Crime

The feds are investigating a large group of swimmers accused of harassing a pod of dolphins in Hawaii ... and the alleged violation is all on video.

Drone footage shows a big group of snorkelers swimming right behind a spinner dolphin pod in Hōnaunau Bay off the Big Island, the humans get super close to the marine mammals.

Hawaii's Department of Land and Natural Resources announced Tuesday they were initiating cases against 33 swimmers, who the feds say "appear to be aggressively pursuing, corralling, and harassing the pod."

The state's DLNR says they alerted the snorkelers to the potential violation while they were still in the water, and then uniformed officers met the snorkelers when they were back on land ... with state and federal forces launching a joint investigation.

In case you didn't know, it's against federal law to swim within 50 yards of spinner dolphins in Hawaii's nearshore waters.

Jamirah Shutes -- the Univ. of Memphis women's basketball player who was hit with a criminal charge last week after socking an opponent in the face following a game -- pled not guilty in the case on Wednesday, TMZ Sports has learned.

Shutes' attorney, Steven Crossmock, appeared in court in Ohio on the Tigers player's behalf to submit the plea. He did not immediately have a comment on the case following the proceedings.

She's now tentatively due back in court for another hearing in the case next month.

As we reported, Shutes was charged with assault on Friday ... one day after she punched Bowling Green State Univ. star Elissa Brett in the handshake line following their round of 16 game in the women's NIT.

Brett suffered swelling in her right eye as a result of the punch, according to cops, but she was able to play in BGSU's win over Florida on Monday.

It's still unclear what prompted the strike.

The headmaster killed in the Nashville school mass shooting died a hero ... reportedly trying to stop the assailant in order to save her students.

Katherine Koonce was one of six people shot dead at Covenant School on Monday as Audrey Hale went on a bloody rampage with two assault rifles and a 9MM semi-automatic.

The head of school had previously prepared her students and staff for an active shooter situation and fearlessly sprang into action when the bullets started flying.

Nashville City Councilman Russ Pulley told FOX News that Koonce, 60, promptly ended a Zoom meeting after the first gunshot and didn't think twice about going after the 28-year-old Hale.

Pulley said, "She immediately ended the call, got up and headed straight for the shooter," indicating that Koonce may have clashed with Hale in a hallway.

Pulley added, "She did what principals and headmasters do; she protected her children."

Nashville Police Chief John Drake confirmed at a Tuesday press conference that Koonce was involved in a "confrontation, I’m sure – you can tell the way she was lying in the hallway," but Drake did not elaborate.

Koontz's local pastor, John Bourgeois, celebrated her selfless act in a message to his congregation at West End Community Church in Nashville. Bourgeois wrote, "She gave her life in defense of the children under her care."

Police say two of Koontz's colleagues, both 61, were also murdered: Cynthia Peak, a substitute teacher and Mike Hill, a custodian. In addition, three 9-year-old students were killed: Evelyn Dieckhaus, Hallie Scruggs and William Kinney.

Two cops were seen on body cam footage fatally shooting Hale on the second floor of the private Christian elementary school.

Chief Drake said Hale had written a manifesto detailing the deadly attack and listing other potential targets. The contents of the manifesto were not disclosed.

Drake also said Hale -- who was a biological female but identified as male -- was a former student at the school and resented having to attend classes there, which was "why this incident occurred."

Former NY Yankees star John Wetteland -- months after a jury failed to reach a verdict during trial -- is now free and clear after prosecutors moved to drop all felony aggravated sexual assault charges against the former All-Star closer.

According to court records obtained by TMZ Sports, all three charges were dropped against 56-year-old Wetteland after the D.A. failed to retry the 1996 World Series hero who was accused of forcing a four-year-old child, a relative, to perform sexual acts on him between in his bedroom between 2004 and 2006.

Wetteland always adamantly denied the allegations and pled not guilty at trial.

As we previously reported, Wetteland was arrested in January 2019 and hit with multiple child sexual abuse charges. He was facing 25 years to life in prison if convicted. JW finally went to trial in late 2022, but a jury of 12 couldn't reach a verdict -- guilty or not -- and a judge declared a mistrial on September 2.

