Crime

Jussie Smollett is trying to return to normalcy as best he can after a whirlwind saga in Chicago ... and that includes mundane tasks like taking trips to the post office.

We got photos of Jussie hitting up a post office in Van Nuys this week ... and you can see just how average his life is becoming.

Folks who were there tell us Jussie was determined to keep a low profile ... he had a woman stand in the passport line for him for over an hour, saving his spot before it was his turn at the counter. Then it was time to sit down with a postal employee.

It's interesting ... when he was arrested February 21 and charged with 16 felonies, he was required to surrender his passport.

It's one of the first times we've seen Jussie in public since the embattled "Empire" actor landed at LAX ahead of the NAACP Awards, where he was the butt of a ton of Chris Rock jokes even though he didn't show. He popped up in the San Fernando Valley this week too, but was quiet as a mouse.

Even though Jussie is trying to get back to normal, he's about to get sued by the city of Chicago for the cost of investigating the "attack."

R. Kelly is trying to get some cash in the bank, but before what seems to be one of his first paid events in a while ... he's already getting ahead of potentially bad optics.

The embattled R&B singer took to Instagram Saturday to record a video of himself in front of what appears to be his Trump Tower residence in Chicago. He says he's gonna be at an event tonight in Springfield, IL ... one that's gonna line his pockets, apparently.

R. Kelly asks the media for a big favor -- to "take it easy" on him, as this is one of the few ways he can make money at the moment. In the clip, he says if and when the media sees him in the club with a couple drinks in his hand -- which presumably means photos or video of this will be leaked at some point -- just know he's only there to collect a check.

It sounds like R. Kelly was anticipating his appearance getting out to the public, and wanted to get ahead of a bad look of him partying in the middle of a serious criminal case. It's unclear where exactly he'll be Saturday night ... he didn't mention the venue by name.

As we've reported ... R. Kelly's been stuck between a rock and a hard place financially these past couple months, with people having to put up major dough not once but TWICE to get him out of jail. He's partially blamed his ex-wife for hindering his ability to make a living.

NBA YoungBoy has officially been charged in his weed case ... and it could have a serious impact on a separate and ongoing criminal case.

The rapper was charged with 2 misdemeanors -- possession of less than an ounce of marijuana and disorderly conduct -- stemming from a case back in February in Atlanta ... this according to court records obtained by TMZ.

As we first reported ... YB was busted along with a female companion, Starr Thigpen, after he allegedly ordered her to get housekeeping out of a room that was supposed to be unoccupied. Starr allegedly struck one of the maids in the face before cops arrived and arrested both of them.

Here's where things could get tricky for YB ... as we first reported, the rapper was indicted in Waycross, GA back in March 2018 for allegedly beating the hell outta his then-GF. One of the charges he faced was felony kidnapping.

We've reached out to the Waycross D.A.'s office to see if the new misdemeanor charges will impact the 2018 case, for which YB's currently out on bond. We do know this much ... YoungBoy has a status conference in front of the judge in the kidnapping case next week.

Stay tuned ...

Kodak Black doesn't seem to care that Lauren London just lost Nipsey Hussle to a brutal murder, 'cause he's already contemplating when and how to holler at her.

The Florida rapper posted a video to his IG Live, which began getting circulated Saturday -- and it shows KB hanging out with some buddies of his and openly talking about Lauren like a piece of meat that he wants for himself in the wake of Nipsey's death.

Check out the clip -- he calls Lauren "that baby" and a "whole widow out here," while also musing that he'll be the best man he can be to nab her next. He says he's even willing to give her a whole year of "crying and s***" before he makes any potential moves on her.

One of his friends asks if Kodak's shooting his shot, but he says he isn't ... he insists he's just being friendly, and wouldn't mind being a shoulder for her to lean on. Kodak also says she "can call my line."

Keep in mind ... it's been less than a week since Lauren's long-term partner and father to her child was gunned down in his own neighborhood. She said she's lost at the moment without him.

Michael Avenatti has roped Zion Williamson into his Nike bribery allegations -- suggesting the shoe company paid the basketball star's mom to get him to go to Duke.

