Police are looking for the brawlers involved in a wild melee in a New Jersey Denny's over the weekend that sent chairs crashing into plates of pancakes and diners ducking for cover. 

It's not clear what spurred the fight early Saturday at the restaurant in Vineland, but social media users caught the fisticuffs on camera. 

The footage shows more than a dozen people chucking chairs across the restaurant. Plates of unattended food get smashed and people scream as they take off in an attempt to avoid the debris. 

The Cumberland County Prosecutor's Office called the fight "nonsensical behavior" in a Facebook post and added that it was planning to charge those involved with criminal mischief. 

Anyone with information on the fight should call 856-691-4111.

A vehicle crashed into a canal in West Haven and the one person in the car was able to escape with minor injuries.

It happened on Spring Street Tuesday morning and police officers and firefighters arrived at the scene. 

A desperate mother’s unusual 911 call led to a huge helping hand from a dispatcher and police in Camden County.

The Camden, New Jersey mother of four called 911 back on Jan. 22. The woman told the dispatcher she had no money, food, or options and 911 was the only number she was able to call due to no longer having phone service. 

“I had went to local churches and everything trying to find food for my children,” the woman said in the 911 call. “My kids have not eaten since yesterday.”

“Well this is for police only,” the dispatcher said. “It’s not for this.”

“I know, and my phone is off,” the woman replied. “I can’t call nobody.”

The mother told the dispatcher her food stamps wouldn’t be delivered for at least a month. The call, which went to the Camden County Communications Center, got the attention of a different dispatcher, Tondaleya Bagby.

“I overheard it,” Bagby, who is also a mom, said. “It made me sad. I couldn’t imagine not being able to provide for my child.”

Bagby sent Camden County Officer David Hinton who brought food from a local restaurant to the family at the Crestbury Apartments. Bagby then told her mother, Camden County Police Sergeant Tracy Seigel, about the situation. The mother and daughter, along with retired Lieutenant Scott Bagby and Lieutenant Janell Simpson then used their own money to buy 10 bags of groceries, including milk, bread, cereal, lunch meat, toiletries and other items for the family.

“I went to two stores to just get as much as I could,” Bagby said.

Bagby and her mother then delivered the groceries to the family's apartment that night. Police say the family was overwhelmed and extremely thankful.

“The kids came down the steps in excitement,” Sergeant Seigel said. “And she thanked us.”

For their efforts, Officer Hinton and Sergeant Seigel were named the Camden County Police Department officers of the week.

NBC News' chief foreign correspondent Richard Engel was with U.S. troops when his toddler's doctor told him the results of a genetic scan.

"'We found something. It’s very, very severe. It’s life long, not treatable,'" Engel recalled the doctor said. "I was in a state of shock. I got back into this convoy, shaking. It was the worst day of my life."

Engel and his wife, Mary Forrest, knew that something wasn't right with their son Henry, who at nearly 2 years old couldn't talk or clap his hands.

Henry has a genetic brain disorder, a variation of Rett syndrome. Doctors have said that Henry will probably never walk, talk or dress himself. His mental capacity will likely remain at the toddler level. His parents also have been warned to expect future health problems, such as seizures and rigidity.

Forrest and Engel are hoping for scientific progress, and are trying to make Henry’s life as normal as possible despite daily physiotherapy and hospital visits, Today.com reported. 

“It's made our relationship stronger actually. We're all we've got,” Engel said.

A Mississippi man is petitioning the federal government to allow recipients of food stamps to use their benefits to purchase pet food.

Edward B. Johnston Jr., 59, launched a Care2.com petition asking the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which manages the program, to extend Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits to pets.

Under the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008, households cannot use SNAP benefits to buy nonfood items such as pet food, as well as soaps, paper products, medicines and vitamins, household supplies, tobacco and alcoholic beverages.

In his petition, Johnston writes that low-income pet owners should not have to chose between feeding their families and keeping their pets.

