Crime

An Arizona woman says she was sent by President Trump and a conspiracy theory group to take Target to task for selling face masks ... and to flaunt her alleged high-priced watch.

The Internet has dubbed this gal here "QAnon Karen" after she filmed herself going into a Scottsdale-area Target and knocking down all the face masks on display in one of their aisles. She had to talk herself up before doing it, making it sound like a last stand mission.

She rants and about "not doing it" anymore -- which we think means she's not gonna let face masks be sold anymore??? Who the hell knows, but she went to town on the display.

Some staffer eventually comes over and asks her to stop, but she refuses ... incoherently saying they let "everyone else do it," and then questioning if they're trying to stop her because she's a white, blonde woman. But wait, it gets even more cringe-worthy!

'Karen' ponders whether they're hassling her because she has on a "$40,000 Rolex" ... just utter nonsense, but also hilarious. People have noted that Rollies don't usually shop at and/or terrorize Targets -- not really fair, because Targets are awesome. But again, this woman thinks she was sent by higher powers ... those powers being 45 and QAnon, of which she says she's a spokesperson.

Another video showed the aftermath of all this -- it appears cops tracked her down to her home and arrested her, which she also recorded. You gotta watch that mess on your own.

A BBQ will get you shot at a Del City, Oklahoma Walmart ... that is if you dare to steal one.

It's hard to believe watching the video, but an off-duty officer from a college police department happened to be at the superstore and decided to take the law into his own hands after spotting a customer allegedly making off with a BBQ without paying.

As the customer and the cop get into a scuffle in the parking lot, you see the customer in the driver's seat back up while the cop is close to the vehicle. That's all it took for the officer to fire off 11 rounds.

Remarkably, the customer wasn't killed, but he was taken to a local hospital. It's unclear how many times, if any, he was hit. He is reportedly in stable condition.

As for the cop ... he's a member of the Langston University PD. His department says they are cooperating with the Del City Police Dept. which is investigating.

What started out as a peaceful and community-led performance in Missouri quickly turned violent for no reason ... this after a grown man punched out a little kid.

This heinous act went down Friday night in Cape Girardeau, MO, a little after 11:30 PM, when two young kids were performing on a street corner ... busting some moves to music they had playing on a speaker, while filming themselves live from a nearby camera.

Soon enough, a man joins them and starts popping and locking too. His name is Micheal 'Crank' Curry, the one who posted the video. He tells TMZ these two kids are students of his -- he runs a local dance studio -- and they do this all the time without any issue.

The three of them were going back and forth for a while, until the taller of the two boys -- who's said to only be 12 years old -- got up to dance, only to get viciously attacked.

In the middle of his performance, a black CRV-type car pulls up alongside them, and a man hops out the passenger side. The kid notices him, but doesn't think anything of it as the guy dances along with them and inches even closer ... masking his true intentions.

When he's right next to the boy, he swings wildly and hits the side of his head, knocking him clean to the ground. Micheal screams out in shock and tries chasing him. The guy scurries back to the car and they take off ... Micheal comes back to attend to the kid.

Bystanders rush over quickly to help him up -- you can tell he's badly injured, but still tough as hell considering he was able to get up on his own two feet.

Micheal tells us the victim's name is Ethan, but he goes by Eman. The boy was taken to a local hospital, where Micheal says he was treated for a concussion and a bad nose bleed. Eman doesn't know who punched him or why -- it was a random act of violence.

The "Karen" who spewed multiple racist tirades in Southern California has just been charged with battery ... TMZ has learned.

Law enforcement sources tell TMZ ... the notorious SoCal "Karen" is 56-year-old Lena Hernandez from Long Beach, and on Friday the Torrance City Attorney's Office charged her with misdemeanor battery.

Our sources also tell us a Los Angeles County Superior Court judge has issued an arrest warrant for Hernandez, who has not been apprehended yet.

The battery charges are related to an incident that occurred Oct. 11 at a mall in Torrance, and was reported to police later that day.

