Crime & Arrests

Nelly has broken his silence on the rape claim against him, saying he's completely innocent and is a victim of targeting ... but he will not take the stage Saturday night.

The rapper says he's beyond shocked at the "false allegation" and is confident he'll be exonerated once the facts are in. He claims he's been targeted by the accuser, but apologized to his loved ones for the embarrassment and for putting himself in a bad situation. He also vows to take legal action against the "defaming claim" and reaffirms he's not been charged with a crime yet.

However, sources close to Nelly tell TMZ ... he will NOT be performing at Saturday night's show in Washington with Florida Georgia Line.

We broke the story ... Nelly was arrested early Saturday morning after a woman claimed he raped her on his tour bus.

Jordin Sparks is completely taken aback by the rape allegations against Nelly, and so's the guy next to her at baggage claim ... maybe even more so.

We got the singer at LAX and broke the news to her -- Nelly was arrested for allegedly raping a woman in Washington -- and her jaw almost hits the floor. Jordin looks downright dismayed as the news sinks in ... and it leaves her at a loss for words.

Jerry Yester -- known for playing on The Lovin' Spoonful's smash hit "Do You Believe in Magic" -- has been arrested for having child pornography ... TMZ has learned.

The Boone County Sheriff's Dept. in Arkansas tells us ... Yester was booked Thursday and faces 30 counts of possession of child porn. He was arrested by the Cyber Crimes Unit at the Attorney General's Office. He was released after posting $35k bond.

The 74-year-old rock musician was part of the Modern Folk Quartet in the early 1960s, then joined The Lovin' Spoonful a couple years later. Yester went on to help produce albums by The Turtles, Pat Boone and Tom Waits.

9:25 AM PT -- Nelly's lawyer tells TMZ, "Nelly is the victim of a completely fabricated allegation. Our initial investigation, clearly establishes the allegation is devoid of credibility and is motivated by greed and vindictiveness. I am confident, once the scurrilous accusation is thoroughly investigated, there will be no charges. Nelly is prepared to pursue all all legal avenues to redress any damage caused by this clearly false allegation."

Nelly has been arrested for allegedly raping a woman ... TMZ has learned.

Law enforcement sources tell us, a woman claims she was raped on the rapper's tour bus -- which was parked in a Walmart lot in Washington -- where he's been performing. Nelly is on a tour with Florida Georgia Line and they are set to perform Saturday night in Ridgefield, Washington.

We're told the alleged rape occurred Saturday morning at 3:48 AM. We're told she specifically said Nelly is the one who raped her.

Nelly was booked on second degree rape charges Saturday morning at around 7 AM and released shortly after.

PARTYNEXTDOOR was one of two men arrested for carrying drugs at the U.S.-Canada border ... TMZ has confirmed.

A spokesman for the New York State Troopers tells us ... the rapper and a 24-year-old man from Ontario were on a bus Thursday morning heading back to the U.S. when it was stopped for secondary inspection. NY State Troopers were then called to assist U.S. Customs and Border personnel.

We're told PARTYNEXTDOOR allegedly had Xanax and Oxycodone on him. The rapper and the other man were charged with seventh degree criminal possession of a controlled substance, as first reported by WIVB-4 in Buffalo.

They were arrested, cited and released. We've reached out to PARTYNEXTDOOR, so far no word back.

The sobering reality has set in for Alex Morgan -- and now the Team USA soccer superstar is apologizing for the drunken bender that got her kicked out of Disney World.

TMZ Sports broke the story ... cops were called to EPCOT Center on Sunday when Morgan and her group, which included several MLS soccer stars, became belligerent after a day of boozing.

Morgan and 3 other people were told to leave -- but Alex allegedly drunkenly told the officers she knew the SWAT team ... hoping she could bully the cops into letting her go. It didn't work.

And now the apology ...

"I want to apologize for my actions that occurred over the weekend," Morgan says.