"I am one of those Americans," he writes. "I have only been on SNAP benefits for a few months, but I have been unable to feed my little dog due to government regulations.”

Johnston argues that dogs become a part of the family, and pet owners shouldn’t have to give up their beloved four-legged family member if they hit a "financial rough patch." He notes that a person or family’s financial status can change overnight.

"Pets are also important for emotional support. Being poor is hard enough without being expected to give up your companion. For most people, pets are considered family, not property,” Johnston added.

Wayne Pacelle, president and CEO of the Human Society of the United States, supports the petition and urged Congress to revise the definition of "food" in SNAP to include pet food. 

"Even as these families struggle to get by, they embrace their responsibilities as caregivers to their pets," Pacelle wrote in a blog post published on the group's website. "Scarce financial resources do not mean any scarcity of love in their hearts for their animals. People already making tough decisions should not have to deal with even more worry and stress because the government says they cannot feed their animals with the federal assistance they receive."

To qualify for SNAP, a household’s income must be at or below 130 percent of the poverty line. For a family of four, this equates to $31,980 a year, or $2,665 a month. On average, SNAP households now receive about $253 a month, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The average SNAP benefit per person is about $125 a month, the agency reported. 

Many beneficiaries of the SNAP program work low-income or part-time jobs and struggle to make enough money to feed themselves or their families, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.

In 2017, more than 42 million people received SNAP benefits, totaling over $67 billion, the USDA reported.

But the program is a divisive political issue. While most Democrats see SNAP as a safety net for vulnerable members of society, many conservatives consider it entitlement spending that needs to be curbed.

President Donald Trump’s budget proposal last year called for cutting more than $192 billion from SNAP over a decade. The administration has signaled it wants to reign in social welfare programs in 2018 as a way to reduce the deficit and has found eager support in Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan and the GOP members of the House Freedom Caucus, Reuters reported.

Parcelle contends that using a limited federal allowance to feed his beloved pet "is not an abuse of the system, nor an affront to taxpayers. It is a matter of survival for animals, and it allows people to have the comfort of knowing that their best friend is not going to have to go hungry."

He also notes that when low-income families are forced to surrender their pets to shelters, local governments and nonprofits often bear the cost of caring for the newly homeless animal. 

Given the current landscape, it is unlikely that Congress will vote to lift restrictions for pet food.

Still, Johnson appears to have the support of tens of thousands. By early Tuesday morning, the petition had garnered over 99,000 signatures, surpassing its two previous two goals of 80,000 and 90,000 signatures. It was not immediately clear when Johnston launched the petition.

The USDA did not immediately return a request for comment.

Johnston isn't the first to tackle the issue of poverty and pets. In 2013, a New York-based nonprofit launched a "Pet Food Stamps" program that provided pet food assistance for owners who are enrolled in SNAP.

The organization shut down a year later, citing an overwhelming number of applications and the inability to raise enough money to follow through on what had been promised, WISC-TV reported. "The program was not sustainable," Pet Food Stamps wrote on its now-defunct website. 

President Donald Trump could make a case to the American people and Congress that it's time to close the Russia probe. Perhaps he'll ignore the issue.

Presidents have addressed - or notably avoided - their own controversies in past speeches, CNBC reported.

Former President Richard Nixon used his 1974 State of the Union speech to decry that "one year of Watergate is enough." He was out office within a year.

Former President Bill Clinton went the opposite route, avoiding mentioning his own scandals during his State of the Union addresses. His 1999 speech came the same day his Senate impeachment trial began.

Former President Ronald Reagan addressed what he called a "major regret" following revelations that his administration was involved in a sale of weapons to Iran to secretly fund Contra rebels in Nicaragua.

"I took a risk with regard to our action in Iran," Reagan said. "It did not work, and for that I assume full responsibility."