There's no video of that incident, but as we reported ...  Hernandez was recorded during a racist rant in a Torrance park last month. She was yelling at a young woman who was trying to work out in the park.

Video of another incident involving Hernandez, this time in a parking lot, also surfaced and is believed to be from the same day as the park incident.

Our law enforcement sources say there is not enough evidence for prosecutors to file criminal charges against Hernandez for the incident at the park.

The Mystic Quality Inn in Stonington, Connecticut was the site of a brutal attack against a black woman, and she's lawyered up for justice.

Chrystal Caldwell was working the front desk when a guest reportedly called, complaining there was no hot water in his room. He also allegedly threatened Chrystal, warning her his girlfriend would "kick her ass." She says she offered to send someone to fix the problem or alternatively, to switch their room, but they were outraged ... calling her names, including "monkey."

The man and his girlfriend reportedly barreled down to the lobby area and attacked her with multiple punches to the head and kicks to the back. She says he used racial slurs as he pummeled her.

Chrystal, who has worked at the hotel for 7 years, says her injuries include a concussion.

Russell Wilson touchdown pass to ... Antonio Brown?!!?

That was a reality at the QB's workout field in San Diego on Wednesday ... and the possibility of the connection becoming a thing in Seattle this season seems to be getting more and more real.

31-year-old AB caught a bunch of passes from the former Super Bowl champ ... and based on the clips the WR shared on social media -- the two seem to have a hell of a rapport already.

Check out one of the plays where Brown tracked down a LOOONNGGGG deep ball from Russ ... it sure looked like something Pete Carroll wouldn't mind seeing at CenturyLink Field this year.

Brown certainly seems to be hoping so, at least ... he captioned one of the vids by saying, "Who would like to see this on Sundays 🤔 ? that was fun !!!!!!!!!!"

AB also got in some reps with Wilson's teammate, Geno Smith (as he's done often this offseason), during the sweat sesh as well ... begging the question, could this really be a preview of the Seahawks' offense this season????

Seattle DOES need another wideout to couple with D.K. Metcalf and Tyler Lockett ... but it's unclear just how many games Brown will be forced to miss in 2020.

Tori Brixx can't seem to stay out of danger -- she was allegedly the victim of another home invasion robbery, but thankfully ... she wasn't injured this time.

Law enforcement sources tell TMZ ... Tori is one of several alleged victims of a home invasion earlier this week in L.A., where perps allegedly made off with more than $100k in property.

We're told there was a party at a rental house with 15-20 people, and sometime around midnight ... cops say 6 men wearing masks entered via a back door and held everyone up.

Our LE sources say the suspects were armed and demanded the partygoers' cash, jewelry and phones.

We're told police are now looking for videos from around the area, but so far, no arrests have been made and the investigation is ongoing.

Other sources say Tori and others were celebrating the bday of their friend, Darlene, and the home was a listing of a real estate agent attending the party. Tori posted video from inside the house just hours before the alleged incident.

We're told among the property stolen ... 5 purses.

You may recall ... it was 2 years ago when Tori was with Rich the Kid at her home when robbers broke in demanding cash and jewelry. Tori was pistol-whipped and suffered a deep cut on her cheek, along with bruising and swelling around her eye.

Huge day in court for Robert Kraft ... the State of Florida is trying to convince an appeals court to ALLOW graphic video shot from inside a Jupiter day spa to be used against Kraft in his sex acts case.

It's all happening right now -- and it's all being live streamed.

Remember, prosecutors say cops got a warrant to secretly install cameras inside the spa because they believed it was operating as a brothel ... and they wanted to catch criminal activity in the act.

Cops say they have footage of Kraft at the spa on 2 different occasions in 2019.

But, in a previous ruling, a judge ruled the video was NOT permissible because law enforcement did not do enough in their surveillance to protect innocent people who were inside the spa getting perfectly legal massages.

