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The first man to respond to the Tiger Woods crash scene was a local man who told law enforcement the golfer was unconscious in the driver's seat ... this according to new court documents obtained by TMZ Sports.

L.A. County Sheriff's Deputy Johann Schloegl submitted an affidavit which described an interview with a man who lives in the area where Tiger crashed his SUV on Feb. 23.

The man told law enforcement ... he heard the crash near the Rolling Hills Estates and decided to walk to the accident scene to check it out, where he saw Woods.

According to the affidavit, the witness tried talking with Tiger but the golfer was unresponsive.

L.A. County Sheriff's Deputy Carlos Gonzalez arrived at the scene shortly after -- and has publicly stated Woods was conscious and talking when he got there.

Deputy Gonzalez has also said Tiger did not appear to be under the influence of alcohol or any other substance.

As we previously reported, officials are now pulling data from the "black box" in Tiger's 2021 GV80 vehicle which could reveal details about Tiger's speed and driving pattern in the moments before the crash.

In the affidavit, Deputy Schloegl spells out, "I believe the data will explain how/why the collision occurred."

PETA demonstrators are putting the heat on a North Carolina police department where a cop hanged and choked a K-9 by its leash, and they're demanding justice for the dog.

The demonstration went down Friday outside Salisbury PD HQ -- masked up PETA protesters held signs condemning cops not only for the horrific treatment of the K-9, named Zuul, but also for an apparent attempt to cover up the alleged abuse.

As we reported ... disturbing footage surfaced this week showing an unnamed cop manhandling the hell out of Zuul, who he was supposed to be training.

Video shows the cop screaming at the K-9 before putting a leash on him, hanging him by it, slamming him into the side of an SUV, throwing Zuul into the back seat and hitting him. You can also hear an officer say, "We're good. No witnesses" ... as Zuul was getting choked.

Friday's protest comes on the heels of PETA firing off a letter to Salisbury Police Chief Jerry Stokes, urging the officer to be criminally prosecuted for animal abuse.

THIS. IS. INSANE.

Cleveland Browns star lineman Wyatt Teller hunted, shot and killed a 10-foot gator in Florida this week .... and then picked up the beast with his bare hands!!

Seriously!!

Here's how it went down -- Teller linked up with his buddy and Miami Dolphins defensive end Zach Sieler ... who happens to own a hunting outfitter, Clay Gully Outfitters, in central Florida.

The 2 NFL players -- who have been planning the trip for a while -- hunted hogs and gators on Sieler's enormous plot of land.

Sieler and his GF Hannah Cook tell TMZ Sports the 26-year-old All-Pro killed the gator -- which Zach estimates were 9.5 feet and 200 pounds -- and then threw it over his shoulder and carried it away.

FYI -- folks down south love to eat fried gator ... but no word on what will happen with this particular beast -- it could be eaten, or used to make a cool rug or even gator boots!!

Either way, it's gonna get used up.

Timothy V. Murphy is ready to throw back some Irish whiskey and beer for St. Patrick's Day ... and he'll be doing it at a pub, even though the CDC wants the holiday to go virtual.

We got the "Sons of Anarchy" star at LAX Friday afternoon and our photog asked the famous Irishman about his St. Paddy's Day plans.

Timothy says he's looking forward to drinking at some popular Irish pubs in L.A. and he's not about to cancel the holiday for the second year in a row, despite the CDC urging folks to stay home and celebrate.

The way Timothy sees it ... St. Patrick's Day just doesn't work in a virtual setting, so he's keeping it live and in person. L.A. has outdoor dining (and drinking) again, so he'll have options.

Our guy also asked Timothy about Conor McGregor catching heat for buying a bottle of Proper 12 inside a liquor store without wearing a mask. Sounds like Timothy's glad he's not back in Ireland, or New York City, for that matter.

Sampson the service dog is a very good -- and smart -- boy who deserves lots of treats for learning an important new trick -- how to wear PPE so he can help his disabled neuroscientist mom.

The scientist, Joey Ramp, conducts her lab work at the University of Illinois, but says she wouldn't be able to do her job without the aid of her assistant ... the first pup ever granted access to the college's chemistry lab.

For safety reasons, Sampson, a golden retriever, is required to wear protective gear just like the humans do, and as you can see ... he's mastered it.

Joey suffered a traumatic brain injury in a 2006 horse-riding accident and now studies the human brain, and she says her good boy's crucial to her research. She explains that he's not only there for her if she drops something and needs support kneeling down to pick it up ... but he's also trained to spot signs of her PTSD.