Avenatti tweeted out the accusation Friday night, writing ... "@DukeMBB - About this denial by Coach K the other day relating to payments by Nike...Can you please ask Zion Williamson's mother - Sharonda Sampson - whether she was paid by @nike for bogus 'consulting services' in 2016/2017 as part of a Nike bribe to get Zion to go to Duke? Thx."

The celeb attorney elaborated on his insinuation by saying in a follow-up tweet, "I almost forgot - long day - @DukeMBB can you also have your close friends at @Nike check their Nike Vendor Portal for payments to “Sharonda Sampson Consulting”. Just search 2016 to the present. Appreciate it." He didn't specify how much Nike allegedly paid her.

Avenatti went on to release a document dump of bank statements and memos on Saturday that he claims outlines Nike's alleged payments to high school basketball stars. Interestingly enough, alleged payments to Zion's mom are not included in the attachment.

Nonetheless, Duke Basketball is clearly taking the allegation seriously, as they issued a statement Saturday saying they were aware of Avenatti's claim and were "looking into it" while also adding, "Duke is fully committed to compliance with all NCAA rules and regulations."

It's interesting ... Zion has rocked Nike a lot since getting on the Duke squad, even after one of his PG 2.5 PE kicks blew out in a huge game against North Carolina earlier this year. ZW went on to wear Kyrie Irving's signature Nike shoe upon returning from injury.

Avenatti has implicated multiple basketball stars in his recent bribery claims, including Deandre Ayton and Bol Bol. Of course, Avenatti was indicted by the feds for allegedly attempting to extort Nike to keep all this info under wraps ... something Avenatti denies.

Mally Mall and Swae Lee can always visit the L.A. Zoo if they want to see jungle cats and monkeys ... because there's little to no chance they're getting their exotic pets back.

Law enforcement sources tell TMZ ... after Mally's Serval cat and Swae's spider monkey were seized in Wednesday's SWAT raids, the animals were immediately taken to special facilities. We're told Mally and Swae will ONLY get the animals back if they had legal reasons to possess them -- such as owning a zoo or an animal educational facility -- and that's just not the case here.

Even if Mally and Swae had a legit reason for housing the Serval cat and spider monkey, we're told they would still need to apply for permits to get the animals back, but those applications would be blocked because of their history.

Mally's had tons of issues with exotic animals in the past ... the Health Dept. launched an investigation when he brought a capuchin monkey to the Ace of Diamonds strip club, and he once gifted Justin Bieber a monkey and an ocelot.

We broke the story ... 40 SWAT team members, armed to the teeth, raided Mally's home Wednesday morning, executing search warrants for exotic animal possession and human trafficking. Swae's home was also raided.

As it stands, we're told the Serval cat and spider monkey seized in the raids are being housed in facilities that are permitted to possess each type of animal, with the capability of providing proper care and adequate caging.

Maybe just a house cat next time?!?

Chance the Rapper's bodyguard allegedly unleashed a can of whoop-ass -- caught on surveillance video -- and now the guy on the receiving end is suing.

Travis Montgomery is suing the rapper's muscle, claiming Star Thomas beat the hell outta him in August 2017 after a verbal exchange inside the lobby of the W Hotel in Chicago. Montgomery says the incident was even more violent considering Thomas's size ... 6 foot 4 and about 300 pounds, according to the suit.

In the docs, obtained by TMZ, Montgomery says Thomas had blocked him from jumping inside an elevator earlier in the day, because Chance was aboard. Montgomery says he ran into Chance's entourage again later in the day -- and that's when things got violent in the lobby.

Montgomery claims Thomas grabbed him by the neck, pushed him violently into a wall and held him by his neck, choking him. You can see it all play out in the video.

As we first reported ... cops were called to the scene and Thomas was booked for misdemeanor simple battery. Montgomery, who's hired attorney Tim Tomasik ... also has beef with the hotel for having inadequate security.

