Crime

Ex-NHL star Matthew Barnaby is off the hook in his bar fight case ... TMZ Sports has learned the former Dallas Star had his charges officially dropped Monday.

Barnaby was accused of choking a bouncer in a skirmish at a downtown Nashville, TN bar in March ... and the scene, according to cops, was pretty wild.

In police docs, cops say witnesses told them then-46-year-old Barnaby, his girlfriend and other bargoers had gotten into a scrap ... when Matthew allegedly began choking a bouncer.

Cops added when they questioned the former hockey player about the incident ... they say he reeked of alcohol and had slurred speech and watery eyes.

Barnaby was arrested and eventually charged with misdemeanor public intoxication and misdemeanor assault ... and was facing jail time.

But, court records show the case was dismissed at a hearing Monday.

According to Barnaby's attorney, prosecutors said the alleged victim did not want to pursue the charges in the case -- so it was dropped.

One of the ballistics reports used to determine who shot who in the moments leading up to Breonna Taylor's death appears to contradict the Kentucky AG's version of events -- or at the very least, offer a more complete view ... which is mired in uncertainty.

Reports say that the first ballistics report conducted by the Kentucky State Police -- first obtained by VICE News this week -- could not definitively say for a fact if the 9-mm bullet that struck LMPD Officer Mattingly was, in fact, from Breonna's BF, Kenneth Walker.

In relation to the bullet that went through Mattingly's leg -- which he asserted had come from Walker firing from down the hall -- the initial KSP report reportedly says, in part, "due to limited markings of comparative value, [the] item was neither identified nor eliminated as having been fired from #45." #45 pertains to the magazine in Walker's gun.

Even more damning is the fact that one of Walker's attorneys, Steven Romines, recently claimed to CNN that he and his team had obtained an internal LMPD personnel record showing Officer Hankison (who was firing from outside) had actually been issued a 9-mm handgun at some point by the department, casting doubt on AG Cameron's claim that all the officers were using .40 caliber guns that night, and that Walker had the only 9-mm.

So, what does this all mean??? Basically, that AG Cameron might've possibly not been as forthcoming in describing the ballistics report's findings -- or which ballistics report he was actually referring to when saying evidence showed that Walker had hit Mattingly first.

Remember, there was a second ballistics report conducted by the FBI -- one which, in addition to the KSP ballistics report, was given to the grand jury to read -- but Cameron didn't say during his Wednesday presser which report he consulted when explaining the decision. It's also unclear what the feds concluded on this issue, and if there's a discrepancy.

The one thing that could make this moot -- namely, whether Mattingly was hit by Walker's bullet, or a fellow officer's bullet -- is the fact Walker admitted to firing a warning shot ... which, presumably, would authorize officers to use deadly force and return fire regardless.

Joe Montana and his wife had the scare of their life Saturday, when an intruder came inside the house and snatched one of their grandchildren right out of a woman's arms.

Law enforcement sources tell TMZ Sports ... at 5 PM Saturday a 39-year-old woman entered the home where Joe and Jennifer Montana were staying -- she got in through an unlocked door. The intruder saw a woman holding a baby -- it's unclear who was holding the infant.

Our law enforcement sources say the intruder walked away with Montana's grandchild to another part of the house where she was confronted by Joe and Jennifer. They wrestled the baby away from the woman. The intruder then ran out of the house.

Turns out L.A. County Sheriff's deputies were on the same block on an unrelated matter. Someone inside the home flagged the deputies down, told them what happened and they found the intruder a few blocks away.

The woman was booked on kidnapping and burglary charges.

Minnesota Timberwolves guard Malik Beasley is in jail Sunday after being arrested for possession of a controlled substance and concealing stolen property.

Police showed up at Beasley's Plymouth home Saturday and took him into custody. We're told he's being held without bail and is waiting to go before a judge, which could take 24 hours.

The team issued a statement Sunday AM, saying, "We are aware of the situation involving Malik Beasley and are in the process of gathering information at this time."

The Timberwolves are holding a 3-week, voluntary camp in Minneapolis.

It's unclear what property was allegedly stolen, but one of the charges was reportedly marijuana possession ... this according to The Athletic. Seriously, how can that still be a thing in 2020?

The crime scene left behind after Breonna Taylor was shot and killed in her own apartment was a show of chaos ... so it seems from the first body cam footage released that shows the aftermath.

VICE News just posted two brief clips from hours of body camera footage they obtained from responding SWAT team members and other officers from LMPD. They showed up immediately after the deadly shooting March 13 that left Breonna dead in her apartment.

The two videos -- as well as other footage VICE will presumably release -- depict the moments after officers Hankison, Cosgrove and Mattingly fired dozens of rounds into Breonna's unit, and both are disturbing.

The first video shows what VICE says is Kenneth Walker -- Breonna's boyfriend -- being screamed at by a cop who threatened to sic a K-9 unit on him, telling him to get on his knees and not to look back. Eventually, other officers arrive -- including Hankison himself, per VICE -- and they cuff Walker. VICE reports Hankison tells Walker in the video that he's going to jail forever, but the clip they posted cuts out before any such thing can be clearly heard.