The State of Florida has appealed that decision -- and now a panel of judges in the Fourth District Court of Appeal (located in West Palm Beach) will decide if the previous ruling will stand.

Jeffrey DeSousa is representing the State of Florida. Derek Shaffer is representing Robert Kraft.

DeSousa claims the video of Kraft, specifically, was shot legally -- and prosecutors should be able to use the footage to prosecute him ... claiming its essentially a smoking gun.

As we previously reported, Kraft was busted back in Feb. 2019 after officials say a sting operation at a Jupiter, Fla. massage parlor revealed the New. England Patriots owner did illegally pay for sex acts on at least 2 occasions.

Originally, the video WAS to be allowed in the case ... but Kraft's dream team of attorneys successfully argued at a series of hearings last year it should not be permissible.

The four former Minneapolis cops charged in George Floyd's alleged murder are back in front of a judge ... and it's the first time we're seeing two of them appear in court.

J. Alexander Kueng and Thomas K. Lane strolled into Hennepin County District Court Monday for a pretrial hearing, accompanied by their defense attorneys, and that's who you see in the video.

The other ex-officers, Derek Chauvin and Tou Thao, didn't post bond like their former colleagues and are still in jail. No cameras are allowed inside the courtroom for today's proceedings.

The last time we saw Kueng, he was shopping at a local grocery store -- he's out on a $750k bond -- when a woman recognized him and confronted him, shoving a camera in his face.

Lane, meanwhile, posted his $750k bail after his family started soliciting donations via a website they set up to raise dough for his legal defense.

Chauvin, who kept his knee pressed on Floyd's neck for 8 minutes and 46 seconds, is charged with 2nd-degree murder and 2nd-degree manslaughter.

Kueng, Lane and Thao are charged with two counts each -- one for aiding and abetting 2nd-degree murder and one for aiding and abetting 2nd-degree manslaughter.

A guy who went swimming with the fishes and lived to tell the tale is now priority number one for police in Bossier City, Louisiana -- we're kidding ... but the guy is still kinda in trouble.

Check out this doofus who thought it'd be cool to walk into a Bass Pro Shop store ... and then take a dip in their giant aquarium in the middle of the floor. That's exactly what this dude did this past week, which was all recorded by shocked (and amused) bystanders.

He does a solid lap through frantic fish that try to swim around him -- and once he reaches the end, this free diver calmly lifts himself out and jumps down soaking wet. BTW, he went in fully clothed, shoes and all. It's like he did this on a weird dare or something.

Anyway, before he could get scolded by the staff -- looks like an employee was making his way over to him -- the guy gets a nice little jog going and scrams ... exiting the store before he could be stopped. Harmless enough, right??? WRONG!!! So says the shop itself.

The store filed a complaint with police, because they incurred costs by having to empty out the tank, clean it and refill it again because of possible contamination he'd left behind.

Colorado authorities are taking a second crack at investigating the death of Elijah McClain, who died last year after being stopped by police, and put into a chokehold.

Governor Jared Polis appointed a special prosecutor Thursday to reopen the inquiry into Elijah's death and potentially prosecute the cops who were involved.

As you've probably read ... Elijah died back in August 2019 after police stopped him on a street in suburban Denver. His story has gone viral this week, and become a rallying cry for protests against police brutality and systemic racism.

Mari Newman -- the attorney for Elijah's family -- tells TMZ ... "It shouldn't take a petition signed by millions to hold police accountable when they kill an innocent black man."

The Governor is putting state Attorney General Phil Weiser on the case and Polis says, "Elijah McClain should be alive today, and we owe it to his family to take this step and elevate the pursuit of justice in his name to a statewide concern."

Polis says he was moved to act in part because of Elijah's mother, who described her son as a "responsible and curious child ... who could inspire the darkest soul."

Aurora PD officers stopped Elijah on August 24, 2019, while responding to a call about a suspicious person walking the streets wearing a ski mask and waving his arms. His family says he commonly wore the mask to keep warm ... due to his anemia.

