. government has made a multi-year order for the Black Hawk helicopter. Sikorsky has delivered the Black Hawks to the Army since 1978.

"This contract will provide our Army, sister services and allies with state-of-the-art modernized helicopters to complete crucial missions and save lives," said Colonel Billy Jackson, Sikorsky Utility Helicopters Project Manager. "Moreover, this effort will stabilize our manufacturing base and control long-term costs, and ultimately provide significant savings to the taxpayer."

The deal includes options for an additional 103 aircraft that could raise the value of the contract to more than $5 billion.

"It’s great for the surrounding neighborhood and Connecticut in general," Batchelor said.

Almost 100 new laws went into effect in Connecticut at the start of the new fiscal year.

Many of those changes speak directly to the consumer, specifically when it comes to homemaker companions and student loans.

Connecticut has one of the highest student debt rates in the country, but borrowers can also find some forgiveness programs, depending on their chosen profession and whether they know where to look.

This year, the state’s office of higher education will send out informational material regarding two programs: The Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program and the Teacher Loan Forgiveness Program.

That will make its way out to public service employers, who then have to pass it along to their employees.

Also changing this year: Home Care Agencies.

Anyone hiring a homemaker companion through a registry must receive, sign and give a liability waiver back to the registry before services begin, instead of within four days. Bona fide emergencies are an exception.

From the state’s perspective, this measure should help make a usually stressful time a little more thorough.

"It’s really important (the) contract is in plain language, the notice is in plain language, and if it’s not and you don’t get the clarity you need, and you don’t know what’s going on, feel free to reach out to (the Department of Consumer Protection or DCP),” said DCP spokesperson Lora Rae Anderson.

That law, although signed by Governor Dannel Malloy in June, will take effect October 2017.

The co-founder of Silicon Valley's 500 Startups is stepping down from the company after admitting he made inappropriate advances toward women in the workplace.

Dave McClure announced his resignation and an apology for his actions in a blog post titled "I'm a Creep. I'm Sorry." He is the latest in a number of Silicon Valley venture capitalists and CEOs, like Uber's Travis Kalanick, to lose their job because of their treatment of women.

"Personally, I think we're on the verge of a big shakeup in Silicon Valley," said Kym McNicholas, director of Extreme Tech Challenge. "Those investors who have been misbehaving -- and there are a lot of them according to female entrepreneurs that I know -- they're going to be called out as women get more and more support from the industry and they know they don't have to be afraid anymore."

Fran Maier, co-founder of Match.com, said she was told once to hire someone because she had good legs.

"There's such an emphasis on pattern-matching and bro culture," Maier said. "And if you don't fit that perceived entrepreneurial look of a 20-something guy in a hoodie, your chances when you walk in the door are down."

Maier and McClure said an apologetic memo is good, but it is just a first step to solving the problem.

North Korea fired a ballistic missile from its eastern coast toward the East Sea on Tuesday, a South Korean military official told NBC News.

The launch — one of several this year — was detected at about 9:40 a.m. local time. Additional details were not immediately available.

The launch came one day after officials in the United States, Japan and South Korea announced that they planned to ratchet up pressure on the country and its president, Kim Jong Un.

It wasn't immediately clear if this was a routine firing of a short-range missile or an attempt to perfect North Korea's longer range missiles.

The face of the Hartford Police Department, Deputy Chief Brian Foley, has a new title: lifesaver.

"I was with some friends having lunch and one of my buddies said 'does anybody know the Heimlich because' there's a lady choking over there?'" Foley told NBC Connecticut.

Foley jumped into action when he noticed a woman choking during lunch at the Manchester Country Club on June 22 and has been called the "Heimlich Hero".

Priscilla West was choking on chicken mac-n-cheese at the Waterview Cafe, her friend, Joan Capello, of South Windsor, said. 

"He came right over and he was so concerned, so professional about it,” Capello said.

She said Foley was quick to help West, who wasn't breathing. 

"I did the Heimlich maneuver just as I was trained at the police academy 23 years ago and I'm very thankful to have that training,” Foley said.

Capello said as Foley did the maneuver on the woman, he yelled for someone to call 911.

After a few more Heimlich’s and the Summerwood Lane ladies lunch group were good to go.