Following the hung jury, a juror told local media they were split 10-2, and although the juror didn't explicitly say the 10 votes were "not guilty," the juror indicated most wanted to acquit.

Of course, MLB fans are familiar with the 3x All-Star closer. Back in 1996, when the Yankees came back from two games down against the Atlanta Braves, Wetteland was named the World Series Most Valuable Player.

Due to the rise of young relief pitcher, Mariano Rivera, Wetteland went to the Texas Rangers in 1997 ... and stayed in Arlington until retiring after the 2000 season.

He was inducted into the Rangers Hall of Fame in 2005.

Despite being arrested and charged, Wetteland was never found guilty.

One entrepreneur/inventor has a creative and seemingly effective way teachers and students can protect themselves against school shootings ... a safe room embedded in classrooms.

We talked to Kevin Thomas Tuesday on "TMZ Live," and he broke down a product he sells through his company, KT Solutions. It's basically four foldable walls -- they look like dry erase whiteboards -- a teacher can quickly pull out to create a bulletproof shelter to hide kids in a nightmare like the one in Nashville.

Kevin calls it RASR, or ... Rapid Access Safe Rooms. They're available to the public, but are intended for classrooms -- as they offer educators/pupils a quick option to seek cover and protection in the event a mass shooter is roaming the halls ... and cops aren't there yet.

Check out the video to see how it works -- the "room" is flat at first and can function as just one wall or whiteboard for teachers and students ... so it has multipurpose utility for the school beyond just protection.

If there's an active shooter situation and a school wants something beyond locked doors to help, they can use RASR to open up a full-blown safe room good enough for the military and government agencies -- so says Thomas. In other words, it's impenetrable.

There's a demonstration here that shows you how to do it ... it's actually quite simple, and only takes seconds to lock into place. It's not the permanent fix to this ongoing issue -- as Thomas notes -- but this can certainly save lives in the interim.

We asked Thomas what sparked this innovative idea, and he said the Uvalde, TX school shooting forced his hand. As far as the price, it's $50k for delivery and installation -- and while one might presume this would come out of a school budget ... KT says that's not necessarily the case.

Cops say Aaron Hernandez's brother, Dennis "D.J." Hernandez, experienced a bipolar episode less than three weeks before his ESPN arrest ... one that resulted in a wild police chase through Connecticut roadways.

It all allegedly went down on March 8 -- just 15 days before he was accused of hurling a brick at ESPN's headquarters in Bristol -- when cops say they attempted to stop D.J. in his silver Hyundai as he was driving through Cheshire.

According to the Cheshire Police Department, D.J. was driving erratically and at high rates of speed -- at one point traveling through grass fields in front of the Cheshire Correctional Institution.

But, police say when they attempted to pull him over ... D.J. blew through a red light and lost officers.

According to police documents, obtained by TMZ Sports, cops made contact with D.J.'s mother -- Terri Hernandez -- a short time later ... and they say she told them the 36-year-old former UConn football player had "been acting very strange and she believed he needed to be mentally evaluated at a hospital."

Eventually, police documents show, the Bristol Police Dept. was able to take D.J. into custody "after a brief foot chase." Cops said in the docs D.J. was having a bipolar episode ... and told them he had been driving all over Connecticut trying to get arrested because "he no longer wanted to stay at his mom's house."

Cops say he was committed to the Bristol Hospital on a Police Emergency Examination Request.

D.J. -- who changed his name to Jonathan after Aaron's murder conviction -- was ultimately hit with five criminal charges over the incident, including reckless driving and engaging police in pursuit. He's due in court for a hearing on the matter in mid-April.

As we reported, on March 23, just over two weeks following the March 8 incident, D.J. was arrested again after he allegedly threw a white bag that contained a brick and a handwritten note at ESPN's campus.

Rihanna's home is on a streak, and not a good one -- turns out it was the scene of another recent crime ... a thief just shut up and drove off with one of her driver's cars.

Law enforcement tells TMZ ... RiRi's driver told cops he pulled up to her L.A.-area home late last week, running inside to grab something while leaving the keys in the whip and the engine running. Big mistake. Huge.

We're told the driver came back out to find the 2012 Audi sedan was gone. For obvious reasons, he believes someone just jumped in and took off with it.

