All posts containing the tag: "charges"
Posted Oct 20th 2009 2:18PM by TMZ Staff
Richard Heene had a well-documented criminal history with a common thread -- going ballistic under pressure.
First of all, we've now found three criminal cases against Balloon Dad. In 1984, Heene was convicted of assault with a deadly weapon -- a gun -- and received three years probation.
In 1991, in San Bernardino, CA., Heene was arrested for corporal injury on a spouse. It appears he was not convicted.
Now get this ... we broke the story yesterday that in 1997 Heene pled no contest to vandalism and spent four days in jail. Wait 'til you hear what happened.
Heene, a contractor at the time, had an employee who didn't get paid. The employee went to Heene's home to get his $300 and an argument ensued.
We're told Heene got physical with the guy inside the house, the employee walked out and Heene gave him $140 of the $300 he owed. The employee, Benito Ortiz, was dissatisfied and the argument continued.
According to the arrest report, Heene got in his pickup truck, backed up and apparently tried to hit the dude. The employee got out of harm's way and Heene struck the employee's VW.
After hitting the VW, Heene pulled forward several feet, then put the vehicle back in reverse and collided again with Ortiz.
But wait, there's more. Heene did it a third time.
Finally, Heene parked, got out of his truck, picked up a wooden beam, held it over his head and screamed at Ortiz, "Get the f**k away."
Heene later told cops .... during the conflict Ortiz struck him, he became "incoherent" and didn't know what happened next.
In addition to four days in jail, Heene was sentenced to house arrest and ordered to pay $100 in restitution.
Filed under: Celebrity Justice, Exclusives, Balloon Boy
Tags: balloon boy, balloon dad, BalloonBoy, BalloonDad, charges, criminal, gun, jail, probation, rage, richard heene, RichardHeene, vandalism
Posted Sep 25th 2009 12:30PM by TMZ Staff
Randy and Evi Quaid know how to drive a hard bargain ... because we've learned they still haven't paid the bill for which they're being prosecuted.
Sources connected with the case tell TMZ the $5,546.96 the Quaids sent the San Ysidro Ranch to settle the bill they skipped out on isn't the full payment -- not by a long shot.
We're told the Quaids still owe another $5,000. And get this -- we're told Evi called the Ranch and said she and Randy would only pay the balance if they call off the dogs -- i.e., they wouldn't press charges.
Filed under: Celebrity Justice, Exclusives
Tags: arrest, bill, charges, evi quaid, EviQuaid, hotel, randy quaid, RandyQuaid, warrant
Posted Aug 7th 2009 3:05PM by TMZ Staff
Kanye West has learned how not to make friends and influence people -- at least the people who will decide if Kanye goes to jail.
West absorbed himself in a freestyle rap Wednesday night in NYC, going off on TMZ for the "confrontation" at LAX where he smashed our camera light to the ground and his bodyguard broke a still camera last year. Kanye has been charged with criminal battery, vandalism and grand theft.
During his show he sang: "Who doesn't think it's illegal, TMZ? And I have to pay $100,000 to the photographer that said I broke his arm, but I was just breaking your f**king camera, I wasn't tryin' do you no harm."
Not only was Kanye's rant a bad move given there are charges pending .... he's also wrong. If we got a check for $100,000, it blew off the doorstep ... we haven't gotten a penny yet, and all we want is for him to fix our light. We're told the still cameraman -- who doesn't work for us -- hasn't gotten a dime either.
Filed under: Celebrity Justice, Kanye West, Exclusives
Tags: charges, kanye west, KanyeWest, photographer, tmz
Posted Jul 31st 2009 1:02AM by TMZ Staff
The two police chiefs who were arrested for allegedly breaking into Sarah Jessica Parker's surrogate's home have been charged today with burglary, complicity to burglary, tampering with evidence -- and the list goes on.
Police Chief of Martins Ferry, OH Barry P. Carpenter and Police Chief of Bridgeport, OH Chad M. Dojack are accused of concocting a plan to break into the home of Michelle Ross and sell items that would identify her as the surrogate mother for Matthew Broderick and SJP.
Carpenter faces two counts of burglary, and one court for receiving stolen property, theft in office, tampering with evidence and unauthorized use of property or services. Dojack is charged with two counts complicity to burglary and one count complicity to receiving stolen property. The police chiefs face around 8 years in the clink if found guilty on the burglary charges.