Joey says, "I couldn't possibly navigate academics or a neuroscience program without his assistance," and she's advocating for more service dogs to be allowed in labs for students with disabilities ... with guidelines like making the pups wear PPE.

A couple claiming a Maggiano's seated all its customers of color in the back ... is getting an apology, but the restaurant chain also insists it wasn't segregating patrons.

Here's the backstory -- a Black woman named Dot claimed on Instagram she and her husband had reservations last weekend at the Maggiano's in Orlando, and when they showed up ... they were ushered all the way to the back of the joint.

That's when she says she noticed a "stark contrast from the patrons in the front of the restaurant, versus where we were being seated." Dot added ... "Guys….I s**t you not…this restaurant was segregated!!!!!!!!! In 2021!!!!!! Our minds were BLOWN!!!!!!"

Dot claims this pattern of seating people continued throughout their visit, and she posted a couple photos with her hubby to make her point. She also speculated that a nearby Trump rally that day may have factored into the restaurant's motivations.

While Maggiano's insists the seating situation had nothing to do with race, the restaurant chain still apologized, saying ... "We understand that two valued Guests felt unwelcome when they dined at our Maggiano’s restaurant in Orlando on Sunday, February 28, and for that we sincerely apologize."

As for an explanation, Maggiano's says it investigated the incident, and says the reason for the perceived segregation is because "a single large party of 30 African-American guests" requested to be seated together.

The restaurant says when Dot and her husband arrived, "our system suggested a table that was still occupied by Guests, which prompted the reassignment of their new table" ... which happened to be in the back.

However, Maggiano's acknowledges the table reassignment didn't make the couple feel welcome. It adds that it's going to work to ensure future seating arrangements "are not just computer generated but have a human touch."

Dot later revealed Maggiano's sent her a $200 gift card and the chain's President Steve Provost reached out to her.

Neil deGrasse Tyson just rained all over Baker Mayfield's alien parade ... saying the Cleveland Browns quarterback most likely saw a meteor -- NOT a UFO.

Booooooooo.

Remember, Mayfield tweeted with "almost 100%" certainty he and his wife saw a UFO Wednesday night ... saying they saw a "very bright ball of light going straight down out of the sky."

But, Tyson -- certified science nerd -- says Baker needs to come back down the earth ... and suggests the QB brushes up on his meteor knowledge.

"Okay, so what he should do is go look at what meteors look like and most of them look like simple shooting stars," Tyson said Friday on FS1's 'The Herd' with Colin Cowherd.

"But, the occasional one, the occasional BIGGER one is called a bolide. We have special words for them and they flash through the sky. It takes just half a second! It flashes through the sky and at the end, sometimes they explode."

In other words, don't expect an alien invasion just yet, Bake.

Tyson says there are a bunch of amateur astronomers who spend countless hours looking in the sky ... and there would be a lot more hubbub if it really were anything out of the ordinary.

"I think if there were aliens visiting, the astronomer community would catch it immediately."

Kim Kardashian says she totally understands what it's like to be Britney Spears after watching the new documentary about the singer's life ... because she went through the same intense media scrutiny when she was pregnant.

Kim just opened up on her own experience with media shaming, saying she totally empathizes with Britney after watching the "Framing Britney Spears" documentary.

For Kim, she says the hardest part was when she was pregnant with North, she recalls the media giving her a hard time over her weight gain ... and says the constant magazine covers, like the one comparing her to a whale, made her cry.

She shared a bunch of the covers, with headlines like ... "Dumped at 200 Lbs," "I'll Never Be Sexy Again," "I Can't Stop Eating," "Paid To Get Fat," "Don't Call Me Fat," "I'll Eat As Much As I Want," "Alone & Binge Eating," "Yes, I'm Fat," "Kim's Body Struggle," "You Call This Fat" and "My Butt Won't Stop Growing."

Kim says she was shamed on a weekly basis just like Britney and it really broke her spirit ... and she says no one deserves to be treated with cruelty or judgment, no matter how famous they are or how public their life is.

While KK says she eventually turned the media scrutiny into motivation, she says it still took a toll on her mental health.

Bobby Shmurda's getting back to work for NBA All-Star Weekend in Atlanta ... and he's set to bank big bucks for his first performances since getting sprung from prison.