It's unclear if Rihanna was home at the time of the incident.

LAPD is investigating, but it appears the suspect made a clean escape.

The stolen car makes it 2 straight weeks of alleged criminal activity at the singer's home. TMZ broke the story, cops raced there Thursday after a man showed up claiming he wanted to propose to her.

Back in 2018, another man was arrested at her house after allegedly crashing there for at least a day and telling cops he was there to have sex with her.

As far as this new incident goes -- yes, it sucks the driver's ride got jacked ... but, word to the wise in just about every major city in America: Don't leave your keys in a running car in the middle of the night!

Jonathan Majors' lawyer says there's evidence that'll prove he committed no crime against a woman who's alleged he assaulted her -- even claiming she's reversing her own story.

Criminal defense attorney Priya Chaudhry -- who's representing Majors in this matter -- tells TMZ ... "Jonathan Majors is completely innocent and is probably the victim of an altercation with a woman he knows. We are quickly gathering and presenting evidence to the District Attorney with the expectation that all charges will be dropped imminently."

She goes on to cite evidence she says they've already gathered to back up their version of events -- including video footage from within the vehicle where the alleged assault occurred, witness testimony from the driver and others who saw/heard the episode ... and, last but not least, two written statements that Chaudhry claims are from the alleged victim in this case.

Chaudhry insists the statements show her fully recanting her allegations, and she adds this will all be presented to the authorities in due time to prove her client did nothing wrong.

As for why Majors was arrested if all this stuff does, indeed, exist ... she tells us it's SOP in police departments to make an arrest after an allegation is levied and if there's probable cause to back up the claims. In this instance, the NYPD says there were... visible injuries.

Chaudhry finishes with this ... "We expect these charges to be dropped soon. The DA will usually request orders of protection in these matters while they are being resolved." Majors has been charged with misdemeanor assault, aggravated harassment, attempted assault and harassment. He was released on his own recognizance and is due back in court in May.

In response to Majors' attorney's claims about the woman -- whom we've been told is a girlfriend of his -- the Manhattan D.A.'s Office tells TMZ ... the case is ongoing and they won't be commenting further on the details.

What they did say, however, is that a limited court-ordered protection for the alleged victim has been put in place. The D.A. requested a full order of protection ... indicating that they feel the alleged victim needs a bigger forcefield.

Jhené Aiko's in the market for a new luxury SUV after the worst possible restaurant valet experience -- witnessing a thief make off with her vehicle.

Law enforcement tells TMZ ... Jhené went out to dinner with family last weekend, grabbing a bite at L.A.'s Tasty Noodle House. She walked away from her white 2020 Range Rover around 8:30 PM Saturday.

We're told when the singer arrived she gave the valet her keys, then went inside to eat. Typical night out up to that point.

But, about 30 minutes later, Jhené saw someone drive away in her Range. We're told she figured the valet staff was just moving it, but it was never returned.

It's unclear who made the clean getaway; it wasn't any of the valet drivers, but cops say there was an extra key inside the SUV --- which, obviously, made things a lot easier for the car thief.

Police are investigating ... no arrests at this point, and no sign of Jhené's Range Rover.

Jonathan Majors was arrested in New York City this weekend -- and, according to police, he's being accused of putting hands on a woman ... but Jon's team is calling BS.

Law enforcement sources tell us the actor was booked Saturday morning on charges of strangulation, assault and harassment. We're told cops responded to a call for service around 11 AM ET near the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan.

We're told the alleged victim in this case, a female, relayed to police that Majors had gotten into a dispute with her and proceeded to attack her. Their exact relationship is unknown.

Our sources tell us the alleged victim had visible injuries -- including a laceration behind her ear, redness and marks to her face. She was taken to an area hospital and is in stable condition. As for Majors ... he was cuffed and taken to jail on the spot, as police felt there was enough evidence for probable cause. We're hearing he is currently out of custody.

Majors is a huge celeb these days -- he's been in everything from Marvel's latest 'Ant-Man' movie to Michael B. Jordan's 'Creed III' flick ... and other blockbusters as well over the past couple years. The guy has gotten rave reviews for his performances, and is seen as a rising star. He was even at the Oscars a few weeks ago, and was among the many presenters.

