All posts containing the tag: "suspect"
Posted Nov 12th 2009 9:25AM by TMZ Staff
It's all fun and games until someone gets outed as a rat -- so the lawyer for Hollywood Hills Burglar Bunch suspect Nick Prugo wants his client kept far, far away from the people he snitched on.
Prugo just showed up for his arraignment in L.A. criminal court.
We're told Prugo's lawyer is pissed that a sealed affidavit was released last week, revealing that his client blew the whistle on the six other people who were allegedly involved in the burglaries of Lindsay Lohan, Audrina Patridge, Rachel Bilson, Orlando Bloom and Brian Austin Green.
We've learned Prugo's lawyer will file legal docs today asking the judge to try Prugo separately from the other suspects.
And there's this: Prugo was put into protective custody when he was labeled a rat. Among the many death threats he's received ... "Snitches get stitches."
UPDATE: Prugo's arraignment was waived until December 2.
Filed under: Exclusives, Burglar Bunch
Tags: audrina patridge, AudrinaPatridge, burglary, hollywood hill burglar bunch, HollywoodHillBurglarBunch, lindsay lohan, LindsayLohan, nick prugo, NickPrugo, paris hilton, ParisHilton, suspect
Posted Oct 23rd 2009 3:14PM by TMZ Staff
TMZ has learned cops suspect 19-year-old Rachel Lee is the "master mind" of the Hollywood Hills Burglar Bunch.
Lee was arrested in Las Vegas yesterday -- and law enforcement sources tell us she is suspected of organizing a plan to steal cash, jewelry, clothing, luggage, purses and other personal items from several major Hollywood celebrities, including Paris Hilton, Orlando Bloom, Lindsay Lohan and Rachel Bilson.
We're told when Lee was busted, cops impounded a variety of items from her father's Las Vegas home -- including two laptops, photographs of a partially nude woman, photographs of Lee's friends, more than two hundred $100 bills, a Korean passport and a vial of marijuana.
Sources also tell us cops found a series of items that may have been taken from various celebrity homes. The items include a hat linked to Lindsay Lohan, jeans linked to Rachel Bilson and partially nude photographs linked to Paris Hilton ... no surprise there.
We've learned Lee told the arresting officers she discovered she was a "person of interest" in the case from "watching TMZ."
We're told Lee has denied being involved in any of the burglaries. She's currently behind bars in a Clark County, Nevada jail.
Filed under: Celebrity Justice, Paris Hilton, Lindsay Lohan, Exclusives, Audrina Patridge, Burglar Bunch
Tags: arrested, Audrina Patridge, AudrinaPatridge, burglar bunch, BurglarBunch, burglary, LAPD, Lindsay Lohan, LindsayLohan, Orlando Bloom, OrlandoBloom, Paris Hilton, ParisHilton, robbed, robbery, suspect
Posted Oct 14th 2009 3:00PM by TMZ Staff
The paramedic/defendant who allegedly hatched the extortion plot against John Travolta just told the jury the whole thing was an evil plot to set him up ... and he just played along.
Tarino Lightbourne -- and defendant Pleasant Bridgewater -- opted not to take the witness stand today, instead standing in front of the jury with prepared statements.
Tarino said Travolta's lawyer, Michael McDermott, called him up randomly one day and offered $15 million for the "Refusal of Transport/Treatment" document -- which had John Travolta's signature on it.
Tarino said he had kept a copy of the document for his autograph collection -- but he never explained how McDermott found out he had it in order to make an offer.
Tarino said he thought McDermott was setting him up ... so he decided to play along. Tarino also said he didn't even know what extortion was ... and still doesn't.
Pleasant also claimed she was innocent -- but never really explained why.
Filed under: Celebrity Justice, John Travolta
Tags: john travolta, JohnTravolta, michael mcdermott, MichaelMcdermott, pleasant bridgewater, PleasantBridgewater, suspect
Posted Sep 22nd 2009 1:40AM by TMZ Staff
The man arrested for allegedly burglarizing Lindsay Lohan's house may not have been a stranger to the actress..
Several people who worked with her on the movie "Labor Pains" -- which was shot last year -- tell TMZ they saw Nick Prugo hanging out on the set with Lindsay. One person who worked on the set estimates she saw them together at least 10 times.
Prugo -- who is 18 -- was arrested for cocaine possession last February. He pled guilty and was placed in a drug diversion program. He was also arrested last month for DUI.
We don't know if Prugo had been to Lindsay's house prior to the break-in.
No comment so far from Lindsay's camp.
Filed under: Lindsay Lohan, Exclusives
Tags: burglary, cocaine possession, CocainePossession, connection, house, labor pains, LaborPains, lindsay lohan, LindsayLohan, movie, nicholas prugo, NicholasPrugo, suspect
Posted Aug 22nd 2009 2:48PM by TMZ Staff
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Tags: body, body discovered, BodyDiscovered, buena park, BuenaPark, jasmine fiore, JasmineFiore, model, murder, mutilated, playboy, ryan alexander jenkins, ryan jenkins, RyanAlexanderJenkins, RyanJenkins, suitcase, suspect
Posted Aug 22nd 2009 11:41AM by TMZ Staff
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Tags: arrest, jasmine fiore, JasmineFiore, mistaken identity, MistakenIdentity, murder, on the run, OnTheRun, ryan alexander jenkins, ryan jenkins, RyanAlexanderJenkins, RyanJenkins, suspect, toronto airport, TorontoAirport, wanted
Posted Aug 30th 2008 9:29AM by TMZ Staff
Police have used DNA to link a man to the 2001 murder of Ashley Ellerin -- who happened to be dating Ashton Kutcher at the time of her death.
The story goes like this: Back in the pre-Demi days, Kutcher told police he went to pick up Ellerin for a post-Grammy party, but she didn't answer the door. He looked through a back window and saw what he thought were red wine stains on the carpet. He eventually left.
Those weren't wine stains and her body was discovered the next day by a friend.
Michael Gargiulo has been in custody since June for attempted murder of another woman. That's when DNA tests were used to link him to several murders, including Ellerin's.
Gargiulo's lawyer, Anthony V. Salerno, says he has not been charged in Ellerin's murder, but admits he's the prime suspect.
Filed under: Celebrity Justice, Ashton & Demi
Tags: Ashley Ellerin, AshleyEllerin, Ashton Kutcher, AshtonKutcher, girlfriend, killed, Michael Gargiulo, MichaelGargiulo, murder, suspect