Former “Glee” actor Mark Salling was discovered dead Tuesday, law enforcement sources confirmed to NBC News in Los Angeles. Salling was 35.

Salling's body was found outdoors in Northeast San Fernando Valley and the death is being investigated as a possible suicide.

Salling pleaded guilty in December to possession of child pornography. Prosecutors say a search of Salling's computer found more than 50,000 images of child porn on Salling's computer and a thumb drive.

He was indicted on child pornography charges by a federal grand jury in 2016. Salling struck a plea deal in October of last year that carried a sentence of four to seven years in prison after pleading guilty in December. He was scheduled to be sentenced March 7.

The National Football League saw television ratings decline this season, amid player safety concerns, sideline protests and changing consumer habits.

But the Super Bowl has been largely immune to those issues, and this year should be no different.

"The Super Bowl is so much more than a football game," said Robert Thompson, a professor of television and pop culture at Syracuse University. "Its audience is comprised of many, many people who don’t even care about football. So, the Super Bowl is able to pad its ratings as one of the biggest secular holidays on the calendar."

The Super Bowl brings in ratings that other football games don't approach. An average of 111.3 million viewers tuned in to Super Bowl LI last year to watch the New England Patriots claw back from a 28-3 to top the Atlanta Falcons. The Nielsen company estimated that 70 percent of homes with televisions watched the Super Bowl.

And though its ratings fell behind the three Super Bowls before it -- Super Bowl XLIX had 114.4 million viewers, the most ever -- the game is still the most-watched program on television each year.

Thompson said the slight ratings drop among the Super Bowls is not significant.

He called the game a "secular version of Mardi Gras." Its timing on the calendar --after the holidays, in the middle of winter-- fuels Americans' desire to get together and celebrate, he said. And because it is a winner-take-all game with a predetermined date, it makes it easy for people to plan for it, unlike the best-of-seven series for the MLB and NBA finals.

The Super Bowl has it all -- it "transcends football," with the help of commercials and the halftime show, Thompson said. It has ingratiated its way into American culture in such a way that watching the game alone or not being out at a party on Super Bowl Sunday feels like a failure, he said.

But there's also no way of knowing how long the Super Bowl will be the spectacle of the year.

Thompson speculated that the evolution of the commercials could point to the "cracks beginning to show" for the Super Bowl’s broad cultural reach.

"Enchantment with the commercials has gone down considerably," because people see the commercials as not as funny or inspiring as they thought, and because the commercials are also now often available before the game, he said.

As for the regular season, average viewership dropped about 10 percent from 2016 to 2017, according to data collected by Nielsen.

During the season, NFL spokesman Alex Riethmiller told the Associated Press the league thinks the ratings drop is part of a broader television consumption trend rather than a single controversy. The NFL did not respond to NBC’s request for comment.

"Football seems to be going down faster than what was predicted," Thompson said.

But until it drops off the Top 30 in programming, he said, there’s not much worry of the Super Bowl losing its number one spot in television. And even so, there's a possibility that Super Bowl parties are part of a cultural tradition that could continue even if football interest wanes dramatically.

A man has died after being involved in a stabbing and a car crash on Main Street in Hartford.

Police said that on Saturday around 2 a.m. 29-year-old Kemar Bennett was injured in a stabbing during an incident at the Sunset Café at 3229 Main Street. Bennett then left the scene in a vehicle with several other people and crashed down the street at 2295 Main Street. Police said witnesses reported that Bennett had passed out at the wheel before the crash.

Bennett was rushed to Hartford Hospital with critical injuries and was pronounced dead Tuesday. An autopsy will determine the exact cause of death.

The rear driver-side passenger was taken to Saint Francis Hospital with injuries including a fractured skull and brain swelling, while another passenger suffered a broken femur. Two other passengers suffered non-life threatening injuries.

Police said surveillance cameras captured footage of the altercation between Bennett and a suspect outside the Sunset Café. The suspect fled the area before police arrived and has not been identified, according to police.

