Crime & Arrests

President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris just reacted to the guilty verdict that was handed down in the Derek Chauvin murder trial ... and they say it's a catalyst for ending systemic racism.

Biden says he told George Floyd's daughter, Gianna, her father "changed the world" ... and he's calling on Americans to unite behind the guilty verdict and help make the country a better place where folks don't have reason to fear law enforcement.

POTUS says Floyd's murder in broad daylight ripped the blinders off and allowed the world to see the systemic racism rooted in America ... and Biden says the verdict is a step towards changing the country's trajectory.

Harris says the guilty verdict offers a bit of relief, but it can't bring back Floyd or take away his family's pain ... and she says now's the time to reform policing in America.

In the courthouse hallway moments after the verdict, Biden called the Floyd family and expressed his feelings that justice was served.

As you know by now, a Minneapolis jury just found Chauvin guilty of second-degree murder and third-degree murder for killing Floyd during his arrest on May 25, 2020. Chauvin was also found guilty of second-degree manslaughter.

Earlier on Tuesday, the Prez commented that he had checked in on Floyd's family and told them he was "praying the verdict is the right verdict." He also called the Chauvin case "overwhelming."

The Chauvin verdict does not mean the overwhelming nature of the case is over ... as the 3 other officers involved in Floyd's arrest are due to stand trial soon as well.

Magic Johnson believes justice has been served in the Derek Chauvin case -- thanking God after the former police officer was found guilty in the murder of George Floyd.

"Thank God ... guilty! Justice has been served," Johnson tweeted.

Chauvin was found guilty of 2nd-degree unintentional murder, 3rd-degree murder and 2nd-degree manslaughter stemming from the May 2020 incident in Minnesota.

Moments after the verdict was read and Chauvin was taken into custody, athletes from all over the world spoke out on social media.

NBA commissioner Adam Silver also issued a joint statement with the executive director of the NBPA Michele Roberts.

"George Floyd’s murder was a flash point for how we look at race and justice in our country, and we are pleased that justice appears to have been served."

"But we also recognize that there is much work to be done and the National Basketball Association and the National Basketball Players Association, together with our newly-formed Social Justice Coalition, will redouble our efforts to advocate for meaningful change in the areas of criminal justice and policing."

LeBron James had a one-word reaction to the verdict ... tweeting, "ACCOUNTABILITY."

Renee Montgomery -- former WNBA player turned co-owner of the Atlanta Dream said, "Let’s make this the new normal. Accountability is served."

Mike Tyson -- "Guilty. Justice served."

Matt Barnes -- "Condolences to the Floyd Family. This is just the first step of starting to change a broken system."

Reggie Miller -- "Thank you JURY!!! ACCOUNTABILITY"

Matt Forte -- "I don’t celebrate the demise of another persons life no matter what they’ve done but I do celebrate JUSTICE, TRUTH AND RIGHTEOUSNESS because for so long that has been void of the criminal justice system in America for black and brown people."

Josh Hart -- "Put his ass under the jail."

Torrey Smith -- "I can’t believe what I just saw. They finally got one case right. GUILTY!!! Prayers up for the Floyd family."

Ex-NBA star Isiah Thomas -- "Crying hard tears right now, maybe things are changing in America?"

Karl-Anthony Towns -- "Justice and Accountability! Things I never thought I would see. There’s much more work to do, but this is an amazing start working toward the reform this country NEEDS!"

The Minnesota Timberwolves also issued a statement saying the team is "hopeful that today's decision will serve as a step forward, but it does not ease the physical and emotional pain that continues in an environment where systemic racism exists."

"To our BIPOC community, the Timberwolves and Lynx remain committed to influencing change, promoting impactful action, and using our platform to help heal and unite in pursuit of liberty and justice FOR ALL."

The man who screamed violent threats at U.S. Olympic karate athlete Sakura Kokumai earlier this month has been arrested, officials say.

... and law enforcement says the suspect was also involved in a violent attack on an elderly Asian-American couple over the weekend.

As we previously reported, 28-year-old Kokumai -- a 7-time USA National Champion -- was hanging out at a park in Orange, CA on April 1 when some guy began yelling at her for no apparent reason.

Kokumai smartly recorded the incident -- capturing the man calling her a "stupid b***h" and yelling, "I'll f**k you up."

At the end of his tirade, Kokumai -- who is Japanese-American -- says she heard the man scream out something about her being "Chinese" and "sashimi" ... which you can sort of hear in the video.

Now, the Orange Police Dept. says they have arrested the suspect -- 25-year-old Michael Orlando Vivona.