Sources close to the situation tell TMZ ... after the rapper takes the mic Friday night for his triumphant return at Compound nightclub in the ATL, he'll walk away with $125,000.

Bobby's hosting the event -- dubbed his "Welcome Home Party" -- with 50 Cent, but it's just one of several gigs he has on the books for the hoops and hip-hop weekend.

We're told Shmurda's also signed on for smaller, private events that will ultimately bring his haul to more than $300K for a few days' work.

Of course, Bobby's not the only rapper taking advantage of the All-Star festivities. Our sources say his pal Rowdy Rebel -- who was also released from prison early this year -- will make $59k for his show at Halo Lounge.

Likewise, Lil Durk's set to score $100k for his Saturday night gig at Opera Nightclub.

Rep. Eric Swalwell squarely blames Donald Trump and the former president's cohorts for the violent mob that stormed the Capitol, saying he texted his wife what he believed might be his final words before he was killed.

Swalwell is suing Trump, along with Donald Trump Jr., Rudy Giuliani and Rep. Mo Brooks for encouraging the crowd to take care of business at the same time the Congress was certifying the Presidential election.

Swalwell says as he watched in horror as the rioters breached the Capitol, he texted his wife, "I love you very much. And our babies."

He says he listened to the House Chaplain pray for the members inside the House Chamber.

Swalwell's lawsuit is the real deal because he has legal standing to sue for his personal emotional distress, although the lawsuit also suggests he has standing as a member of Congress to sue for the disruption of the electoral process.

Swalwell alleges the emotional distress inflicted by the rioters was intentional on the part of Trump and company, and he outlines the various, well-chronicled examples where Trump, Trump Jr., Giuliani and Brooks ginned up the crowd both in advance and on the day of January 6.

Swalwell also alleges the defendants committed "bias-related crimes," noting federal law prohibits attacks based on the political affiliation of a victim. He alleges all of the defendants are guilty of incitement to riot.

In addition to suing for compensatory and punitive damages, he's asking for an order requiring all the defendants to notify Swalwell no less than 7 days before any future large rally is planned in Washington D.C., to give the Congressman time to go to court to prevent more violence.

Amber Rose is 100 percent behind Taylor Swift for calling out the Netflix show that made a joke about the singer's dating history ... because she says you can never let up on sexism.

We got Amber leaving Sushiya in WeHo late Thursday, and she's totally Team Taylor after Swift blasted the show, "Ginny and Georgia," earlier this week for what she referred to as a dated, lazy, deeply sexist, "horse s**t" joke.

If ya missed it, the character Ginny yells at her mother ... "What do you care? You go through men faster than Taylor Swift."

Though many supported Taylor's stance on the joke, other folks accused her of overreacting ... but Amber tells us that's BS. She says slut-shaming is a problem that ya can't overreact to ... and Taylor has a right to feel the way she does.

Meghan Markle's memory of a phone call from Oprah in 2018 makes it sound like the then duchess-to-be was being held captive by the Royal Family.

O just released another clip from her highly anticipated interview with Meghan and Prince Harry ... where Oprah recalls calling Meghan months before her royal wedding to request an interview and being politely turned down. Back then, Meghan said the timing wasn't right, but now she says that was an excuse forced on her.

The reality was, according to Meghan ... "I wasn't even allowed to have that conversation with you personally, right? There had to be people from the comm., sitting there."

Meghan says the timing is right now, though, because she and Harry finally have the ability to make their own choices.

She also suggests that people can't imagine what it was like to leave her independent life and enter the "construct" of the monarchy.

As we reported ... the Duke and Duchess' interview with Oprah has promised to be "shocking," and the couple's essentially declared war against Queen Elizabeth and Buckingham Palace by accusing them of spreading "falsehoods" about them.

Get your popcorn ready!

Lisa Marie Presley's been separated from her estranged husband for nearly 5 years and says she's ready to start a new chapter ... so she wants the judge to step in and declare her single.

In new legal docs, obtained by TMZ, Lisa Marie says her ex Michael Lockwood refuses to agree to terminate their marriage ... despite the fact she filed for divorce way back in June 2016.

She says there's no chance of ever saving the relationship, so she's requesting a bifurcation -- which means separating marital status from other divorce issues. Basically, let's be single now, and divvy up our stuff later.

One other big issue has already been settled -- LMP scored a big win in 2018 when the judge ruled she doesn't have to pay Lockwood spousal support based on their 2007 post-nuptial agreement.