Ice Cube agrees ... there's absolutely no reason to delay immortalizing Nipsey Hussle on the streets of his hometown, and he also has a message for people feeling the loss.

We got Cube Friday at LAX and asked him about a Change.org petition calling on city officials to rename the intersection of Crenshaw Blvd. and Slauson Ave. as "Nipsey Hussle Way." The petition has spread like wildfire ... and already has more than 420,000 signatures.

Check out the clip ... Cube's on board with anything that keeps Nipsey's legacy alive.

However, he also hinted at something that's been a concern in L.A. since Nipsey's murder: the fear of retaliation and more violence. Even as he offered positive thoughts, Cube's parting words seemed to refer to that simmering threat.

Even police are worried Nipsey's accused killer, Eric Holder, could be offed in jail -- and, as a result, he's being held in solitary confinement.

Rams head coach Sean McVay's L.A. home was burglarized Thursday night by men who broke in and made off with a bunch of valuables ... law enforcement sources tell TMZ Sports.

We're told 3 men wearing hoodies, bandanas and gloves smashed through the back door of the home ... before stealing $20k worth of jewelry and expensive purses.

No one was home ... and McVay's security system went off -- alerting police to the break-in -- but when they arrived, the thieves were gone.

In addition to what was stolen, we're told there was damage done to the house ... which is still being assessed.

McVay lives with his longtime girlfriend, Veronika Khomyn.

Our law enforcement sources tell us cops are trying to identify the men using surveillance from McVay's home ... as well as from his neighbors' cameras.

McVay isn't the first L.A. Ram to get burglarized ... receiver Robert Woods had his home broken into last year during a Thursday Night Football game.

9:05 AM PT -- Rini initially refused to provide fingerprints when he talked to investigators who met him at Cincinnati Children's Hospital, but authorities say he absolutely claimed to be 14-year-old Timmothy Pitzen. However, he agreed to the DNA testing.

When officers confronted him with the results, which proved he's NOT Timmothy, he immediately copped to being a phony. According to the U.S. Attorney, Rini said he'd seen Timmothy's story on an episode of "20/20" ... and cooked up the idea to impersonate him in order to get away from his own family.

He said, "He wished he had a father like Timmothy's because if he went missing, his father would just keep drinking."

And there's this ... the FBI says Rini's done this kind of thing twice before -- pretending to be a victim of juvenile sex trafficking. He was exposed both times through fingerprints.

The U.S. Attorney says if Rini's convicted this time he faces up to 8 years in prison.

8:51 AM PT -- Authorities have just announced that Rini has been charged by the FBI for making false statements to a federal agent.

The FBI released a statement, saying, "False reports like this can be painful to the families of missing children and also divert law enforcement resources in order to investigate these untruthful claims."

They continue, "Law enforcement takes dishonest reports very seriously, and we caution that people making false claims can and will face criminal penalties."

8:21 AM PT -- Federal and local law enforcement will be providing an update of the situation at 8:30 AM PT. We will be live streaming.

7:05 AM PT -- It appears the relevant law for which Rini's being held prohibits people from engaging in a "trick or scheme" to falsify, conceal or cover up a lie.

7:00 AM PT -- It appears Rini's accused of making false statements to law enforcement. Since the FBI conducted the DNA testing ... he most likely lied to FBI agents, and that's why the feds will be taking him into custody.

The guy cops say posed as missing child Timmothy Pitzen is now getting all the attention he wants ... in jail.

Brian Michael Rini was busted in Hamilton County, Ohio late Thursday night, and his mug shot raises a lot of questions. The 23-year-old who posed as Timmothy -- who would now be 14 years old -- is rocking a 5:00 shadow!

The case just gets more and more bizarre.

ICYMI ... someone called 911 on Wednesday to say Rini was wandering around and claiming to be Timmothy, who went missing 7 years ago -- a case that drew national attention, and was even recently featured on the A&E show, "Live PD." Local cops and the FBI responded and picked up Rini ... but immediately did DNA testing to confirm if he was really Timmothy.