"I will learn from this make sure it does not happen again. #liveandlearn."

The younger brother of Stephen Paddock has a rap sheet of a hardened criminal ... light-years different from the brother who slaughtered dozens of innocent people.

Bruce Paddock currently lives in California, but he's led a nomadic life. TMZ has pulled court docs which show he's been a regular in the criminal justice system. Among his arrests ...

-- Criminal threats

-- Arson

-- Vandalism

-- Petty theft

-- Burglary

-- Weed

-- Driving on a suspended license

-- Contempt

It's unclear how many of these resulted in convictions. We know for sure the 57-year-old was convicted of petty theft with a prior, and vandalism. Don't confuse Bruce with Eric, the Paddock brother living in Florida, who's been speaking to the media.

Alex Morgan was "highly impaired" and yelling at Disney staffers in front of guests when she was thrown out of Epcot Center on Sunday ... this according to the incident report obtained by TMZ Sports.

We broke the story, Morgan, along with several MLS soccer players, was booted from the park after an incident at one of the bars on the premises.

Now, it seems Morgan's entire group was HAMMERED -- with Morgan allegedly bragging that she knows the Orlando SWAT team in an effort to pressure officers to let her go.

The report, filed by the Orange County Sheriff's Office, says they were initially called to the U.K. pub around 8:20 PM after MLS player Giles Barnes cut in front of another patron in line and got into a verbal argument.

The report notes Morgan's entire group was "impaired and verbally aggressive."'

Giles was escorted out of the pub and told not to come back.

As deputies were escorting Barnes out of the park, officers were called about the other members of the group making a scene.

"As we passed Space Ship Earth, I observed several people were being escorted to the front. They were all being very loud and belligerent towards staff around guests."

The deputy noted that Morgan was especially out of control -- "yelling, screaming and taking video and possibly pictures."

"She appeared to be highly impaired. Deputy Johnson heard Ms. Morgan make a loud verbal statement that she knows the Orlando SWAT team."

Former New York Yankee Pat Kelly says he and his girlfriend getting booked for assault was just a "misunderstanding" ... and "everything's good" now that he's outta the slammer.

TMZ Sports broke the story ... Kelly and his GF, Marina Cernova, were arrested at the London Hotel in NYC on Sunday after Marina called cops to report Pat had beaten her.

Both Pat and Marina were jailed for misdemeanor assault ... 'cause police say Marina also punched Pat in the face.

But when we got Kelly outside Manhattan Criminal Court ... he told us he was A-OK -- though he did seem kinda annoyed that our guy wouldn't give up his sources.

Chris Williams apparently has a forgetful mind ... because that's allegedly why the R&B singer ended up in handcuffs for stealing.

Sources tell us the incident went down Saturday at a Kohl's in McDonough, Georgia where Chris walked in with a tote bag and wearing a baseball cap. We're told he went to the back of the store and grabbed a pair of JBL headphones ... priced at $99.99.

We're told he threw the headphones into his bag and tried walking out. When security stopped him, we're told Chris said he simply forgot he bagged them.

By then, cops were called and arrested him. The "I'm Dreamin'" singer was arrested and booked for petty theft, a misdemeanor. He was released after a couple hours.

We've reached out to Chris for comment, so far no word back.

Anthony Weiner is soaking up his last days of daddy duty before his nearly 2-year prison sentence begins ... and his estranged wife, Huma Abedin, is even hanging with him.

Nothing warm and fuzzy about it -- just co-parenting -- but Huma and Weiner did come together to walk their son, Jordan, to school Monday morning in Manhattan. It's the first time they've all been seen together since he was sentenced to 21 months in prison for sexting a minor.

Huma filed for divorce from the disgraced Congressman in May after he pled guilty, but looks like they're at least burying the hatchet for the kid's sake.

Heidi Klum's ex managed to do what's seemingly impossible -- get busted for mushrooms at Burning Man.

