Crime

Coronavirus seems to have folks thinking they can do as they please -- one LAPD officer claims he experienced it firsthand with a rogue, and possibly contagious, car parker.

Law enforcement sources tell TMZ ... a cop in L.A. came across a woman this weekend whom he says was parked in a handicap spot without a proper placard, and when he approached her over the violation ... we're told things turned sickly.

Our sources say the woman almost instantly became combative with the officer, threatening to cough on him and give him coronavirus ... something she claimed she'd contracted.

Well, that didn't deter the cop ... we're told he arrested her for felony criminal threats. Unclear if the woman actually had COVID-19, but in any case ... we're told the officer gloved up for the bust and washed up after.

As for whether the criminal threat charge will stick, that's also hard to say for sure -- as we're told something like that is considered a wobbler -- meaning if she's eventually charged, the D.A. has the option to leave it a felony, or reduce to a misdemeanor.

Nonetheless, it's pretty crazy that an alleged parking violation escalated to a viral face-off. Crazy times, indeed.

Jennifer Lawrence got a rude awakening to cap off her weekend -- cops say a female intruder sauntered right into her crib ... and the way she did it was too damn easy.

Law enforcement sources tell TMZ ... a woman entered JLaw's L.A.-area home Sunday around 9:15 PM PT. We're told the woman was totally unexpected, but still ... went right through the front doors, which were NOT locked.

Even more frightening ... our sources say Jennifer was actually home at the time of the break-in -- unclear if her new hubby, Cooke Maroney, was there ... but JLaw's hired muscle certainly was.

We're told security on hand nabbed the 23-year-old woman before she could make contact with Jennifer. They called the police and the woman was arrested for misdemeanor trespassing. As for why she was there?

Life behind bars ain't too bad for Ronaldinho ... the soccer legend joined a prison league futbol tournament last week -- and reportedly won a pig for dominating the games!!

If ya missed it ... the 39-year-old Brazilian has been locked away in Paraguay prison after officials say he entered the country using a fake passport.

Dinho has been at the facility for about two weeks ... but he's clearly making the most of it -- because the dude joined a soccer league with other inmates and CRUSHED it.

Videos and pictures surfaced of the former Ballon d'Or winner out on the asphalt with the guys ... and according to witnesses, his teams had no trouble piling up wins.

In fact, reports say Ronaldinho and his squad not only got a cool trophy for all the Ws ... they even earned a prized pig for the championship!!

It's a pretty cool moment for Ronaldinho, considering the circumstances ... but it doesn't seem anyone's too worried about a lengthy stay behind bars for the former soccer superstar.

His attorneys have reportedly called the whole passport incident a misunderstanding ... saying Ronaldinho didn't know the documents were fake.

Claressa Shields' brother has just been sentenced to 1 year behind bars for attacking a man at the boxing superstar's weigh-in event back in October.

As you'll recall ... the scene was wild at the Shields-Ivana Habazin pre-fight ceremony in Flint, Mi. -- with Habazin's trainer needing to be rushed to the hospital after witnesses say he was sucker-punched.

The guy -- 68-year-old James Ali Bashir -- was seriously hurt in the attack ... with his face and mouth both swollen and bloodied.

Authorities eventually said the attacker was Artis Mack -- Shields' 28-year-old brother -- and charged him with felony assault with intent to do great bodily harm.

The charge, if convicted, carried a maximum of 10 YEARS in prison.

But, Mack cut a deal with prosecutors last month to avoid that fate ... agreeing to plea to a lesser charge of misdemeanor aggravated assault in the case.

And, according to court docs obtained by TMZ Sports, a judge ordered Mack on Tuesday to serve 365 days behind bars ... but gave him 158 days credit for time served.

We reached out to Mack's attorney for comment ... but so far, no word back yet.

Nicki Minaj's husband finally got his ducks in a row on the West Coast -- getting himself registered as a sex offender, and looking kinda ticked off in the process.

Kenneth Petty is now entered into the California Megan's Law database, which tracks sex offenders in the state. We don't know exactly what day he was registered, but it was clearly very soon after his arrest on Wednesday last week -- so a matter of days, really.

He's listed as 5'9", 170lbs ... and has a Bev Hills address. Check out his booking photo too -- Ken doesn't look very happy to be in custody.

TMZ broke the story ... KP was initially picked up by cops after a traffic stop last year in Bev Hills -- prosecutors say that's when they discovered he was registered as a sex offender in NY, but not yet on the books in California.

He was charged by the L.A. County D.A. for not registering ... before the feds arrested him last week for the same crime. While the L.A. County charge has been dropped, Petty will be back in court next month for the federal case -- and he has to wear an ankle monitor until then.