Unfortunately, cops say they busted Vivona on April 18 after he was suspected of assaulting an elderly couple at a park,

"The suspect punched a 79-year-old Korean American male and his 80-year-old Korean American wife in the face," cops say,

"The assault was unprovoked and caused both elderly victims to fall down.  Community members at the park surrounded the suspect until officers arrived."

Cops say Vivona was arrested for elder abuse and committing a hate crime.

Once they realized he's the same guy from the Kokumai incident, he "was also arrested for threatening a Japanese American on April 1, 2021 at the same location."

Derek Chauvin's trial for the murder of George Floyd is in its final stages, with closing arguments for both sides ... and the prosecution says Chauvin "had to know" he killed Floyd.

Prosecutor Steve Schleicher told the jury Monday what Chauvin did, pressing his knee on Floyd's neck for 9 minutes and 29 seconds, was not an accident ... because Chauvin ignored George's pleas for help.

Schleicher explained all that was needed was a little compassion, but what George needed was oxygen ... and he got neither.

The prosecution again tried to blunt the centerpiece of Chauvin's defense, that Floyd allegedly died from a drug overdose and not the ex-cop's unforgiving knee, saying the medical examiner ruled the death a homicide.

Schleicher reiterated it's not a trial about the police department, it's a prosecution of one cop, telling the jury there's nothing worse for good police than bad police.

He also went over all the options available to the jury to convict Chauvin ... laying out exactly how they could arrive at guilty verdicts for any of the 3 charges: second-degree unintentional murder, third-degree murder or second-degree manslaughter.

Remember, earlier in the trial Minneapolis Police Chief Medaria Arradondo took the stand and ripped Chauvin for not following police policy with Floyd, saying Chauvin didn't learn to keep a knee on a neck for 9 minutes in the police academy.

"American Idol" contestant Cecil Ray forced his way into the home of his ex-girlfriend and struck her in the face when she refused to let him see the child he believes is his ... according to police in Texas.

A Rockdale PD officer says he got a call to a residence last week where Cecil -- full name Cecil Ray Baker -- allegedly entered the home of his ex, Mariah Lopez, and assaulted her.

According to the affidavit obtained by TMZ ... Lopez claims she wouldn't let Baker in, so he went to a locked back door and ripped it open to gain entry. She told police he then pushed her to the floor and "struck her in the face with a palm heel" before leaving.

Baker's sister told cops she witnessed the incident, and she claims he went to Lopez's place to see her daughter who he believes is his. According to cops, the sister mostly corroborated Lopez's version of events.

Police say they then tried to track down Baker, and learned that he had relocated to a nearby town. He was arrested a few days later on April 17 and booked for burglary of habitation, a second-degree felony in Texas.

Baker was released the same day on $15,000 bond.

Cecil Ray made it to the top 24, but was eliminated from 'Idol' last week.

Zamar Kirven -- a former starting LB for the Univ. of Houston football team -- has been accused of murdering his ex-H.S. teammates in a violent shooting Sunday.

The McLennan County Sheriff's Office said Kirven opened fire on 2 men, who may have been asleep at the time, at around 2 A.M. in Mart, Texas.

Officials did NOT release a motive for the alleged attack ... but they did say Kirven grew up with the men and even played high school football with them.

"He gunned those people down in cold blood," Sheriff Parnell McNamara told TMZ Sports of the alleged incident. "There was not a fight."

21-year-old Kirven was arrested and booked on a capital murder charge. Jail records show he's still in custody.

Kirven -- a 6'3", 205-pound athlete -- was a star at Mart H.S. and eventually earned a full-ride scholarship to play for the Cougars after his senior season in 2018.

Kirven played in 9 games in his true freshman season ... and went on to start 5 games in his sophomore season in 2019.

There was another fatal police shooting of another person of color ... this time in Cypress, Texas.

This video, which has not been seen and was shot March 17, picks up near a gas station, as 3 cops hover over a Hispanic man they are trying to subdue. One of the officers has a Taser in hand, as the man on the ground struggles and kicks, eventually pushing himself up from the ground. It sounds like the cop tased the man.

Then, suddenly, the same cop holsters his Taser, draws his gun and shoots the man repeatedly in the back. The man was taken to a hospital where he was pronounced dead.

According to the Harris County Sheriff's Dept. their deputies responded to a call about a knife-wielding man who was bloodied. The Dept. says the man fought deputies as they tried detaining him.

The deputies attempted CPR at the scene before EMS showed up.

'Pioneer Woman' Ree Drummond's nephew, Caleb, was arrested for DUI just over a month after he was involved in a scary wreck that could've claimed his life ... TMZ has learned.