According to docs obtained by TMZ ... Vito Schnabel was arrested September 3 by Pershing County Sheriffs and charged with distribution and manufacture of a controlled substance ... a felony.

In the report, prosecutors say Vito was in possession of Psilocybin -- the scientific name for psychedelic 'shrooms ... which is a Schedule I controlled substance. He's pled not guilty.

Vito's no stranger to Burning Man. He was there last year with Heidi. They split up Monday after a 3-year relationship.

Vito faces up to 5 years in prison if convicted. We've reached out to him, so far no word back.

Rick Pitino says there's not a SHRED of evidence proving he did anything wrong to justify his firing -- and has lawyered up in what seems to be a prelude to a legal war with Louisville.

As we previously reported, the University of Louisville says it put Pitino on "unpaid administrative leave" in the wake of an FBI probe of an Adidas exec, who was allegedly bribing recruits to attend Adidas sponsored schools, including UL.

While Pitino hasn't been formally accused of a crime -- and no other Louisville staffer has been accused either -- the school took action anyway ... and Rick is pissed.

"Coach Pitino has done nothing wrong and there is no evidence to suggest otherwise," his attorneys said in a statement ... adding, "The rush to judgment is regrettable."

Pitino's legal team says the school "did not give him prior notice of the disciplinary action or an opportunity to be heard, as required by University policy."

In a preview of what's to come, Pitino's lawyer said, "The matter will now follow its legal course."

Pitino insists there is no evidence that would implicate him in any type of misconduct or other activity that would violate the terms of his contract.

Pitino says the "complete and accurate facts" will inevitably exonerate him.

Young Thug's list of legal problems piled up while he sat in a jail cell ... because he's now facing 2 more felonies on top of a weed possession charge.

As we reported ... the rapper was arrested Saturday in Georgia by Brookhaven PD after he was pulled over for tinted windows. According to the police report, the cop searched Thug's Maybach because it smelled like marijuana ... and found drugs, 2 guns and almost $50k in cash.

YT and 2 men with him in his car were arrested and taken to jail. Thug's now facing a felony charge for gun possession, a felony charge for drug possession -- for narcotics and liquid codeine found in his car -- and the felony charge for weed.

He's still got the tinted windows charge, too.

It's gone from bad to worse for Louisville ... the school's top high school recruit says he's officially DECOMMITTING to UL in the wake of the NCAA bribery scandal involving the university.

Anfernee Simons -- a 6'3" point guard from Florida -- was hailed as UL's top recruit, a 5-star player who's ranked in the Top 20 on every major recruiting list. He just started his senior year in high school.

But with Louisville referenced in the FBI probe into corruption in college basketball -- and a possible link to 6-figure bribery involving one of the top marketing people at Adidas -- Simons says he's out.

"Due to the recent events that have taken place, it's in my best interest to de-commit from the University of Louisville," Simons says.

"This was a very tough decision to make and I am deeply saddened by this. I appreciate all of the support from the Louisville fans."

Simons says he will be "reopening my recruitment" -- which is huge for schools that had gone after him in previous years ... including Florida, OK State, Tennessee and more.

2:35 PM PT -- We did some more digging and found a penal code section in O.J.'s file in the spousal battery case, and it appears the conviction was indeed expunged, so it makes sense why authorities would not have informed the Nevada Parole Board.

O.J. Simpson might not have been paroled had the Nevada Parole Board been officially informed that he had been convicted of spousal battery in 1989 ... but the board never found out.

The Board just said they had never been told that Simpson pled no contest to beating Nicole Brown Simpson on New Year's Day, 1989. Simpson punched and kicked her, pulled her hair and screamed, "I'll kill you." He slapped her so hard a handprint was left on her neck. He was placed on probation for 24 months.

Had the board known about the incident it could have considered it in deciding whether Simpson was suitable for parole. As it stood, Simpson appeared to the board to have a clean record, since he was found not guilty of murdering Nicole and Ron Goldman.