A fast-moving fire heavily damaged The Portuguese Club of Hartford in Newington.

Members escaped the flames which broke out Saturday afternoon on North Mountain Road.

Investigators will try to figure out what sparked the blaze.

"To see it going up in flames literally, of course, it’s a shock, saddened," Albert Costa, the club’s president, said.

Costa was among those who gathered to figure out what to do next.

They were at least thankful everyone who was in the building at the time made it out safely, including Nelson Oliveira.

"I run downstairs, all the way through the hallway, when I got down I saw some smoke," Oliveira said.

Then Oliveira was facing a room full of flames. He ran and yelled for everyone to get out.

"I’m sorry for what happened. That’s the place you come over, spend time, watch the game, play the cards," Oliveira said.

The club says the building – which has been here since the 70s – was heavily damaged inside.

This was a popular gathering spot for the group’s more than 500 members.

"It’s going to be missed however length we’re going to be offline. It’s going to be missed by everybody," Costa said.

But they promise to rebuild.

The club president says the big unknown is the extent of the damage. That will determine if they can salvage part of the building or if they’re going to have to demolish it before they can rebuild.

A man was seriously injured when he was struck by a car on Route 9 in Berlin Sunday.

The crash happened on Route 9 southbound near exit 22 around 2:20 a.m. Police said the victim was standing outside of his car after an accident when he was struck by another vehicle.

He was airlifted to Hartford Hospital with serious but non-life threatening injuries. The driver of the car was also taken to Hartford Hospital with minor injuries.

The crash remains under investigation. Any witnesses are asked to contact Troop H at 860-534-1000.

Ledyard police have arrested two people accused of stealing mail from mailboxes in town.

Police said officers responded Saturday afternoon after a report of a woman, later identified as 31-year-old Karen Sattler, taking mail out of mailboxes on Bittersweet Drive. When confronted, Sattler tried to escape in a car.

Police stopped the vehicle on Route 12. Officers found mail stolen from nine different addresses on Bittersweet Drive and Avery Hill Road, as well as drug paraphernalia and a large knife.

Sattler and the driver, identified as 33-year-old Paul Bolduc, were both arrested. Both charged with sixth-degree larceny and criminal trespass. Bolduc was also charged with possession of drug paraphernalia and possession of a dangerous weapon in a motor vehicle.

Sattler was released to Norwich police, who had an outstanding warrant for her arrest. Bolduc was released on a $500 bond. Both are due in court on January 10.

Crews have resumed recovery efforts for a missing 56-year-old snowmobiler believed to have fallen through the ice at a pond in Griswold last weekend.

Several agencies, including the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, began searching for the missing man, John Dubois, in Griswold around 6 p.m. on Dec. 16 after a snowmobile was found with no operator near the Pachaug Pond boat launch on Voluntown Road.

EnCon officers, Connecticut State Police troopers and K9 units, along with nearby fire departments and regional dive teams, searched through Saturday and into Sunday morning for Dubois before the search was suspended due to weather conditions.

Officials believe the rider went through the ice. Last weekend the search was deemed a recovery mission.

EnCon officers, Connecticut State Police and the Connecticut State Police dive team have all returned to Pachaug Pond to resume the search.

Fairfax County police said a teenage boy, 17, will be charged with killing a couple inside their Reston, Virginia, home Friday after he recovers from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Detectives said the teen, who is not being named due to his age, knew Scott Fricker and his wife, Buckley Kuhn-Fricker, prior to the shooting early Friday morning. He allegedly got inside their home and shot and killed both after being confronted by the couple.

Police said after shooting the two, the boy shot himself. He suffered life-threatening injuries and remains in the hospital under police guard.

Because of his injuries, police have not been able to serve the charges against the boy.

Four other family members who were at home at the time of the shooting were not hurt.

Buckley Kuhn-Fricker had a law practice and specialized in estate planning and elder law, according to her website. Scott Fricker worked for the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

"They were a wonderful couple," said Janet Kuhn, Buckley Kuhn-Fricker's mother.

Kuhn said days before the killings, Kuhn-Fricker had been consumed with concern about her 16-year-old daughter's boyfriend. Kuhn said Kuhn-Fricker had discovered the 17-year-old was a Nazi supporter.

"My daughter and her husband found out about a lot of the Nazi stuff just this past week, and they forbid their daughter to see him again," Kuhn said.

On Saturday, neighbors and friends brought candles and flowers to place at the end of the family's driveway and held a quiet vigil across the street.

Some were thinking of the Frickers' young son, whom they often saw playing basketball outside the house.

"It's hard to imagine that he doesn't have parents anymore, and I can't imagine that Christmas will ever be the same for him again," one neighbor told News4.