According to arrest records out of Osage County, OK ... the 21-year-old was booked for DUI early Saturday morning. No word on whether he's still in custody at this point, but Caleb posed for this mug shot on his way in ... there's no question it's Ree's flesh and blood.

The exact circumstances of his arrest haven't been released, but there are other charges he got rung up on ... including transporting an open container (beer) and carrying firearms while under the influence.

Caleb's arrest comes a little more than a month after he and his uncle -- Ree's husband, Ladd -- collided head-first in two different fire trucks they were both operating, respectively. The family was battling a raging fire on their Oklahoma ranch when the two rigs crashed.

We were told at the time Caleb wasn't wearing a seatbelt ... and he was flung from the vehicle, about 70 feet or so. He and his uncle were both hospitalized, but were eventually released and seem to have been on the mend.

Ree herself gave an encouraging update on March 15, saying that they were indeed injured, but "fixable" in an update post on her famous blog. She also posted photos of the actual fire rigs in question -- which are way older than modern-day trucks, BTW -- and it loos like the impact was immense.

There were massive demonstrations in various cities Friday night to protest the deaths of Adam Toledo and Daunte Wright.

Protesters clashed with police in Chicago, where Toledo, and Minneapolis, where Wright was killed. The protests started out peaceful but things went south quickly.

There were numerous injuries and arrests in both cities.

This is the 6th day of protests in Minneapolis, as a possible verdict looms in the Derek Chauvin case. The jury will hear closing arguments Monday, and then they will begin deliberating.

Aaron Donald's lawyer claims the NFL superstar was the target of a bottle attack outside of a nightclub ... and he's got video to prove it.

Donald's attorney, Casey White, claims the assault allegations levied against the L.A. Rams superstar are provably false based on surveillance video they've obtained along with multiple witnesses.

As we previously reported, DeVincent Spriggs filed a police report against Donald -- claiming Aaron beat the daylights out of him outside the Boom Boom Room nightclub in the early hours of April 11.

But, Casey White appeared on 93.7 The Fan in Pittsburgh on Friday morning and says the surveillance video proves Spriggs is 100% full of crap.

White says the two were at a party together at a residence above the nightclub when Spriggs bumped into Donald -- elbowing him in the back.

White says there was a minor conflict which resulted in Spriggs being kicked out of the party.

But, Spriggs allegedly waited for Donald in an alley outside -- that's when he tried to attack with a bottle.

"Mr. Spriggs starts walking toward Aaron and he's yelling and he's drunk and he's aggressive," White says.

"And, Aaron sees something in his right hand and first he thinks it's a gun."

"But, it's actually a bottle, a long liquor bottle. In fact, [Spriggs] swings with his right hand, Aaron ducks. The bottle grazes the top of Aaron's head ... he has a lump on his head from the bottle."

At that point, White says people in the area -- including Aaron's brother -- raced in to help Aaron and some people began beating Spriggs savagely.

Aaron was restrained during the beating, White says -- but eventually freed himself and actually began ripping people off of Spriggs.

"He actually saved Mr. Spriggs from further injury,” White said ... "It’s fantastic, from a defense attorney’s perspective, to be honest with you."

White says Spriggs was badly injured -- but insists the guy only has himself to blame.

White also claims he received an email from police saying investigators do not have any video evidence showing Donald assaulted Spriggs -- the implication being Donald will NOT be charged with a crime.

White also suggested he would be releasing footage soon to show everyone Donald did nothing wrong.

Daunte Wright's family is demanding a conviction and a life sentence for Kim Potter, the former Brooklyn Center police officer charged in his death.

Daunte's aunt, Naisha Wright, was super emotional in a news conference Thursday, saying Potter's second-degree manslaughter charge is not enough. If convicted, she would face a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison -- and it's clear that, at this point, the family considers anything less than a life sentence a slap in the face.

As you know ... Potter, who shot and killed Wright during a traffic stop Sunday, was arrested and charged Wednesday. She's already been released from jail on $100k bail.

Police say Potter, who resigned from the force Tuesday, meant to use her Taser, but accidentally discharged her gun instead, firing one fatal round into Daunte's left side.

Daunte's aunt held up images of a police Taser and the type of gun used to kill her nephew ... wondering how a veteran police officer could make such a fatal mistake.

Kim Potter, the ex-police officer who fatally shot Daunte Wright, might very well deserve to be charged for killing him, but prosecutors made a big mistake by charging her in less than 2 days ... so says Timothy T. Williams Jr.

Williams is a police procedure expert who's analyzed many officer-involved shootings in America -- like Wright's last weekend in Brooklyn Center, MN -- and he says these kinds of investigations require a tremendous amount of time ... to do it properly, anyway.