The Hartford Police Major Crimes Division is investigating.

Danbury police are still searching for a 53-year-old local woman who has been missing since October.

Laelcira DeLima was last seen around 5 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 20 wearing a black V-neck shirt and blue jeans, police said. She left her home driving her red 2016 Honda Accord with Connecticut plate AC98150

New York state police found her car in the parking lot of Putnam Diner and Restaurant in Patterson, New York, which is right over the Connecticut border, west of New Fairfield. The car was unoccupied.

On Tuesday Danbury police renewed a request for help from the public to find DeLima.

Anyone with information should call the Danbury Police Department 203-797-4611 or the anonymous tips line at 203-790-8477.

Torrington police have arrested a man accused of stabbing a woman in the neck during a domestic incident Tuesday.

Police said they were called to Charlotte Hungerford Hospital for a report of a woman in her early 30s suffering a stab wound to her neck and cuts on her hands. Investigators determined the stabbing happened in front of 62 French Street.

The victim was taken to Hartford Hospital where she is listed in stable condition.

Police identified 28-year-old Luis Camacho-Ramirez, of Torrington, as the suspect. Police said Camacho-Ramirez knows the victim and say this is a case of domestic violence.

A young child present during the stabbing was not hurt, police said.

Camacho-Ramirez was charged with first-degree assault, risk of injury to a minor and breach of peace. He was held on a $250,000 bond and is due in court on Wednesday.

Border Patrol agents in Texas discovered 76 undocumented immigrants, including 13 unaccompanied children, crammed inside the trailer of a big rig.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection said in a news release that agents at a Border Patrol checkpoint in Laredo stopped a truck Friday on the northbound side of U.S. 83 and questioned the driver regarding his immigration status. 

The truck was referred to a secondary inspection, which led to the discovery of the trailer's human cargo, according to the CBP.

The undocumented immigrants from Mexico, Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala were found in "good health," the agency said.  The driver, a U.S. citizen, was arrested and the semi-truck was seized by Border Patrol.

"These criminal organizations view these individuals as mere commodities without regard for their safety. The blatant disregard for human life will not be tolerated," said Laredo Sector Assistant Chief Patrol Agent Gabriel Acosta in a news release. "We will continue to work with our law enforcement partners to disrupt and dismantle these organizations and prosecute those responsible."

A photo of the overcrowded trailer shows dozens of immigrants sitting shoulder-to-shoulder while others lay sleeping on one another. 

Border agents have reported an increase in the usage of semi-trucks to smuggle people. Last summer, 10 people died and nearly three dozen were hospitalized from heat exposure after they were crammed into the back of a sweltering tractor-trailer in Laredo and smuggled to San Antonio.

The truck driver, James Matthew Bradley Jr., initially told authorities that he was not aware of the illegal stowaways. He plead guilty to the deadly human-smuggling operation and could face life in prison. Bradley remains jailed awaiting sentencing. 

Neighbors across Milford are on high alert after a rash of smash-and-grab home burglaries.

Milford police said they’ve stepped up patrols since they began investigating a series of brazen home break-ins in late December. Approximately 12 of these break-ins have been reported, and police warned that these thieves have a bold method of breaking in.

“You’d think it would be in the mornings after people left for work, said Milford Police spokesman Michael DeVito.

But police said these residential burglaries are typically happening between the late afternoon and early evening.

“Fortunately these houses have been unoccupied,” DeVito said.

DeVito said the burglar, or burglars, are getting away with smaller items that are easy to carry away, like smaller electronics, cash, jewelry, and even a gun.

There is a recurring method of forced entry into the homes.

“Nine of our 12, they utilized a large rock or a brick once even a propane tank to smash rear windows and or glass to gain entry,” DeVito said.

Police said an older, grey four-door sedan was spotted near the most recent home break-in. They shared surveillance video of one incident on Rivercliff Drive in hopes of preventing further.