People were pressed shoulder-to-shoulder at St. Patrick’s Cathedral and across the street at Rockefeller Plaza Sunday night as crowds flocked to attend Christmas Eve Mass and see the Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree under heavy security. 

Police were on every street corner as they kept watch over the busy corridor of streets gleaming with Christmas lights and other holiday flair. Around the iconic St. Patrick’s Cathedral, police restricted trucks on Fifth and Madison avenues between 42nd and 57th streets.

The NYPD dispatched officers to churches all over the city as part of its Christmas Eve safety plan.

Police said there are no credible threats to the city, but a deadly vehicle attack on Halloween and a botched subway bombing just weeks ago have led to extra vigilance.

Inside St. Patrick’s Cathedral, Bishop John O’Hara was to replace Cardinal Timothy Dolan, who was sick with a case of the flu, the Archdiocese of New York said late Sunday.

Middletown police said they are working on a major accident on Route 9 in Middletown.

It is unknown at this time how many people are involved in this crash or if there are any injuries.

One person has died after being involved in an accident on Route 8 in Harwinton.

State police said an accident involving three cars caused Route 8 Northbound to be closed between exits 41 and 42.

A Life Star helicopter responded to the scene and transported one person to a hospital.

A second patient was transporteted by ambulance to St. Mary's Hospital.

Crews are still on scene and it is uncertain at this time what caused the crash.

Forcibly touching another person without consent for sexual gratification is usually both a crime and a civil wrong, but many of the recent sexual misconduct allegations against prominent men will never see a civil or criminal courtroom, NBC News reported.

This is because they happened a long time ago and are outside legal statutes of limitations, a period of time for which a crime can be prosecuted that varies drastically depending on the nature of the offense and the state in which it occurred.

With the passage of time, memories fade and witnesses may move, vanish or die. Scientific studies confirm that the passage of time erodes or even rewrites witness memory. But statutes of limitations exact a toll on justice, making no distinction between just and unjust claims.

Legislatures are heading in the direction of expanding or removing statutes of limitations for lawsuits or criminal prosecutions arising from sexual misconduct.

This year brought political scandals, gaffes and feuds, and plenty of them sent people to the dictionary in droves as words like dotard and covfefe hit the news.

NBC News talked about the best words made famous by politics this year with Peter Sokolowski, a lexicographer and editor-at-large for Merriam-Webster, the dictionary whose sassy Twitter feed picks up on trending words.

The word dotard had a 35,000 percent spike in look-ups after Korean strongman Kim Jong Un used it to insult President Donald Trump.

"Basically we're getting a vocabulary lesson for the nation as a consequence of the news," Sokolowski said. "I can only assume it was an unusual translation, an obsolete translation."

Connecticut Water is warning consumers about a scam involving checks with the company’s name on them.

Connecticut Water, the Department of Consumer Protection and AARP issued a warning about fake checks that have Connecticut Water’s name on them. Connecticut Water officials say they’ve received multiple reports from people who responded to online advertisements to earn money and were issued fake checks with Connecticut Water’s name.

Officials say the scam works in one of two ways. Some people have reported that after they receive the check, the sender contacts them and asks them to wire back some of the money because they overpaid. When the consumer later tries to deposit or cash the check, it bounces. There have also been instances where the consumer was selling a product and was issued the fraudulent check after sending the merchandise.

Connecticut Water says they’ve received about a dozen reports so far.

"If you’re not expecting a check like this from a company – it’s almost always a scam," cautioned Consumer Protection Commissioner Michelle H. Seagull. "You should not attempt to deposit the check and should contact the company the check appears to be from. Consumers did the right thing in contacting Connecticut Water."

Officials offered the following tips to avoid becoming a victim

• Know who you’re dealing with. In any transaction, independently confirm the buyer’s name, street address and telephone number.
• Don’t accept a check for more than your selling price, no matter how tempting. Ask the buyer to write the check for the correct amount. If the buyer refuses to send the correct amount, return the check. Don’t send the merchandise.
• Consider an alternative method of payment. As a seller, you can suggest an escrow service or online payment service. There may be a charge for an escrow service. If the buyer insists on using a particular escrow or online payment service you’ve never heard of, check it out. Visit its website, and read its terms of agreement and privacy policy. Call the customer service line. If there isn’t one or if you call and can’t get answers about the service’s reliability, don’t use the service. To learn more about escrow services and online payment systems, visit https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/0020-shoppingonline.
• If you accept payment by check, ask for a check drawn on a local bank, or a bank with a local branch. That way you can make a personal visit to make sure the check is valid. If that’s not possible, call the bank where it was purchased and ask if the check is valid. Get the bank’s phone number from directory assistance or an internet site that you know and trust, not from the person who gave you the check.
• Never wire money or pay in any untraceable form. Legitimate buyers don’t pressure you to send money by Western Union or a similar company. In addition, you have little recourse if there’s a problem with a wire transaction.
• Resist any pressure to “act now.” If the buyer’s offer is good now, it should be good after the check clears the issuing bank.