The second video shows perhaps an even more unsettling sight -- VICE reports it's Hankison again here (the cop who fired from outside the apartment) walking into Breonna's apartment after SWAT members had gone in to start investigating. He asks if any of the rounds were theirs, and seemingly tries having his run of the place before one SWAT officer tells him to scram, as it's an active crime scene and as such he shouldn't be roaming around unescorted.

In this second video, you also see the inside of Breonna's apartment ... including the hallway she and her boyfriend were apparently fired upon as Mattingly and Cosgrove first entered.

Speaking of not being escorted, VICE reports from the 40 hours-plus of footage they've scoured ... this is a trend they've seen. Namely, the seven officers directly involved in the raid -- including Hankison and Cosgrove -- were NOT separated or paired with another officer ... basically, getting them the hell away from there, which is LMPD policy. Instead several of them reportedly stayed on scene, and even conducted witness interviews ... this per VICE.

A Missouri cop claims a guy broke his hand ... with none other than his face -- and now, a judge has allowed the case to move forward with an assault charge against the dude.

Ozark PD officer Trevor Spencer testified last week that back in December of 2019, a traffic stop in which he pulled over 48-year-old Matthew Calhoun turned in an unavoidable beatdown (on the cop's end), which left his hand crumpled after pounding the guy's mug.

Yes, that's right ... Spencer says he had no choice but to defend himself and wail on Calhoun's face, which left his hand busted. He's alleging assault against an officer as a result.

If that sounds insane to you, you're not the only one -- Calhoun's attorney argued against the absurdity of the charge at a hearing on it Tuesday ... reportedly saying, "Are we supposed to feel sorry for Officer Spencer because he broke his hand on my client's face?"

As for how this unfolded ... Spencer says he was stopping the guy for suspected speeding, when he realized there were warrants out for his arrest. Spencer says as he tried detaining Calhoun in a parking lot, a struggled ensued and because of Calhoun's alleged aggressive behavior, he was forced to slug a few times ... which he says ended in him being injured.

Wondering if Calhoun ever struck the cop? No, actually, according to prosecutors arguing on Spencer's behalf. What they claim he did do ... allegedly elbowed Spencer in the chest while trying to escape, and then allegedly balling up his fist before Spencer started swinging.

Breonna Taylor’s mother, Tamika Palmer, says the death of her daughter has indeed made her an angry Black woman … incredibly angry because Black people -- men, women and children -- keep dying at the hands of police and getting away with it.

Tamika’s powerful message following a grand jury's decision to not charge any of the cops for fatally shooting Breonna was delivered by Breonna’s aunt, Bianca Austin.

According to Tamika … she never had faith in Kentucky AG Daniel Cameron, and claims she felt from the get-go he lacked proper experience and had "already chosen to be on the wrong side of the law."

Breonna’s mom says Wednesday’s grand jury results solidified her belief that the legal system and law enforcement in America are designed to not protect Black people or give them justice … and the whole system failed her daughter.

Tamika makes it clear though — this has not defeated her, and she will continue to fight for her daughter. She says the system robbed the world of a queen … but she’s certain they will remember her and continue to say her name.

Civil rights attorney Ben Crump opened the press conference with a fiery speech calling out AG Cameron and all the apparent discrepancies between the evidence he presented to the grand jury and evidence that’s been widely reported.

This led to a very public call for Cameron to release the grand jury transcripts, and Crump’s co-counsel, Lonita Baker, echoed that demand and took it a step further … by questioning whether the grand jury actually decided not to charge the officers who fatally shot Breonna, or if Cameron made the call himself.

Other speakers included Tamika Mallory from Until Freedom, and Jacob Blake’s father … who traveled from Kenosha, where his son is still recovering from being shot in the back by a cop.

Freshly out of jail after being arrested while protesting Thursday night, Kentucky State Rep. Attica Scott also said a few words. She’s known as the sponsor of “Breonna’s Law,” which helped put an end to “no-knock” warrants in the state in wake of her killing.

This was the first public appearance by Breonna's family together since it was announced only one of the 3 cops involved in her case was being charged ... and NOT for killing her.

As we reported ... on Thursday, the grand jury indicted now ex-officer, Brett Hankison, on charges of wanton endangerment. Hankison was not charged for the shooting of Breonna, but for firing his weapon into Breonna's neighbor's apartment.

The incident has sparked outrage across the country in the form of protests and angry words from celebs, athletes and politicians.

LAPD is investigating after a truck drove through a crowd protesting the Breonna Taylor grand jury decision ... sending at least one person to the hospital,

Law enforcement sources tell TMZ ... the terrifying incident went down Thursday night around 9 PM after protesters had gathered at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery.

Video of the incident shows the crowd chanting, "No justice, no peace" when, out of nowhere, the pickup truck plows through and slams into one person who was violently thrown back onto the road. Protesters quickly swarmed the truck, banging on it to make the driver stop ... but they fled down Sunset Blvd.

We're told the driver -- who was ID'd and detained by cops but not arrested -- claimed they were trying to escape after being attacked. Police are now investigating to see if the driver was genuinely the victim of an assault or a hit-and-run suspect. As for the protester who was hit ... we're told they were taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.