He also has to keep his nose clean substance-wise -- one of the conditions of his bond is no drugs, including legal weed.

City Girls member JT is tasting freedom ... because we've learned the rapper is outta federal custody after spending the last part of her sentence in a halfway house.

JT was officially released Friday, the Federal Bureau of Prisons tells TMZ. Remember, she'd been in custody since June 2018 after turning herself in on identity theft charges.

As you can imagine, JT's grateful to be home ... posting a ton of selfies Saturday and saying it's the first time she's woken up in her own bed in 2 years!

JT's not completely outta the woods, because legal docs show she's on probation for a year.

According to the terms of her supervised release, JT has to take a drug test within the first 15 days, and she can't have controlled substances or a firearm ... aaand she has to perform 200 hours of community service.

TMZ Sports has obtained video moments after UFC star Brian Ortega allegedly slapped a Korean man at UFC 248 ... and you can hear Ortega say, "I told you I'd slap you like a bitch."

It all went down in the stands at T-Mobile Arena in Vegas on Saturday -- when 29-year-old Ortega approached Jay Park, a Korean musician who recently served as a translator for Korean UFC fighter Jung Chan Sung (known as "Korean Zombie").

Ortega was reportedly upset with Park over comments he made while translating for Korean Zombie during a recent appearance on "Ariel Helwani's MMA Show." Park had claimed Ortega "ducked" a fight with Zombie, which Ortega has adamantly denied.

Things came to a head on Saturday. At 4 seconds into our video, you can hear a slap sound -- followed by commotion and Brian bragging that he slapped Park.

Ortega was escorted out of the arena. Security checked in with Park, who appears to be okay.

After the incident, Park told media he filed a police report with local officials. Unclear if Ortega will be charged with a crime.

Lil Baby's concert Saturday night ended abruptly after gunshots rang out and at least one person was injured.

Check out the video ... you hear the shots and then the panic in the crowd. The rapper was performing at the Bill Harris Arena in West Birmingham, Alabama when someone in the crowd began firing rounds. Some fans hit the floor ... others ran out of the venue.

At least one person was taken to a nearby hospital for treatment. The person's condition is not known.

What we do know is this ... there was some sort of physical altercation before the shots rang out, so it appears this was targeted.

Abdul Razak Alhassan -- a budding MMA star who scored a crazy knockout at UFC 228 in Sept. 2018 -- was just found not guilty in his sexual assault case ... TMZ Sports has confirmed.

Alhassan was facing two charges after he was accused of raping two women inside a Saginaw, Texas home back in March 2018.

The two alleged victims claim they were partying at a bar in Forth Worth (where Alhassan worked as a bouncer) ... when the UFC fighter brought them back to one of their homes and sexually assaulted them.

Alhassan maintained his innocence throughout the case ... and after a trial this week, a district attorney spokesperson confirmed to us a jury found the 34-year-old not guilty on both charges.

Alhassan's attorney, Brandon Barnett, told theScore's Nick Baldwin after the verdict... "Razak has been waiting for this day for two years. He's been ready to go to court and clear his name of these charges"

"We're thankful that we got a really good jury who saw the evidence for what it was."

Alhassan hasn't fought in the UFC since KO'ing Niko Price on Sept. 8, 2018. He's 10-1 in his UFC career.

Woody Allen's been officially canceled ... by the publishing company that was going to release his memoir next month.

Hachette Book Group announced it will no longer publish the famed, but controversial, director's memoir, "Apropos of Nothing," which was originally scheduled to hit bookshelves in April.

The decision comes on the heels of a staff walkout at one of HBG's imprint companies, Little, Brown and Company ... which is Ronan Farrow's publisher. After Ronan voiced his disappointment HBG was working with Allen ... employees at Little, Brown and Co. staged a walkout Thursday, saying ... "We stand in solidarity with Ronan Farrow, Dylan Farrow and survivors of sexual assault."

As you know ... Allen was accused in 1992 by Dylan, his adoptive daughter, of molesting her when she was 7. He's repeatedly denied that.

HBG says, "The decision to cancel Mr. Allen’s book was a difficult one. At HBG we take our relationships with authors very seriously, and do not cancel books lightly."

The publisher adds ... "Also, as a company, we are committed to offering a stimulating, supportive and open work environment for all our staff. Over the past few days, HBG leadership had extensive conversations with our staff and others. After listening, we came to the conclusion that moving forward with publication would not be feasible."

HBG will return all rights of the memoir to the author.

The son of ex-"Real Housewives of Orange County" star Lauri Peterson is off the hook for attempted murder -- thanks to a sweet plea deal -- and he's walking out of jail.