"And then third one, I tell her ‘I’m sorry this might break your ribs. I'm going to try and do this' and I did. It was successful and I didn't hurt her either,” Foley added.

"She was fine and we were all so grateful someone was there that knew what to do and took charge,” Capello added.

Foley said he doesn’t want to be known as the Heimlich Hero, because it is all part of being on the Hartford Police Department team.

"Nothing I did is anything more extraordinary than the women and men of the Hartford Police Department and what they do every day,” Foley said.

He quietly returned to lunch before hitting the greens.

"Wish my Heimlich maneuver was as good as my golf game," Foley added.

Connecticut gives consumers a three-day cooling off period when it comes to certain contracts. But it’s not always as straightforward as it sounds, as a Stafford Springs woman found out.

The clock starts ticking the moment you sign a contract, giving you until midnight on the third business day to change your mind.

Christta Hamil signed a contract for hardwood flooring on a Wednesday and wrote a deposit check for $499.45 at the same time.

The following Monday, she called the company to cancel.

“I thought I was within the timeframe to cancel, so that’s what I tried to do,” Hamil said.

But she was missing a critical piece of information: Saturday is a business day in Connecticut. Which means Hamill’s three-day window was closed by the time she called to cancel.

Hamil says the representative she spoke with told her she was all set and would receive a confirmation call in a couple of days.

When that call didn’t come by Wednesday, a full week after she signed the contract, Hamil called the company again.

“And I spoke with a gentleman who told me we have no record of your phone call, no record of you trying to cancel and you owe us $4,500," Hamil said.

In subsequent conversations with the business, a representative told Hamil she was supposed to submit a written cancellation by mail. Hamil says she never received a cancellation form, which is required under Connecticut law.

"It's something that's important to be with the contract. A lot of people know that they have the right to do this, but it's important that they get that piece of paper," said Lora Rae Anderson with the Department of Consumer Protection.

Around the same time Hamil asked NBC Connecticut Responds to help get her deposit back, we received a similar complaint about the same company from another customer.

That customer also claims the Notice of Cancellation form was not included with her contract.

Our consumer team reached out to the company for answers and advised Hamil and the second customer to file complaints with DCP.

A company spokesperson insisted that all customers receive two copies of the Notice of Cancellation with their contracts.

He also said both customers first asked to change their orders and only requested to cancel after the three-day window expired.

The company agreed to refund their deposits as a show of good faith.

Anderson does not recommend signing a contract on the same day you receive a sales pitch. She suggests taking time to read through the contract and think things over beforehand, rather than trying to cancel later.

“No matter what, if you sign that contract and you want to back out of it, that’s still more work for you. The more you invest on the front end, the better,” Anderson said.

If you do decide to cancel, Anderson recommends notifying the business by phone along with mailing in the written form.

The three-day cooling off period applies to contracts for home improvement, dating services, health clubs and diet programs.

If you do not receive a Notice of Cancellation form along with your contract, you should ask your contractor for one. Don’t sign anything until you receive it.

The Department of Consumer Protection includes a sample Notice of Cancellation form in its handbook for Home Improvement Contractors, which is available online.

The Trump administration on Monday night urged the court not to add more exceptions to the president's travel ban, NBC News reported.

Justice Department lawyers responded to a motion filed by Hawaii and other challengers who argued that the ban wrongly excluded grandparents and other relatives from the list of close family members who could obtain visas.

The government said the judge should only stick to the guidelines announced by the State Department on June 29: Parents, parents-in-law, spouses, fiances, children and children-in-law would be exempt from the ban on visas for travel from six mostly Muslim countries. They are Syria, Iran, Yemen, Somalia, Sudan and Libya.

Hundreds gathered at the vacant Dallas home Monday evening where the bodies of 13-year-old Shavon Randle and 19-year-old Michael Titus were discovered over the weekend, bringing a tragic end to a desperate search for the young girl.

Shavon Randle's mother, Shaquna Randle, spoke publicly for the first time since her daughter's death, visibly shaken while looking at the home where her body was discovered.

"If y'all have kids, cherish them," Randle said. "Hold them and don't let them go, y'all. Don't let them go."