Cops say Elijah refused to stop walking down the street and resisted when police confronted him and attempted to place him in custody. One of the cops placed Elijah in a chokehold.

Body-camera footage of the incident shows Elijah telling the cops, "Let go of me. I am an introvert. Please respect the boundaries that I am speaking." His words are now popping up on social media posts demanding justice.

The Ahmaud Arbery murder case is moving at lightning speed ... seemingly light-years faster than the Breonna Taylor case ... and TMZ's learned both of their mothers will join forces in their fight for justice.

Lee Merritt -- attorney for Ahmaud's mother, Wanda Cooper-Jones -- tells us ... Ahmaud's mom is all set for a face-to-face with Breonna's mother, Tamika Palmer, Thursday in Louisville. It will be their first face-to-face meeting.

Wanda, who flew from Georgia to Louisville Wednesday night, is in for a busy day ... we're told after her sit-down with Tamika, she's scheduled to meet with lawmakers and local activists to fight for justice for Breonna.

Merritt will accompany Wanda as they lobby to have the Louisville police officers involved in Breonna's death arrested and charged. They will also lobby for federal intervention ... the feds could charge a civil rights violation ... something they did in the Rodney King case to secure convictions.

One item at the top of the agenda -- the Justice Act, which was just introduced in the State Senate and calls for police reform, transparency and accountability. Merritt tells us the bill doesn't go far enough to help Breonna's family get justice.

As we reported ... the 3 individuals charged in Ahmaud's murder -- Travis McMichael, Gregory McMichael and William "Roddie" Bryan -- were indicted by a grand jury Wednesday, and are each facing 1 count of malice murder, 4 counts felony murder, 2 counts aggravated assault, 1 count false imprisonment and 1 count criminal attempt to commit false imprisonment.

Meanwhile, the cops involved in Breonna's death have yet to be arrested. As you know, Breonna was shot 8 times after cops entered her home in the middle of the night looking for someone else. They also lied and said in the police report she was not injured.

Tekashi 6ix9ine's Instagram page will stay up and running despite renewed uproar over his criminal record -- because the platform feels he hasn't violated their rules.

Here's the deal ... 6ix9ine ran into some legal trouble even before he hit it big. When he was younger -- age 18 -- he pled guilty to one count of Use of a Child in a Sexual Performance.

In light of that, folks started asking why he's even allowed to have an IG since Facebook -- the parent company -- has explicit terms saying convicted sex offenders are barred from the platform. FB said his account would be put under review.

We've got an update on that review from the folks at FB and Instagram -- and it's basically this ... Tekashi is NOT technically in violation of FB/IG's sex offender policy, at least that's how they're viewing it.

A source at Instagram tells us ... FB and IG took a hard look at his record, and turns out ... they found the guy's case -- which went down in NY -- and saw he was adjudicated as a “youthful offender” which is different from having an adult criminal conviction.

As a result, our source tells us Facebook will not be removing his account, as they don't believe -- based on their interpretation of things -- he meets the criteria that would mark him as a sex offender. Look it up yourself ... Tekashi (whose real name is Daniel Hernandez) does not appear on the state's sex offender registry.

The Manhattan D.A. confirms Tekashi's 2015 case was adjudicated as a Youthful Offender, but declined to offer more details. His attorney, Lance Lazzaro, shed a bit more light, telling us yes ... the crime was committed when T69 was 18. But, after he completed some sentencing requirements, the court granted him youthful offender status.

BTW, T69 has addressed the conviction himself on the Breakfast Club -- insisting he didn't know the girl was underage. Prosecutors say Tekashi was at a party where a nude 13-year-old girl was taped performing sex acts on a man, and T69 was seen making thrusting motions behind her and slapping her buttocks at one point.

Crump says Wednesday's indictments confirm what Ahmaud's father has been saying for months -- "that this was a lynching."