A rep for Majors tells TMZ ... "He's done nothing wrong. We look forward to clearing his name and clearing this up."

Tune into The TMZ Podcast wherever you get your podcasts!

The Memphis women's basketball player who socked an opponent in the face during a handshake line following a game Thursday night has been charged with assault, TMZ Sports has learned.

According to Bowling Green State Univ. officials ... Tigers senior guard Jamirah Shutes was hit with the criminal charge on Friday morning -- roughly 12 hours after she punched BGSU player Elissa Brett during an incident following their game in the women's NIT.

The two had gotten into a verbal argument after BGSU's 73-60 win ... which led to Shutes sucker-punching the woman in the face.

Brett crumpled to the court in pain, and was later seen in tears. According to police documents, cops noticed swelling in her right eye. The school said Friday, though, she is "recovering and doing well."

It's still unclear what sparked the altercation. A police investigation is ongoing, the university said.

BGSU added in a statement that it's also "conducting its own review" into the matter ... saying, "Violence is never acceptable and our priority remains the health, safety and support of our student-athlete."

Neither Shutes nor Brett has publicly commented on it all.

Memphis Univ. did release a statement on the matter on Friday morning, calling the incident "extremely unfortunate and certainly not consistent with, or representative of, our expectations for our programs and student-athletes."

Tekashi 6ix9ine should get the hell out of Dodge or at least up his security after his brutal gym beatdown -- that's what most people think -- but we've learned that ain't the case.

Sources close to Tekashi tell TMZ ... he's actually been going out in public without his hired muscle pretty regularly over the last year -- without issue. We're told he's not about to let one incident change the way he lives. He wants to continue to live as normal a life as possible ... and is chalking up the gym beatdown as an outlier.

What's more, Tekashi has no plans on leaving South Florida, despite the attackers saying snitches weren't welcome in their neighborhood.

As we reported, Tekashi was sent to the hospital after he was pummeled inside the locker room of an LA Fitness -- suffering injuries to his back, face, jaw and ribs. Video obtained by TMZ shows one of the alleged attackers chatting on a cell phone before bringing another inside the facility.

From there, you see both men beeline it to the locker room to execute their attack with a third person.

Lance Lazzaro, Tekashi's attorney, told us he's going to talk with the feds about getting some protection for his client -- but it sounds like 6ix9ine wouldn't be too keen on accepting any.

Michael Bay seems to have just gone through a little déjà vu when it comes to shady dudes rolling up to a rich person's crib incognito -- at least that's what his staff told cops.

Law enforcement sources tell TMZ .... one of Bay's employees told cops two men buzzed Mike's intercom at his L.A. area home Monday, telling the worker who answered they were city officials there to check the water meters, but something felt off to Bay's staffer.

First of all, the men arrived in a white van with New York plates, which didn't make sense if they were working for the city. Second, Bay's employee noticed one of the alleged city employee's uniforms looked off -- with his stomach exposed.

Pair that with the fact the men appeared to be scoping the place out, looking all over ... so Bay's employee decided to call the cops.

Our sources say the staffer didn't give them access to the property ... so the dudes scrammed.

Law enforcement sources tell TMZ ... cops showed up and investigated it as an attempted trespass ... but it's actually being viewed as something more serious ... namely, would-be burglars scoping out a target. We're told detectives are on the case.

No word on whether Michael himself was home ... but if he had been, he probably could've seen this one from a mile away. Remember, he did something similar in "Bad Boys II."

Terence Crawford's Nebraska home was allegedly burglarized, TMZ Sports has learned ... and hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of jewelry stolen, including two luxury watches worth over 100 grand apiece.

The alleged theft occurred at the undefeated boxer's home in Omaha between March 17 and March 20, according to a Douglas County Sheriff's Office incident report.

Per the report, the unknown suspect(s) broke into his home and stole several pieces of jewelry. The haul included two gold chains featuring the logo "TBC" -- Crawford's initials -- a "Bud" personalized gold chain, and a gold cross necklace.

Two incredibly expensive watches were also reported stolen -- a diamond Patek Philippe watch and an Audemars Piguet and bracelet set.