“The video depicts a person of interest leaving one of the Rivercliff burglaries and it was taken from an adjacent home video footage,” DeVito explained.

“Very upsetting that they would be so bold,” said Colleen Abbott, who lives in the neighborhood where police obtained the home surveillance video.

“We don’t actually know anyone whose been broken in, but we’ve been hearing about it online mostly,” Abbott said. “But I feel fairly safe I have two dogs that are pretty vigilant, one you can hear barking right now, so I’m hoping that would scare them.”

Police said the home burglaries have not been limited to one section of the city. There have been several more of them reported one town over in Stratford.

The flu is so dangerous and widespread this year that the archdioceses of Hartford and Norwich are taking steps to keep people healthy with some small changes during services.

“I’m certainly concerned because of what I see happening, especially the little children, and anybody that’s affected by it,” Mary Ellen Vincenzo of Hartford said. “Personally I get my flu shot every year and I ask the lord to bless me and keep me healthy."

Vincenzo tries to make it to Mass every day, but says if she’s not feeling well, she’ll take the advice of the archdiocese and stay home.

“Especially not coming to Mass, not putting yourself in a situation when you’re getting affected, or putting yourself in a situation where you might get affected,” Vincenzo said.

The archdioceses of Hartford and Norwich say they're being proactive and making some changes during flu season.

There’s a point in the Mass where parishioners shake hands with one another. To prevent the spread of the flu, the priest might ask them to exchange a verbal greeting or a bow instead of a handshake.

“They’ve done it before, said Carol Gignac of Bristol. “It’s not just this flu. They’ve done it before when there’s been concern about health.”

In Norwich, they are suspending the sacrament of the Precious Blood because everyone drinks from the same cup. Church leaders are also urging extra hand washing for Eucharistic Ministers and parishioners.

“I think it’s very positive, and it’s just what Jesus would do,” Gignac said. “Take care of your health and take care of yourself so you can take care of yourself.”

New Britain Mayor Erin Stewart is gearing up what is expected to be an aggressive fundraising campaign toward the Connecticut GOP Convention in May. As she forges ahead toward the goal of $250,000 in donations of less than $100, she will not rule out perhaps sliding to be one of the other candidates’ running mate.

"I would find me being in that position hard to believe but I will be giving it my all,” Stewart said during an interview at the Staropolska restaurant in her hometown.

She says her focus on gauging interest on both a personal and a fundraising level with voters in Connecticut. Stewart is one of nearly 30 candidates looking at the governor’s office as a potential landing spot, and that includes about a dozen Republicans.

Stewart will be the first one to identify herself as an unconventional Republican, the kind of elected officeholder that represents the values of Connecticut votes that typically vote with Democrats.

“It’s the litmus test,” Stewart explains. “How do you feel about guns? How do you feel about abortion?”

On those issues, she is a gun permit holder, and supports a woman’s right to choose when it comes to pregnancy. She even pointed out how some within the party could perhaps say she is, “not Republican enough,” for their taste.

That crossover appeal with Democrats, she says, is what could lead to her gaining momentum as she begins to travel the state.

New Britain is a city where Democrats outnumber Republicans on registered voters rolls by a six to one margin, and Stewart has managed to win them over for three straight mayor’s races.

One issue that is sure to be a major one throughout the Republican primary and, later, the general election, is the new contract the governor and Democrats in the General Assembly struck with the SEBAC group of unions that represents state employees. They portrayed the deal as a way to save the state billions annually while extending the contract from to 2027. Republicans portrayed the deal as the mortgaging of the state’s financial security and future, signing on to an agreement taxpayers can’t afford.

Stewart, who has received the support of organized labor in her runs for New Britain Mayor, says she isn’t interested in relitigating the SEBAC agreement, and says any candidate for governor claiming they will rip up the agreement, isn’t being honest.