He adds ... "This is a significant step on the road to justice and while nothing will bring back Ahmaud's life, it is important that a Grand jury recognized his life had value and was wrongly and ruthlessly ended. We expect a trial will lead to the successful prosecution and sentences that reflect the heinous nature of this crime."

Lee Merritt, the attorney for Ahmaud's mom, Wanda, tells TMZ, "The family of Ahmaud Arbery is determined to see these men prosecuted, convicted and appropriately sentenced for the brutal hate crime that took Ahmaud’s life over four months ago.‬“

Ben Crump, the family's other attorney, calls the indictment "Monumental" in getting justice for Ahmaud.

Travis McMichael, Gregory McMichael and William "Roddie" Bryan have each been indicted by a grand jury for the murder of Ahmaud Arbery.

The Cobb County D.A., Joyette Holmes, announced the indictment to reporters Wednesday in front of the Glynn County Courthouse in Brunswick, GA. Although the defendants had been arrested for murder, the grand jury handed up the indictment ... formally charging them with the crimes.

Each defendant is facing 1 count of malice murder, 4 counts felony murder, 2 counts aggravated assault, 1 count false imprisonment and 1 count criminal attempt to commit false imprisonment.

In Georgia, murder charges typically go before a grand jury for indictment.

The 3 defendants have remained in custody since their arrests last month, and last appeared in court in early June for probable cause hearing ... where a judge concluded there is enough evidence to move forward with the case.

As we reported ... during that hearing, a Georgia Bureau of Investigation detective took the stand and testified he found NO evidence Ahmaud ever took anything from the construction site he walked through before he was shot and killed.

Remember, the elder McMichael, Gregory, had claimed he thought Arbery matched the description of a burglary suspect. Travis fired the fatal shots on February 23, during a struggle with Ahmaud ... that came after all 3 men chased him down.

Travis and Gregory were arrested and charged with murder May 8, and a judge ordered them held without bail. Bryan, who recorded the incident, was arrested 14 days later and slapped with charges of felony murder and criminal attempt to commit false imprisonment.

Authorities allege Bryan had no right to stop or confine Arbery and Bryan was working with the McMichaels by repeatedly using his vehicle to trap Arbery.

The GBI detective who testified in the preliminary hearing also said Bryan told cops he heard Travis refer to Arbery as a "f***ing n****r" right after he shot him.

Former adult film star Ron Jeremy is now accused of raping 3 women and sexually assaulting a fourth ... after the L.A. County D.A. announced the charges.

District Attorney Jackie Lacey announced Tuesday her office had charged Ron Jeremy with 3 counts of forcible rape, 3 counts of forcible penetration by a foreign object, 1 count of forcible oral copulation and 1 count of sexual battery. The charges relate to 4 separate incidents dating back to 2014.

According to the D.A.'s office ... a 25-year-old woman claims Jeremy forcibly raped her at her home in WeHo back in May 2014. Prosecutors also say Jeremy allegedly sexually assaulted 2 women on separate occasions at a WeHo bar in 2017.

A 30-year-old woman claims Jeremy forcibly raped her at the same bar in July 2019. Arraignment has been set for later this afternoon, and prosecutors want his bail set at $6.6 million.

A homeless man, asleep on the sidewalk, is now recovering from burns suffered when some asshat threw fireworks at him, and NYPD is asking for help to ID the perp.

Video of the disturbing incident shows a man on a Harlem sidewalk throwing lit fireworks at the homeless man in the early morning hours of Monday. They weren't little firecrackers either, because there was a pretty big explosion.

Police were called to the scene around 4 AM and found the 66-year-old man with burns to his back and leg. He was taken to the hospital and is said to be stable.

We're told cops are using the social media vid as part of their investigation, and Chief Rodney Harrison is asking anyone with info pertaining to the suspect's identity to call NYPD's Crime Stoppers Hotline.

NYPD sources tell us it's unclear what type of firework was thrown at the man.

New York, along with Los Angeles, has seen a surge in fireworks activity and complaints in recent weeks. NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio is expected to announce a crackdown Tuesday.