All told, the pieces totaled over $317K ... and Crawford is asking for the public's help, even offering a hefty reward.

“I got 100k for whoever know who broke in my house and stole my jewelry," the 35-year-old announced.

This isn't the first time Crawford's home has been robbed. According to DCSO, an unknown suspect took a gold Rolex, worth a little over $137K, from the same residence in Oct. 2021.

Crawford -- 39-0 and one of the best pound-for-pound boxers in the world -- has been ordered to defend his WBO welterweight title against Alexis Rocha ... though boxing fans badly want him to fight fellow future Hall of Fame fighter Errol Spence in a super fight this year.

Stephen Smith's mom fired off a letter to the FBI about the mishandling of her son's death investigation, saying he was murdered for being gay and naming Buster Murdaugh as a possible suspect.

Sandy Smith sent the 4-page letter to the Federal Bureau of Investigation in 2016, hoping the agency would take over the case from local South Carolina authorities, whom she believed had covered up critical evidence in the case.

As you know, Stephen was found dead in the middle of a country road in Hampton County near the Murdaugh family estate on July 8, 2015. Police initially thought Stephen's death was a "homicide" because there were no signs he'd been struck by a vehicle. Yet, the pathologist who performed the autopsy ruled that it was a hit-and-run, but Stephen's manner of death was left undetermined.

In the letter, obtained by FITSNews, Sandy wrote Stephen's older brother, Christopher, was told by a classmate that Buster Murdaugh allegedly killed Stephen with a baseball bat because Stephen was gay. Buster is the eldest son of convicted killer Alex Murdaugh, who is serving life in prison for murdering his wife and younger son.

Sandy said Buster and the classmate were smashing mailboxes around town when they came upon Stephen, and Buster "seized the opportunity."

Sandy also claimed Buster threatened to kill the classmate if he spoke out about what happened. The information was allegedly turned over to local investigators, but nothing ever materialized.

What's more, Sandy said Stephen was apparently dating "someone from a prominent family in the county who was hiding his sexuality." But, Stephen kept the person's name under wraps.

Sandy alluded to a secret romance between Buster and Stephen in the letter. The same allegation was highlighted by their former schoolmates in a recent Netflix series about the Murdaugh murders.

And then there's this ... Alex Murdaugh's brother, Randolph, called Stephen's dad immediately after his son's death, asking to work the case pro bono and act as an intermediary between the Smith family and police, according to Sandy. Randolph was the county solicitor at the time.

Sandy said Stephen's father accepted the offer, although he was confused as to why Randolph wanted to help and how he found about the case before his son's body had been identified. But, Sandy said, Randolph stopped calling her family after a few interactions and wound up not representing them.

In a recent twist, South Carolina Law Enforcement Division officials announced they're now investigating the case as a homicide.

As for the feds, it's not clear if they acted on Sandy's letter and looked into Stephen's death.

The criminal case that put "Rick and Morty" co-creator Justin Roiland out of a job has just been dismissed.

The domestic violence case against Roiland was dismissed Wednesday morning in Orange County. A spokesperson for the District Attorney tells us it was dismissed because there was insufficient evidence to prove beyond reasonable doubt.

Justin says, "I have always known that these claims were false – and I never had any doubt that this day would come. I’m thankful that this case has been dismissed but, at the same time, I’m still deeply shaken by the horrible lies that were reported about me during this process."

He continues, "Most of all, I’m disappointed that so many people were so quick to judge without knowing the facts, based solely on the word of an embittered ex trying to bypass due process and have me “canceled.” That it may have succeeded, even partially, is shameful. However, now that the legal case has ended, I’m determined to move forward and focus both on my creative projects and restoring my good name.”

Roiland's attorney T. Edward Welbourn tells TMZ ... "I commend the Orange County District Attorney’s Office for conducting a thorough review of the facts and deciding to dismiss the case against Justin. I’m thankful justice has prevailed."

For those unaware, Roiland got in hot water earlier this year after NBC News revealed he was arrested and charged back in 2020 ... although the details leading to his arrest are unknown. Officials only noted there was an incident with an unnamed woman he was dating at the time.