Josh Waring pled guilty on Friday to felony counts of assault with a firearm, evading a peace officer, 2 counts of assault, hit-and-run with property damage and battery ... this according to court records. Waring's attorney, Joel Garson, tells us Waring will get time served and be released later today.

As we've reported ... Waring's been locked up for nearly 4 years while waiting for his trial since his July 2016 arrest when he was accused of shooting a man outside a sober living home. He initially pled not guilty.

It's been a harrowing time for Waring behind bars. As we first reported ... he was ambushed back in October 2019 at the Orange County jail in Santa Ana and brutally assaulted by another inmate wielding razors wrapped in towels.

Waring suffered deep gashes to his chest and face. Waring's lawyer believed the attack could have been retaliation against Josh for filing a federal lawsuit against Orange County and its Sheriff's Department for violating his civil rights.

The Charleston RiverDogs -- the NY Yankees' minor league affiliate -- has canceled their "OJ Trial" night promotion ... after admitting it was a TERRIBLE idea in the first place!!!

Here's why ... the South Carolina based team promoted the May 26 event as a "juicy spin" on the O.J. Simpson murder trial, where fans would play "jury" in an orange juice-themed stadium game.

Here's how the team marketed the event ...

"The trial of the century gets a juicy new spin. We will finally receive the verdict that everyone has been waiting for … pulp or no pulp?"

"Fans will act as our jury, voting with custom paddles to reach verdicts on various topics throughout the night ... Fans will receive an 'OJ Trial' shirt upon entering the stadium. If the shirt don’t fit, you must ... see if we have a different size."

See what they're doing? They're playing off the "OJ" in the O.J. Simpson murder case! Hilarious and creative right?!!? Yeesh ...

Of course, there was immediate backlash from people who felt the whole promotion was in bad taste ... due to the fact the original "O.J. Trial" centered around the brutal murders of two completely innocent people, Ron Goldman and Nicole Brown.

Eventually, the team agreed it was a bad idea and pulled the plug on the whole thing.

"After taking a step back and having further reflection on the overall message that was being conveyed, it was the responsible thing to do," RiverDogs president Dave Echols said.

NBA player Allen Crabbe just struck a plea deal in his drunk driving case ... and won't spend any time behind bars.

27-year-old Crabbe -- who most recently played for the Minnesota Timberwolves -- was pulled over on June 26 in West Hollywood after officers said he showed "signs of driving under the influence."

A TMZ Sports cameraman was nearby when Crabbe was pulled over ... and captured the field sobriety test on video.

It didn't outwardly appear AC bombed the test ... but he was still arrested and charged with DUI.

However, on Thursday, Crabbe pled no contest to a lesser charge ... 1 misdemeanor count of "engaging in a motor vehicle exhibition of speed on a highway."

The 6'6" hooper was sentenced to 3 years probation ... as well as being ordered to complete 2 DUI education courses.

President Trump had a strong message for the 3 ex-prisoners who visited him in the Oval Office alongside Kim Kardashian ... make an impact on society similar to Alice Marie Johnson.

Trump hosted Crystal Munoz, Judith Negron and Tynice Hall at the White House after commuting their prison sentences ... and Crystal says the Prez told them to find a way to make a positive impact on the community now that they're getting a second chance.

Crystal tells us Trump used Alice as a shining example. Kim brought Alice's case directly to Trump in 2018 -- she served 21 years for a nonviolent drug offense -- and after 45 commuted her sentence Alice became a key advocate for criminal justice reform.

During the 30-minute sit-down, Trump asked each woman about their story and shared his opinions on what they should do moving forward.

Crystal is taking Trump's call to action to heart ... telling us she's heading back to her home in West Texas to help her husband start his own screen printing business.

It was a whirlwind day for all the women -- hanging with Kim and Alice at the Four Seasons before being whisked off to The White House and noshing on fancy food.

Ariana Grande's crib was visited by police after someone called 911 claiming shots were being fired on the property ... but we've learned it was nothing more than a swatting call.

Law enforcement sources tell TMZ ... cops sent a couple units to the artist's L.A.-area home Wednesday night around 5 PM after someone called police claiming there was a shooting in progress.

Our sources say Ariana has been swatted at least once before, so police were skeptical when the 911 call came in, but they still sent 2 cars to check out the situation. We're told cops did not talk to Ariana -- they spoke to the property manager -- and law enforcement ultimately determined it was another instance of swatting and LAPD took a 911 abuse report.

Sources say LAPD will investigate because they want to stop swatting calls ... cops say it's dangerous because it takes away resources from where they're needed most.