"You can't. That's impossible. and by saying that, that's doing a disservice to the state because you can't open that agreement unless you get the union to agree to do it. That has to be a mutual agreement."

Stewart says her approach with organized labor could prove to be a successful one if she decided to make a formal run, and then reaches the State Capitol.

“That's a conversation to have, but you have to someone in the office that can have that conversation and right now I don't know if anyone is capable of doing that."

Stewart says she will spend the next few months aggressively raising money, and says she hopes for a positive reception from Connecticut voters.

"That's why exploratory is the route that I need to go. To see if the state of CT wants me. If you want me then they'll make the donation and I've got another couple months to see if they want me."

Guilford police have arrested a man accused of stealing a distinct part from several cars.

“Somebody who knows what they’re doing, 30 seconds they’ve got that catalytic converter,” Deputy Chief Butch Hyatt said of the part of the exhaust system that reduces carbon emissions and noise.

There have been a couple dozen recent cases of catalytic converters being stolen from cars parked at commuter and train lots along the shoreline, Hyatt told NBC Connecticut. The thieves, he said, stand to make a few hundred bucks from a scrap dealer.

“It costs other than the inconvenience to the victims that are out there with the cars,” Hyatt said, “We’re talking a thousand to $2,000 to replace those catalytic converters on those cars.”

The thieves tend to target bigger cars, police said, like the SUV Kevin Crosby from Thomaston drives.

“I can crawl under there no problem,” Crosby said.

While working on a job in Guilford, Crosby parks his car at commuter lot near I-95.

“I’ve seen the cars on cinderblocks with tires gone,” he told NBC Connecticut, “I’ve never heard of the catalytic converter getting ripped off.”

Late Monday morning, Guilford Police arrested 29-year-old Jeremy Ghiroli of Branford. They say they caught him at the commuter lot trying to hide four catalytic converters in his car.

Two of the four have been returned to their owners who had parked their cars at the Madison train station, police said.

“I’d like to say that we probably put a good dent in the ones that were happening on the shoreline now with this arrest,” Hyatt said. “We think that (Ghiroli’s) involved in dozens and dozens of those up and down the shoreline but there’s always somebody else out there.”

Police want people parking shoreline commuter and train lots to remain vigilant.

“If I saw some random guy crawl under a car that’s the first thing I’ll do is call the police,” Crosby said.

If you’ve had a catalytic converter stolen from your car, police would like to hear from you.

Ghiroli is charged with sixth degree larceny in Guilford and criminal mischief in Madison. He was released on a promise to appear in court next month after his arraignment Tuesday in New Haven.

A special agent with the IRS criminal investigations unit is in hot water himself.

It stems from a police sting earlier this month.

Two weeks ago the Guilford Police Department and Veterans 4 Child Rescue Foundation ran a joint sting.

They were targeting potential sex offenders who had arranged sexual liaisons with children they had made contact with via social media.

Among five men arrested was 44-year-old Kevin Millen of Ellington, an investigator with the IRS.

He faces charges of criminal attempt to commit sexual assault in the second degree, and criminal attempt to commit risk of injury to a minor.

The Troubleshooters learned this after a letter mentioning the arrest of an IRS Special Agent was obtained by the Hartford blog We the People Hartford, and shared the letter with us.

The U.S. Attorney's Office in New Haven verified the letter’s authenticity to the Troubleshooters.

In the letter, the legal team representing James Duckett was advised of Millen's arrest. Millen had investigated Duckett and testified against him at a trial.

Duckett, a developer, was convicted late last year of defrauding taxpayers out of hundreds of thousands of dollars in a failed effort to build a professional soccer stadium in Hartford.

Duckett tells the NBC Connecticut Troubleshooters he has appealed the conviction.

Millen's attorney tells us neither he nor his client have any comment. Millen pleaded not guilty in court today.

The Troubleshooters also reached out to the IRS. Officials said they had no comment at this point.