Naugatuck police are asking for the public’s help to identify a burglary suspect.

Police said the suspect pictured above burglarized the Station Restaurant at 195 Water Street early Saturday morning.

Anyone with information is asked to contact Naugatuck police at 203-729-5221 or the confidential tips line at 203-720-1010.

A person jumped from a second-story window to escape a fire at a home in Fairfield early Christmas morning.

Fire officials said crews were called to 459 Morehouse Lane around 3:30 a.m. All seven people inside escaped the building before fire crews arrived, but one person suffered minor injuries jumping from a second-floor window and was taken to the hospital for treatment. A second person was also transported for treatment.

The home was destroyed by the blaze.

The cause of the fire is under investigation.

The Red Cross and the Milford Fire Department canteen responded to assist the family and responders during the cold temperatures.

Fire officials remind residents to test smoke alarms and be aware of open flames from candles and fires during this holiday season.

Two people were taken to the hospital after a house fire in Windsor Tuesday morning.

Fire officials said crews responded to a fire at 30 Mayflower Road around 4:30 a.m. Two people were in the home when the fire broke out and were able to escape. They were taken to St. Francis with minor injuries, likely smoke inhalation.

Officials said that the fire was through the roof when crews arrived and firefighters could not enter the home. It took about 30 minutes to knock it down and no firefighters reported any injuries.

The fire marshal is on scene investigating the cause.

Temperatures Tuesday morning stayed below freezing, creating the potential for black ice after a Christmas storm that brought snow and rain across the state.  And it's only the beginning - the NBC Connecticut meteorologists say we're in for some frigid temperatures in the coming days.

Cooler air is moving in across the state and will bring bitterly cold temperatures midweek.

Temperatures Tuesday will hover around the 20s, but by the evening temperatures inland will drop. Wednesday features a high temperature of 18 inland and 23 along the shore. Thursday will be even colder with an inland high around 15 and a shoreline high around 20. Factor in wind chills and temperatures will feel like below 0.

The cold hangs around through New Year’s day.

The NBC Connecticut meteorologists are also tracking a potential storm Saturday. Stay tuned for the latest information and get the latest forecast anytime by clicking here. 

Newly unsealed documents have revealed new details in the case of a man accused of breaking into apartments and sexually women in New London.

Monte Phillip White, 34, has been charged with three counts of aggravated sexual assault in the first degree, two counts of home invasion and one count of risk of injury to a minor.

Police said officers met with the first victim when they responded to Lawrence + Memorial Hospital on Oct. 29 to investigate a sexual assault. She told investigators a man entered her home at an apartment complex on Hawthorne Drive, threatened her with a gun and sexually assaulted her.

The newly unsealed arrest warrant states that the victim told police she was sleeping when the suspect crawled into her bed and woke her up. The suspect threatened to shoot the victim and sexually assaulted her while her roommate was sleeping in another room of the apartment.

The victim told police the suspect was wearing a blue jersey during the assault and that he held a gun to her head.

Police were investigating that assault when they received another report on Nov. 29 from Lawrence + Memorial Hospital of another sexual assault, police said.

The victim reported that a man entered her home at an apartment on Nautilus Drive with a firearm, threatened her and sexually assaulted her, police said.

According to the warrant, the second victim reported that she woke up and saw a man standing in her bedroom. He pointed a gun at her and got into her bed. The suspect reportedly told her he had seen her around and asked her personal questions. The victim said the suspect sexually assaulted her twice during the attack.

The suspect also reportedly told the victim he sold cocaine and other things about himself.

The victim told police that the suspect told her that "next time he saw her, she would know because he would give her a ‘long hard look.'"

The victim’s 1-year-old child was in the home at the time of the assault, according to the arrest warrant.

The descriptions of the attackers in both assaults were similar, police said. Fearing they had a "sexual predator" in the city, police issued an alert on their Facebook page.

Police identified White as a suspect through physical and DNA evidence. He was arrested on unrelated narcotics charges involving crack cocaine on Dec. 1 and interviewed about the assaults, according to the warrant.

When confronted with the evidence, White reportedly told police he was broke in to the apartment complex where the second assault occurred looking for a man that owed his friend money, then changed his story and claimed he had sex with the victim for money after seeing an ad she posted online. According to the arrest warrant, White changed his story several times and police found no evidence of such an advertisement or any prior contact with the victim.

White denied ever breaking into the apartment complex where the first assault occurred.

According to the warrant, police recovered physical evidence including a BB gun that White may have used in one or both of the crimes. Police also recovered a dark-blue New England Patriots jersey among White’s belongings.

