Crime & Arrests

The federal prosecutors who will be trying to secure a conviction against Diddy in his upcoming trial are all white women ... led by the daughter of former FBI director James Comey.

Maurene Ryan Comey is set to lead the team of U.S. Attorneys from the vaunted Southern District of New York next week in court, when jury selection begins in Diddy's sex trafficking trial.

Maurene's father is the former FBI director who had a controversial role in the 2016 presidential election. James was ultimately fired from his post by President Trump a few months into Trump's first term.

Olympic sprinter Fred Kerley is once again in trouble with the law ... TMZ Sports has learned he was arrested on Thursday after he allegedly struck his ex-girlfriend in the face.

According to an arrest report we obtained ... cops were dispatched to Dania Beach, FL around 7:48 PM to investigate Kerley after Alaysha Johnson reported to authorities he had hit her.

The police docs state Johnson told officers she was at a conditioning appointment for an upcoming track and field event when she ran into Fred -- whom she had previously dated for about six months.

12:48 PM PT -- The creative team behind "Luigi: The Musical" released a statement assuring the public the musical is, "not a celebration of violence of any kind" and they "do not condone violence, sexual assault, or pedophilia in any form."

The legend of Luigi Mangione is growing ... because he's the subject of an upcoming musical, and it's the hottest ticket in San Francisco.

Luigi is the inspiration behind a musical comedy coming to the Taylor Street Theatre in San Francisco, and the play's entire run is already sold out.

"Luigi: The Musical" will also feature Diddy and Sam Bankman-Fried as characters ... with scenes and musical numbers centered around Luigi's time at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, where all 3 men are in custody.

Diddy was back in court Thursday for one final hearing before his criminal trial ... and he told the judge he rejected a plea deal presented to him by federal prosecutors.

The Bad Boy Records founder strolled into a Manhattan courtroom wearing a tan jail jumpsuit, looking gray and thin ... and he waved to the public and media seated in the gallery before taking a seat at the defense table between two of his attorneys, Teny Geragos and Brian Steel.

Diddy was smiling and in good spirits ... chatting with Teny and Brian ... and he was chummy and seemed unfazed by the upcoming trial.

George Santos says there's a lot of bad hombres behind bars who want to rough him up for one reason or another ... and he's again turning up the pressure on the Federal Bureau of Prisons to keep him safe.

The former New York Congressman joined us on "TMZ Live" Thursday and we asked him about his warning to the BOP -- that there will be hell to pay if he's brutalized behind bars.

George is set to begin a 7-year sentence this summer and he tells us there's a big target on his back for a number of reasons ... namely, his sexuality and his Congressional activity.

John "LJ" Scott Jr.'s death is sparking outrage ... with new video of his arrest appearing to show police dragging him across the ground in a police station.

If you don't know ... Scott died on April 22, about a week after he was taken into custody by Decatur Police in Alabama on April 15 -- with cops saying he suffered a medical emergency and passed away in the hospital.

Police reportedly arrived at an apartment complex on April 15, where they say they found Scott "sweating heavily and exhibiting erratic behavior."

Virginia Giuffre's father isn't buying the official narrative about his daughter's death ... claiming there's no way she killed herself -- and, instead, he says someone got to her.

Sky Roberts spoke with Piers Morgan Thursday ... and, he says it's been an emotional time for the family -- with lots of tears and disbelief at Virginia's death.

He then added, "And then for them to say that she committed suicide, there's no way that she did. Somebody got to her.”

George Santos is warning the Bureau of Prisons ... predicting an "international nightmare" if he's brutalized behind bars during an upcoming prison stint.

The former New York congressman tells TMZ ... if anything bad happens to him in federal prison, the BOP is going to have a problem on their hands.

Santos warns ... if his bodily autonomy is violated, it's going to be bad for the BOP. He imagines his attorney releasing a statement about him being brutalized or sexually assaulted in prison ... something he doesn't think the BOP wants to deal with.

Diddy gets to spruce up his look for his upcoming criminal trial ... the judge just signed off on letting him go with a business casual look in court, instead of his jail jumpsuits.

According to new legal docs, obtained by TMZ, Diddy just got a signed order from the judge allowing him to receive non-prison clothing at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn to wear at next month's trial.