The boarded-up house is surrounded by brightly colored balloons, flowers and stuffed animals as the memorial grows.

One cousin spoke at Monday's vigil and said she had just surprised Shavon with a cell phone last week. Arrest warrant affidavits show that police tracked Shavon's phone until it was turned off, linking it to two people currently in custody.

Shavon had been living with her aunt in Lancaster at the time she was kidnapped, apparently taken as ransom for a drug dispute a family member was involved in but that Shavon had nothing to do with.

Her mother thanked those gathered – and those who couldn't make it.

"Thank you all for the love, the support and the prayers. I need all of that," Randle said. "She meant a lot to this family. She was like that piece."

One of Shavon's teachers, Crystal Spain, said the little girl was known for her "puffy little ponytail." Their last conversation was about how excited Shavon was to go into seventh grade this fall.

"She just wanted to live another day. Just wanted to live another day, and she can't because of some foolish people," Spain said. "It hurts. And I hurt for her mother. I heart for everybody in the community. I hurt for all of them because if you don't feel something out of this, something is wrong with you."

The vigil and march were organized by the Next Generation Action Network.

A 37-year-old Hartford man has been charged with armed robbery and attempted murder in connection with the shooting of an off-duty Hartford firefighter in an industrial park in Rocky Hill in April.

Jesus Perez has been charged with attempted murder, first-degree assault, first-degree robbery with a deadly weapon, tampering with or fabricating evidence, criminal possession of a pistol or revolver.

Rocky Hill Police said they were called to respond to Belamose Avenue around 10 p.m. on April 20 and called in police from Newington and Wethersfield to help search the large 60-acre industrial park, consisting of several businesses, for the victim and shooter.

A short time later, officers found the victim, Jimmy Ngo, a Hartford firefighter, inside one of the businesses in the park. He had been shot five times, once in the face and four times in the back, officials said.

Hartford Fire Captain Raul Ortiz said Ngo was off-duty at the time of the shooting. Ngo is still recovering from the injuries he sustained in the shooting and is home, surrounded by family.

"We continue to wish him a full and speedy recovery," Ortiz said.

Perez is being held on a $750,000 bond.

Dog owners know too well what the Fourth of July fireworks do to their pets' stress levels. Now, some in California are turning to cannabis products for pooches.

Yes, there are special treats made with marijuana to alleviate a dog's anxiety caused by fireworks.

"I don't want him to be stressed out, especially over something as insignificant as fireworks," Bay Area pet owner Zugeiryd Garcia-Barrera said.

This year, Garcia-Barrera's dog C-Rex, will be given a new anxiety remedy: medical marijuana for pets.

At Holistic Hound in Berkeley, CBD (cannabidiol) dog treats are a big seller.

"The response has been overwhelmingly that it calms them down," said store owner Heidi Hill.

While there is THC and cannabinoids from marijuana in the treats, it's not like the pot people use, Hill said. 

"The product we sell and what makes it legal is it's from industrialized hemp," she said. "It's less than 3 percent THC — doesn't get the dogs high."

But are they safe?

Dr. Tom Hansen of San Francisco Veterinary Specialists said he has seen dogs in the ER after eating marijuana. He has not seen illness caused by the CBD products, and while pet owners tell him CBDs seem to work, he can't offer pet owners advice about them.

"We just don't know what these products are doing," he said. "There is anecdotal information, but no science behind it because it's a Schedule 1 drug. Not allowed to study it."

Experts say pet owners should read the product packaging and follow dosing directions carefully.

A barn in Torrington caught fire early this morning and the blaze spread to two nearby homes. 

Crews responded to Albert Street at 2:56 a.m. after the fire started in the barn and spread to a house off South Main Street and to the garage of another house. 

Eleven firefighters were on duty when fire broke out. 

“It was a little bit of work for the guys in the beginning -- contain the fire," Torrington Fire Chief Gary Brunoli said.

Investigators are now trying to determine what caused the blaze.

The state parks and beaches in Connecticut are filling up early as people head out to celebrate the Fourth of July.

Bigelow Hollow State Park in Union was at parking capacity as of 9:20 a.m.

Miller's Pond State Park in Durham is full to parking capacity as of 9:15 a.m.