A third man, Bruce Callarik -- who happens to be the son of Bridgeport's mayor -- is charged with complicity to receiving stolen property as well.
All three pleaded not guilty.
Filed under: Celebrity Justice, Sarah Jessica Parker
Tags: arrested, berry p. carter, BerryP.Carter, chad m. dojack, ChadM.Dojack, charges, matthew broderick, MatthewBroderick, michelle ross, MichelleRoss, police chiefs, PoliceChiefs, sarah jessica parker, SarahJessicaParker, surrogate
Posted Jul 21st 2009 5:26PM by TMZ Staff
Kiefer Sutherland is officially off the hook for that whole headbutting incident in NYC back in May ... because it amounted to a bunch of nothing.
The Manhattan D.A. has just rejected the case against the "24" star and we're told it's all because officials determined it was a petty matter that did not rise to the level of criminal conduct.
And it gets even better for Sutherland -- we've learned the L.A. City Attorney is equally unimpressed with the incident and will not try and violate Kiefer's probation from a prior DUI conviction.
Just like Jack Bauer, Kiefer got off virtually unscathed.
Filed under: Celebrity Justice, Kiefer Sutherland
Tags: brooke shields, BrookeShields, charges, headbutt, headhutting, jack mccollough, JackMccollough, kiefer sutherland, KieferSutherland, NYC
Posted Jun 18th 2008 9:04PM by TMZ Staff
Britney Spears' mom is fighting her daughter's battles again -- telling a judge Britney should be excused from a driving without a license charge because the popwreck is ... uh ... easily confused.
In a declaration filed today, Lynne Spears claims that Brit didn't know she needed a valid California license -- because she was legit in Louisiana. FYI -- CA law requires that people who move to the state get a CA drivers license within ten days of the move. Since the popwreck also has temporary residences in Florida and New York, Lynne claims her daughter had no idea she needed to jump through Cali's hoops too.
Of course, the legal drama stems from an incident last year where she nailed a car in a parking lot and drove off.
But get this -- even though she's recently been searching for a new bachelorette pad in L.A., Mama Lynne says Britney still intends to return to Louisiana.
They'll be back in court August 11.
Filed under: Celebrity Justice, Britney Spears
Tags: Britney Spears, BritneySpears, charges, driving without a license, DrivingWithoutALicense, Michael Flanagan, MichaelFlanagan
Posted Jun 9th 2008 2:37PM by TMZ Staff
That was quick! The L.A. County District Attorney has rolled up and thrown out drug charges against Warren G and buddy Ryan Butler.
The D.A. tells us there's "insufficient evidence" to link the two men to the cheeba cops found in the trunk as the car was not registered to either one of them.
Filed under: Celebrity Justice, Music
Tags: arrest, charges, da, district attorney, DistrictAttorney, ryan butler, RyanButler, warren g, WarrenG, weed
Posted Aug 23rd 2007 4:02PM by TMZ Staff
TMZ was at the Beverly Hills Courthouse this morning when the L.A. County District Attorney filed criminal charges against Lindsay Lohan. The charges are seven misdemeanors -- NO FELONIES. And, there may be a plea bargain today at 1:30 PM PDT.
Lohan, who was busted twice since Memorial Day weekend, was charged with two counts of driving under the influence. If convicted of both, she'd face a minimum of four days in jail. If a felony were filed, Lohan could have faced several years in state prison.
As to why no felony charges were filed, the DA says Lohan's cocaine traces "were below the .05 grams required by office policy for felony filing."
Sources tell us there were also problems even proving she was in possession of the drug.
As for the second case, a law enforcement source tells us the manner in which the cocaine was seized was questionable. In addition, the source says the amount of cocaine "didn't meet the threshold for filing."
But there's more to the story: In deciding whether to file felony cocaine charges, the D.A. always looks at the person and the circumstances. In Lohan's case, the fact that she was busted twice in a short period of time actually helped her. It shows someone is struggling with an addiction problem. The fact that each time she was busted, she immediately checked into a rehab facility also helped her case. Also, her age -- 21 -- and the fact that her upbringing was extremely unstable -- also worked in her favor.
One law enforcement source put it this way: "Prosecutors in this county see a lot of kids in crisis. There are lots of kids struggling with addiction. The first sign of trouble usually involves a car. We're not going to throw every one of them in prison. It doesn't make sense."
Filed under: Celebrity Justice, Lindsay Lohan
Tags: charges, cocaine, lohan