That's because, according to Williams, the case might not be as clear-cut as footage from one body cam shows ... especially with other officers involved, so there are certainly multiple other videos and pieces of evidence to analyze.

Williams suggests in hastily charging Potter with second-degree manslaughter in Wright's death, the prosecution took shortcuts ... which any good defense attorney could capitalize on if the case goes to trial.

As for why he thinks this happened -- Williams theorizes prosecutors failed to block out all the public noise and attention the case immediately drew ... partly due to the proximity to Minneapolis where Derek Chauvin is standing trial for the murder of George Floyd.

This video is unreal ... a white guy drives away from police, dragging an officer and striking him with a hammer, but was NOT shot -- all of this unfolding in the same state where Daunte Wright was fatally shot by a cop.

Police in Hutchinson, Minnesota were called to a home improvement store because Luke Alvin Oeltjenbruns refused to wear a mask, and allegedly struck an employee with a piece of lumber before fleeing. Cops eventually chased him down in a mall parking lot.

Cops seemed to have Oeltjenbruns hemmed in -- one officer was even clinging to the driver's side door -- but as you see in the video, he rammed 2 police cars and started driving off ... with the cop still holding on to his truck!!!

Hutchinson PD says Oeltjenbruns dragged the officer around and hit him in the head with a hammer before coming to a stop. He was arrested for first-degree assault with great bodily harm.

The officer's reportedly in stable condition.

It's eerily reminiscent to a December 2020 incident in Ohio when a white suspect refused to get out of his car and twice threatened to shoot the police officer before speeding away. That guy was also chased and arrested.

Both incidents stand in stark contrast to how Daunte was treated on Sunday when now-former cop Kim Potter fatally shot him during a traffic stop over expired tags.

Harvey Weinstein's been indicted on sexual assault charges in L.A. and now faces extradition from New York, but he's hoping to stay put because his health is failing... so claims his legal team.

The disgraced movie producer appeared Monday for his extradition hearing via video conference along with his attorneys, Mark Werksman and Norman Effman, who argued against him being sent to L.A. for "humanitarian" reasons.

Effman claims Weinstein is technically blind and has major dental issues -- he's allegedly lost 4 teeth and is in danger of losing more. According to his lawyer, prison officials in NY have scheduled 2 medical procedures for Weinstein ... one for his sight and one for his teeth.

On top of all this ... Effman says his client's still suffering from cardiac issues, diabetes and back pain, along with sleep apnea.

For all of these reasons, Weinstein's team's asking the judge to allow him to remain at the medical unit he's been confined to at the maximum-security prison in New York, where he's serving his sentence for rape.

The judge set the next hearing for later this month, so for now Weinstein will stay put in his prison cell.

As we've reported, despite his 2020 conviction in New York, Weinstein was still facing criminal charges in Los Angeles ... where a grand jury recently indicted him on 11 counts of sexual assault connected to alleged assaults of 5 women.

The woman caught on video pointing a gun out of her car window, then firing it out of her sunroof at a busy L.A. intersection has been charged with 3 felonies ... and she's still sitting in jail.

According to new legal docs, obtained by TMZ ... Ashley Tamika Greenwade's been hit with one count of assault with a firearm for the April 6 incident, along with one count of discharge of a firearm with gross negligence, and one count of having a concealed firearm in a vehicle that's not registered to her.

We're told the first charge is due to Greenwade allegedly aiming her weapon at a person from her vehicle before she fired it up in the air.

Greenwade is still in police custody. She's being held on $35,000 bail ... and is facing up to 4 years behind bars.

As we reported ... the surreal road rage scene went down last week. The suspect was recorded screaming at someone off-camera before whipping out a handgun and loading it.

As she pointed it, she asked .... "Anybody wanna die now? Anybody???" Then, she unloaded several shots straight up through her sunroof.

Shawn Mendes and Camila Cabello can rest easy tonight ... because cops believe they've nabbed the crook who broke into their home and made off with Shawn's ride.

Law enforcement sources tell TMZ ... LAPD officers arrested the suspect Thursday for allegedly entering the couple's home last month while they were home. Cops believe the suspect then stole the keys to Shawn's Mercedes G-Wagon and fled in it.

Turns out the key to cracking this case was ... a key! We're told police caught the suspect while following up on a trespassing call they got last week at a home in another area. Cops say that guy had a key on him, which they later discovered was a match to Shawn's G-Wagon.

Our sources say the perp's been booked on 2 felonies — burglary and grand theft auto.

We broke the story ... the suspect allegedly broke a window to get into Shawn and Camila's L.A. pad last month, before bolting in Shawn's luxury SUV.

Fortunately for the singer, he got his ride back in surprisingly good condition about a week later when cops found it parked on a residential street.