Diddy's got permission to have up to 5 button-down shirts, 5 pairs of pants, 5 sweaters, 5 pairs of socks and 2 pairs of shoes without laces to wear to court.

Mario Edgardo Garcia-Aquino, the youth soccer coach charged with murdering a California teenager, is so dangerous to young men that he needs to be taken off the streets -- that’s what the alleged victim's lawyer is saying.

Luis Carrillo was at an L.A. courthouse for Mario's arraignment Wednesday, where Luis straight-up told us Mario deserves life behind bars at the very least ... and he thinks the D.A. might even push for the death penalty -- but if they do, that decision would ultimately be up to the jury.

Catch the clip, because Luis doesn't hold back. He calls Mario a cold-blooded killer and breaks it down, saying he had no business being in a job where he was around young boys in the first place.

Harvey Weinstein accuser Miriam Haley got emotional as she testified for a second time about the time she claims he sexually assaulted her in his Manhattan apartment.

Miriam, a former television production assistant, took the stand Wednesday in Weinstein's retrial and told the jury about an alleged 2006 rape.

Weinstein's accuser says he invited her over to his Manhattan apartment after getting her a ticket to the "Clerks II" movie premiere in Los Angeles, and she accepted the invite.

Henry Ruggs isn't giving up on his NFL career as he serves his lengthy prison sentence -- so says his former teammate, Josh Jacobs, who claims the wide receiver is training his ass off behind bars.

Ruggs is currently serving three to 10 years for a high-speed crash on November 2, 2021, in which he slammed his Corvette into Tina Tintor's vehicle, killing her and her dog.

The 26-year-old will be eligible for parole in 2026 ... and if he does end up getting out, Jacobs said he will look to return to his day job.

The high-profile trial of the "Grandpa Robbers" accused of targeting Kim Kardashian in a $10-million jewelry heist in Paris continued Wednesday ... with the accused ringleader taking the stand.

The 68-year-old man known as "Old Omar" was forced to respond to questions in court via handwritten notes -- he's deaf and mute, and read questions from a typed transcript. His responses were projected on a screen in the courtroom, where he denied he was the leader of the gang.

Omar -- real name Aomar Aït Khedache -- admits he was part of the gang that broke into Kim Kardashian's hotel room during Paris Fashion Week in October 2016 ... but he denies being the head of the group, as prosecutors allege.

Virginia Giuffre’s family found a raw, handwritten note she penned before taking her own life -- and now they’re sharing it with the world.

In a Facebook post, Virginia’s sister-in-law Amanda Roberts said the family wanted to release a quote from a journal Virginia had written, which was found at her Aussie farmhouse ... where she died by suicide Friday. The quote is a powerful message of solidarity with fellow survivors of sexual abuse.

The message reads, "Mothers, Fathers, Sisters + Brothers need to show the battle lines are drawn, and we stand together to fight for the future of victims  - Is protesting the answer - I don't know but we've got to start somewhere."

UFC fighter Sedriques Dumas has been arrested again, TMZ Sports has confirmed ... and now, he's facing a handful of criminal charges -- including robbery and battery.

The middleweight mixed-martial artist was locked up by the Escambia County Sheriff's Office in Pensacola, Fla., on Monday ... and court records show he's since been hit with five total charges over the police run-in.

Several are felonies, including home invasion robbery, possession of a weapon or ammo by a convicted felon, and possession of a controlled substance with a prescription. The other two -- battery and drug equipment possession -- are misdemeanors.

The high-profile trial of 10 suspects in the multimillion-dollar jewelry heist of Kim Kardashian in Paris in 2016 is underway this week ... and three of the defendants in the country's biggest robbery in decades testified today.

Two of the "Grandpa Robbers" -- they're in their 60s and 70s -- took the stand Tuesday, including one who wrote a book about the incident ... titled "I Kidnapped Kim Kardashian."

Yunice Abbas, the 71-year-old author, was up first ... fleeing the robbery scene on a bicycle, he fell and dropped a bag of jewelry, spilling gems. He said he picked up what he could, but left a $24,000 diamond necklace on the street. That necklace was found by a pedestrian later that morning, who reportedly wore it at work that day -- before finding out about the robbery and turning it over to police, BBC News reports.