Pattaconk Lake State Recreation Area in Chester and Wadsworth Falls State Park in Middletown are full to parking capacity as of 9 a.m.

Squantz Pond State Park in New Fairfield has been full to parking capacity as of 8 a.m.

Burr Pond in Torrington is not full, but there is no swimming there until at least Friday because of bacteria levels.

For updates, follow the CT State Parks Twitter account. 

Archaeologists have excavated an area of Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello mansion that is believed to have been the living quarters of Sally Hemings, the enslaved woman who historians believe gave birth to six children Jefferson fathered, NBCBLK reported.

"Some of Sally’s children may have been born in this room,” said Gardiner Hallock, director of restoration for Jefferson’s mountaintop plantation in Charlottesville, Virginia. “It’s important because it shows Sally as a human being — a mother, daughter, and sister — and brings out the relationships in her life.”

Hemings' room — 14 feet, 8 inches wide and 13 feet long — went unnoticed for decades. The space was converted into a men’s bathroom in 1941, considered by some as the final insult to Hemings’ legacy.

Physical evidence shows that Hemings probably lived a higher-level lifestyle than other enslaved people on Jefferson’s plantation. Still, her room had no windows and would have been dark, damp and uncomfortable.

A man is accused of stabbing a 29-year-old Stamford woman four times in the chest after asking her for money and has been arrested.

Police responded to Henry Street just before 2:30 p.m. on Monday and started to provide medical assistance.

The woman was bleeding badly and her cousin gave police a description of the assailant and said he goes by the name of “Lucky.”

The victim told police the man asked for “the money.” When she said she did not have any, he stabbed her, took her wallet and fled toward Washington Boulevard. 

Police found a man matching the description provided on Pulaski Street and identified him as 39-year-old Donell Blake.

Police said they found the victim’s wallet and the suspect’s red shirt, which he tried to discard.

The victim was transported to Stamford Hospital and her injuries are not life-threatening.

Blake has been was charged with two counts of first-degree robbery and first-degree assault.

Blake was held on a $500,000 appearance bond.

Thousands of people filled Meriden’s Hubbard Park for the city’s Independence Day celebration on Monday, But the fireworks show’s fate was uncertain until a couple of weeks ago. 

“Some would say this is the show that almost didn’t happen. I never saw that it was going away,” Meriden Mayor Kevin Scarpati said. 

There was a contentious debate about the city spending thousands of dollars on the event during tough budget times. 

At first there was no money put aside for it. 

“We were kind of upset to hear they’d be cancelled this year,” Elizabeth Daloia, of Meriden, said. 

Then a couple weeks ago, the city decided to pull $10,000 from a special events fund. 

When that was added to about $7,000 in private donations, city staff raced to pull off the show. 

“This is a great thing. We are not only celebrating our nation and our country but this is something all of our residents can enjoy,” Scarpati said. 

The mayor said the city hopes to avoid this last-minute rush in future years by either putting money specifically in the budget or establishing a task force or committee to come up with the money.  

A driver who appeared to be under the influence crashed into the Fast Mart in Suffield Monday afternoon and a clerk who was inside the store was taken to the hospital.

Police, firefighters and paramedics responded to the Fast Mart on East Street North, or Route 159, at Thompsonville Road.

The driver refused medical treatment and police said the driver was given standard field sobriety tests and did not perform them to standards.

The driver, who has not been identified, was arrested and charged with operating under the influence, as well as other motor vehicle violations.

The clerk’s injuries did not appear to be life-threatening. The building was temporarily closed while the staff made repairs and got the building operational again.

Demolition could begin soon on the properties acquired to make way for an upscale outlet mall on the shoreline. 

The Haven project will redevelop a blighted area by the waterfront, create hundreds of new jobs and generate millions in tax revenue for his city, West Haven Mayor Ed O’Brien said. 

Many of the houses on First Avenue and Water Street are already boarded up. On Monday, a family that has lived in a home on First Avenue started to pack up and move out. 

“We’re just boxing up what we know we can take with us to remind us and everything else is just in our heads,” Tanesha said. 

It’s moving week for her family after her parents reached a settlement with the City of West Haven. 