On Thursday, the test came back negative, and law enforcement knew they had an impostor. It's still unclear what Rini's motive was and what he's being charged with for pretending to be Timmothy -- but we know the U.S. Attorney's Office is on the case. So, he's going to be charged federally.

He was detained Thursday night in Ohio, and the feds have scheduled a news conference for 8:30 AM PT ... which TMZ will live stream in this post.

Rini, as it turns out, has a lengthy rap sheet. He just got out of jail a month ago after doing 18 months for vandalism and burglary. He's also been convicted of unauthorized use of a vehicle.

Jussie Smollett's lawyer says the actor will not be intimidated by the City of Chicago's latest move -- to recover $130k in investigative costs -- hinting he might sue the City for defamation.

Jussie's lawyer, Mark Geragos, fired off an angry letter to the city, saying Jussie "will not be intimated," calling the claim his client faked the "attack" "false and defamatory."

As we reported, the City is preparing a civil lawsuit to recover the $130k it spent in investigating Jussie's claim that he was the victim of a racist, homophobic attack. The lawsuit is significant, because it effectively puts Jussie on trial and the standard of proof is much lower than a criminal case.

Geragos says the attack was real, and points to the Osundairo brothers as the culprits.

And, Geragos is quick to point out, the State's Attorney dropped all 16 felony charges against his client.

He then threatens that he will grill Mayor Rahm Emanuel and Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson like cheeseburgers in depositions if the City goes through with the lawsuit. Both men were extremely critical of State's Attorney Kim Foxx for dropping the charges, saying Jussie did indeed fake the attack.

Dak Prescott is lucky his dogs are still alive ... TMZ Sports has obtained video of the day the QB's pets allegedly attacked his neighbor -- and it shows a cop had an assault rifle trained on the animals with a finger on the trigger.

It all went down on Feb. 25, when two of Dak's pit bulls managed to escape his Frisco, Texas home ... and made their way down the street to a neighbor's yard.

Officials say the dogs chewed through the neighbor's fence ... attacked her dogs -- and when she tried to intervene, one of the pit bulls chewed off the top of her finger.

Police body cam footage shows the aftermath of the attack ... when cops arrived on the scene and found the two animals running loose in the streets.

The video is extremely intense ... in order to keep the Dallas Cowboys star's pets at bay, one officer trains his assault rifle on the dogs and yells, "GET BACK!"

Luckily for all parties, Dak's dogs weren't aggressive ... and when Prescott's good friend showed up with leashes -- they quickly retreated and the situation was diffused.

Dak's dad, Nathaniel Prescott, also eventually showed up to help squash the situation ... ensuring cops he wouldn't let the dogs get out ever again, apologizing repeatedly for their actions.

As we previously reported, one of Dak's dogs, Icon, was punished for the incident ... with officials only releasing him back to Dak under the condition he is removed from Frisco.

For his part, the QB never commented on the issue ... and multiple attempts to reach his camp for comment were unsuccessful.

Jussie Smollett is about to get sued by the City of Chicago and, in the process, he could effectively go on trial for allegedly faking the "attack."

As we reported, the City of Chicago fired off a letter to Jussie's people, demanding $130,000 for the cost of investigating the case. Jussie's people told the City to go pound sand.

The City had to wait 7 days before filing a civil lawsuit against the actor. Well the 7 days has now passed, and the City has made its intentions clear -- they are going forward with the lawsuit.

A spokesman for the City says, "Mr. Smollett has refused to reimburse the City of Chicago for the cost of police overtime spent investigating his false police report on January 29, 2019. The Law Department is now drafting a civil complaint that will be filed in the Circuit Court of Cook County. Once it is filed, the Law Department will send a courtesy copy of the complaint to Mr. Smollett's L.A. based legal team."

The stakes are high for Jussie ... the City can ask for 3 times the actual cost of investigation ... $390,000.

In addition, in order to win, the City must prove that it's more likely than not that Jussie faked the "attack." This, in effect, puts Jussie on trial before an administrative law judge.