DNA evidence linked White to both cases.

White is being held on a $750,000 bond for the New London charges.

White has an extensive criminal history, according to online court records, and is suspected of burglaries and narcotic offenses in New London and Waterford. DNA evidence may also link White to a sexual assault in Torrington in April.

He is due back in court on Jan. 2.

The busy holiday travel season continued Tuesday after a brief respite for Christmas.

Airlines for America predicted 21 million travelers will fly on US airlines during the 21-day winter holiday season from Dec. 15 to January 4. Airlines are offering 91,000 additional seats per day to keep up with the growing number of travelers.

Experts say the days immediately before and after Christmas are generally some of the busiest.

AAA estimates that 401,000 New Englanders will fly over this holiday period, an increase of 5 percent from last year and the most in more than 10 years.

Bradley International Airport reported five delayed departures and four delayed arrivals as of Tuesday morning, but travelers who spoke with NBC Connecticut were pleased with their journeys.

"Saturday - not bad surprised how well the airports worked, great at ushering us throughout,” said Danielle Driscoll, who flew in from Atlanta. "I’m shocked at how smoothly it’s running, there are very few people that are here."

The holiday shopping might be over, but stores are still expected to be jam-packed this week, with people returning unwanted items and using their new gift cards.

Retailers are re-opening their doors after the Christmas holiday, offering deep discounts.

Fifty perfect off signs can be seen hanging in the windows of Justice, 75 percent off at Old Navy.

Stores are trying to entice shoppers to keep spending.

"Spending gift cards and I have Kohls cash too so I’m going to use that too. It’s a good time to be out," said Waterbury resident Abby Desocio.

Desocio and her nephew didn’t have anything specific on their wish list – they were browsing for the best deals.

"A lot of the stores, anything Christmasy they have like 50 percent off and stuff like that. You just have to take your time, look around, see what’s cheaper and what’s not," she said.

Some of the stores like Kohls, Dick’s Sporting Goods and Old Navy extended their holiday hours and opened early again today.

Bristol resident Gary Greenier came ready to shop right at 7 a.m.

"We’re looking for the Christmas specials and we’re up early anyways so we figured we’d stop here," Greenier said.

Other shoppers like Chiara Ramos were hoping to exchange items early this morning. According to the National Retail Federation, about four to seven percent of gifts will be exchanged.

"It’s a gift I got for someone else and I want him to have it before he wakes up this morning because I messed up on the size. Haha," Ramos said.

If you have a giftcard to use, remember to read the terms and conditions on the card to make sure it’s redeemable at the location you’re visiting. Also look for expiration dates and write down the card details because some companies will replace lost or stolen cards.

The city of New York, along with Philadelphia and San Francisco, is suing the Department of Defense, seeking to fix its "broken" system for reporting service members who are disqualified from buying and owning guns.

The Department of Defense is supposed to report to the FBI the names of service members convicted of crimes or dishonorably discharged from legally buying or possessing guns. The FBI maintains the national background check system for gun licensing and sales. 

But, the cities contend, the Department of Defense has failed to report "significant numbers of disqualifying records" to the FBI for decades. 

The lawsuit argues that the failure allowed the gunman in the Sutherland Springs, Texas, church shooting last month to pass a background check, buy an assault rifle and carry out the mass shooting there that left 26 people dead and nearly two dozen more wounded.

NBC has reached out to the department for comment.

The Pentagon has long been aware of its failure to consistently give the information to the FBI. In 2015, the Pentagon inspector general flagged a 30 percent failure rate for submitting fingerprints and criminal case outcomes to the report, and the inspector general found in 1997 a higher rate of lapses.

Sutherland Springs gunman Devin P. Kelley was convicted in a domestic violence case in 2012, when he was in the Air Force, and, under federal law, should not have been able to purchase a firearm, but his information was never added to the FBI database. Kelley killed himself after his deadly rampage in November.

Both the Defense Department and the Justice Department were reviewing the National Instant Criminal Background Check System after the shooting, NBC News reported last month.

The NYPD, along with the police departments in Philadelphia and San Francisco, rely on the FBI database to conduct background checks on gun permit applicants, monitor gun purchases and ensure seized guns are not returned to anyone prohibited from owning them

"For decades the Department of Defense has shirked its legal obligation to provide information to the FBI that may disqualify dangerous individuals from legally acquiring guns," said New York City Corporation Counsel Zachary W. Carter. "This lawsuit seeks a court order requiring the Department of Defense to fix a broken system that puts lives at risk." 

Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney said in a statement that the city is joining the suit because the records are "absolutely critical" to its decisions on whether to grant someone a license to carry a firearm.

The City of New York, et al. v. The United States Department of Defense, et al. was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia on Tuesday.