“It comes to a point where I assumed it was happy enough for some time of medium,” she said, “but truthfully you can’t be paid for your memories you built with your family, you can’t be paid for the time that you invested in a home.” 

The city sold Tanesha’s home and the neighboring boarded up properties to the private developer of The Haven. 

“I know they’re really starting to ramp things up,” O’Brien said, “but we don’t have a date of when the demolition is going to start and construction, but I believe it should be very soon.” 

At the corner of 1st Avenue and Elm Street, the owners of Nick’s Luncheonette say they have been able to stay open much longer than expected. Until further notice from the developer of The Haven, they plan to continue serving their customers. 

“They’re so excited that we’re still open,” Alicia Barbagiovanni, a waitress, said. 

For now, Barbagiovanni is thrilled to still have her job. 

“It helped my family so much,” she said. “My son just finished his first year of college so it’s really, really good.” 

Mayor O’Brien said The Haven will come with hundreds of new retail jobs. He told NBC Connecticut he still cannot announce the stores that plan to move in. 

“There’s a lot of positive,” he said, “tax revenue, it’s going to bring enormous tax revenue and it’s going to clean up a blighted area.” 

But the owner of a First Avenue home is holding out and fighting back with an eminent domain lawsuit. 

Attorneys from the Institute for Justice who are representing the McGinnity family said The Haven could become just like the Kelo v. New London eminent domain fight that made it all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. They fear the West Haven project might not generate the promised results. 

Tanesha said her family is planning to move to the Stratford area. 

“I do hope, for the sake of all the families and everything that we’ve gone through up to this point that it’s not a situation that’s like New London,” Tanesha said.  

A Dallas-based plus-size model and student who promotes body positivity has used her social media platform to share how she fought back against a body-shamer while on a flight.

Natalie Hage, 30, said the hurtful ordeal happened on a recent American Airlines flight to Los Angeles when she only had a middle seat available to her. She had paid extra for a seat with greater leg room.

The man seated next to her "began LOUDLY huffing, sighing, and readjusting himself in his seat," she wrote on Instagram. "I see him furiously texting and then purposefully turning the phone away from me."

Hage said she noticed that the man was texting derogatory comments about her like "I think she ate a Mexican." He also wrote that he was leaving "a neck mark against the window" even though Hage was not "in his space."

"The whole flight, I wanted to disappear," she told NBC's "Today" show.

Hage captured photos of the man's texts and at the end of the flight recorded a video that shows her calmly but pointedly challenging him about his behavior.

"If I didn’t say something, I’d regret it forever," she later explained to "Today." "I’d be a hypocrite."

The man at first denied his actions then later apologized several times. Yet at one point he questioned whether she should be sitting in an emergency exit row.

In her video, Hage explains that she works out five times a week. She emphasizes that the man knows nothing about her.

"Out of the cool opportunity to get to know people in this world, you miss out on the chance to connect with another person because you decided to judge them instead," Hage told "Today."

The Hartford Public Library Board is closing three branches as part of a restructuring plan. 

The Goodwin, Mark Twain, and Blue Hills branches will be closing and staff members will be moved to other locations. 

“Our Library serves, and must continue to serve, our diverse and changing neighborhoods and communities with services, programs, and collections so that all residents can learn, succeed, and thrive,” Greg Davis, chairman of the Hartford Public Library Board, said in a statement. “This plan will enable us to achieve those goals.” 

Davis said the announcement came after nine months of strategic planning.

“Each community’s needs were looked at in the context of its ecosystem of current services provided. The restructuring will keep open the Downtown Library, and the Albany, Park, Dwight, Barbour, Camp Field and Ropkins branches. The Goodwin, Mark Twain, and Blue Hills branches will be closing and their staff will be redeployed across the system. There will be no layoffs with this plan,” Andrea Comer, a board member and chair of the strategic planning committee, said in a statement. 

A news release from the Hartford Public Library said the plan will allow for additional open hours, including Saturdays, mornings and evenings, at several locations staring in September and additional programming in the branches.

“We will also be exploring expanding remaining locations, enhancing mobile services, and introducing 24-hour self-service kiosks,” Bridget Quinn Carey, HPL’s CEO, said in a statement.