2:53 PM PT -- Holder just pled not guilty and his bond was set at $5 million ... he will be back in court May 10. Holder's attorney is Chris Darden ... who was famously part of the prosecution team in O.J. Simpson's double murder trial.

Nipsey Hussle's alleged killer, Eric Holder, is now officially charged with murder, and he's about to appear in court for the first time since his arrest.

The L.A. County D.A. charged him with 1 count of murder, 2 counts of attempted murder and 1 count of possession of a firearm by a felon. Holder faces the possibility of life in prison if convicted.

The attempted murder charges are for the alleged shootings of Kerry Lathan and Shermi Cervabta Villanueva. We broke the story ... the only reason Nipsey was at his Marathon Clothing store Sunday morning was to help his friend Kerry -- who recently got out of jail -- get some new clothes. Shermi is Kerry's nephew and had driven him to meet with Nipsey.

Holder is being held in solitary confinement, as cops fear he'll be offed in jail because they believe he's a target. As we reported ... LAPD picked up Holder from the L.A. County Sheriff's Department station in Lakewood after his Tuesday arrest, and transferred him to a police station in South L.A.

It's doubtful he sees the light of day anytime soon, his bail's already been set at a whopping $7,040,000.

Cops say they believe Holder -- who goes by the street name, Shitty Cuz -- is the person seen in surveillance video shooting Nipsey and his friends multiple times. The Crenshaw rapper died Sunday afternoon from gunshots to his head and torso.

3:31 PM PT -- Timmothy's Aunt and Grandmother have just spoken out, thanking law enforcement and promising that they will never stop looking for Timmothy.

They also asked everyone to join them in praying for Rini, stating, "We hope our tragedy will help to shed some light on the horrific problems of suicide and missing children in our country."

2:05 PM PT -- The story just keeps getting more bizarre ... the kid claiming to be Timmothy isn't a kid at all! Cops say he's a 23-year-old MAN named Brian Michael Rini.

1:48 PM PT -- According to The FBI, DNA testing has revealed the 14-year-old claiming to be Timmothy is NOT the missing child. A statement reads, "A local investigation continues into this person's true identity."

Timmothy Pitzen -- a 6-year-old child who famously went missing in 2011 and was featured on "Live PD" -- has allegedly been found in Ohio after escaping his captors.

The story's pretty wild. A teenager discovered by locals in north Kentucky Wednesday morning claimed to be Timmothy and said he'd just escaped his 2 kidnappers. He reportedly said they'd been holding him for 7 years. The locals then called 911.

Cops went on the hunt, and eventually found the boy in Sharonville, OH ... just outside of Cincinnati. He claims he's 14-years-old now, and managed to escape from a Red Roof Inn ... although he's unsure where the motel was. He describes his kidnappers as white men covered in tattoos on their necks and arms who look like bodybuilders.

It's unclear if the teen, who's now in police custody is, in fact, Timmothy. A DNA test to confirm his identity is reportedly underway and should take about 24 hours.

Timmothy initially disappeared after his mother took him out of school one day for a 3-day vacation, but she ended up being found dead a few days later at an Illinois hotel. A note was found near her body, saying Timmothy was safe with people who'd care for him.

The story was heavily covered at the time, and even featured last year on the popular A&E show, "Live PD." The show produced a visual rendering of what Timmothy should look like now.

Jussie Smollett ain't out of a job in Hollywood ... at least according to Taraji P. Henson who says the embattled actor is slated to return to "Empire" ... assuming it officially gets greenlit for season 6.

Taraji dropped the news Thursday after Joy Behar straight-up asked on "The View" if Jussie's gonna be on the show -- currently in hiatus -- next season. Taraji didn't beat around the bush saying, "Yes. I haven't heard anything else." There is, of course, wiggle room here -- she may not be looped in.

The fifth season of "Empire" wrapped up last week but there's been no official word on whether season 6 is a go ... but Taraji made it sound as if it's all but official.

Check out the vid ... Taraji's also asked if she still talks to Jussie. Her answer might surprise you. Or not.

As you know ... prosecutors dropped Jussie's case but he's still in the city of Chicago's crosshairs.