A photojournalist told the Los Angeles Times the truck was traveling against the flow of the crowd and definitely instigated the incident.

Police are also investigating a separate incident ... after cops say a white Toyota Prius tried to drive around the same protest.

A man convicted of drug possession made a break for it in court, and despite an insane, all-out effort by a deputy to catch him ... the guy escaped and is still on the loose.

The video's wild -- Nicholas Garrison had just been sentenced Tuesday in Highland County, Ohio after being found guilty of aggravated possession of meth, when he decided to make a run for it.

Garrison broke free from the bailiff who was trying to slap the cuffs on him. A couple officers gave chase, and you gotta see how one went diving over a railing in an attempt to nab Garrison. He came up empty though, and in the most painful way.

As Garrison continued down the stairs, the poor deputy also continued down -- but he was sliding on his back. Court officials say he suffered a concussion and 4 broken ribs.

Garrison is still at large and his attorney, Kathryn Hapner, tells us ... he was hoping to just get probation, but the judge sentenced him to 6 months PLUS an additional 530 days for violating parole on a previous burglary conviction. All told that would be nearly 2 years in prison.

It's official ... Robert Kraft is now off the hook in his sex spa case, TMZ Sports has confirmed.

Court records show prosecutors dismissed Kraft's 2 misdemeanor charges of soliciting a prostitute ... with officials saying Thursday they didn't have enough evidence to get a conviction.

"Although there was probable cause to make an arrest," state attorney David Aronberg wrote in court docs, "the evidence cannot prove all legally required elements of the crime alleged and is insufficient to support a criminal prosecution."

The news isn't exactly a surprise ... in fact, it was expected after Kraft's team of lawyers successfully argued video of the New England Patriots owner allegedly receiving sex acts inside the Orchids of Asia Day Spa should NOT be admitted in the case.

Judges in the Florida Fourth District Court of Appeal ruled cops screwed up in the way they went about recording inside the Jupiter, Fla. facility by failing to ensure privacy for people getting legitimate massages. So, the footage was not allowed in the case.

With the vid thrown out ... prosecutors clearly lacked a smoking gun -- and were essentially forced to move on.

State officials are expected to break down the decision at a press conference later Thursday.

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez doesn't believe justice was served for Breonna Taylor -- not only that, she says politics were unnecessarily brought in by the Kentucky Attorney General.

We got AOC Wednesday on Capitol Hill, shortly after the grand jury charges were unveiled ... just one officer involved in Breonna's death was charged with the unrelated crime of recklessly shooting into a different apartment unit.

AOC can't fathom how everyone basically skated on this. She says the results speak to systemic issues in LMPD, and larger ones about policing in this country -- as far as what cops are allowed to get away with ... often with the help of prosecutors.

Kentucky AG Daniel Cameron gets the bulk of her criticism here -- watch ... she goes off on him for what she believes was politicization of the case when he spoke at this year's RNC. The guy knew the spotlight was on him, and in AOC's eyes ... it was bad form.

She says quite pointedly somebody being killed and getting to the bottom of it shouldn't matter if people are on the right or the left -- but with what's true and righteous. While AG Cameron says he was impartial and stuck to the facts ... AOC just doesn't buy it.

Hankison has been booked and reportedly already released from the Shelby Co. Detention Center after paying his $15k bail.

The grand jury has indicted just one officer, Brett Hankison, on charges of wanton endangerment. Hankison was not charged for the shooting of Breonna Taylor ... he was charged with shooting into a neighboring apartment. The other 2 officers who fired shots the night Breonna Taylor was killed were not charged. In other words, no one was charged for killing Breonna.

Hankison has been indicted on three counts of wanton endangerment in the first degree -- for firing recklessly and without due regard for life. His bail has been set at $15,000. Wanton endangerment carries a maximum penalty of 5 years if convicted.

The indictment has already sparked anger. Rev. Al Sharpton called it "grossly insufficient."

AG Daniel Cameron called Breonna's death a "gut-wrenching" tragedy but said his job is to follow the law. He said for civil rights violations, the federal government can charge officers who cross the line. But, civil rights lawyer Lee Merritt told us on "TMZ Live" a few minutes ago ... he believes the fix was in between Cameron and Trump, and Trump is not going to tolerate federal charges.

Merritt noted the medical examiner ruled Breonna's death a homicide, yet that seemed lost on the grand jury. Merritt mentioned an old legal joke -- that grand juries would indict a ham sandwich -- meaning prosecutors have an easy time securing criminal charges. The question ... did the AG press for a homicide indictment? We don't know, because the proceedings are secret.

A few key takeaways from Cameron's comments -- he says the 3 officers who executed the warrant had no prior knowledge of how it was obtained or the background of the case up 'til then. Cameron says they were brought in as extra personnel, and were briefed with basics. He also makes clear ... it was NOT a no-knock warrant, as has been widely reported.

Cameron assured the public -- the officers claimed they did knock and announce themselves, and says that was backed up by a civilian witness who was in one of the neighboring apartments. A journalist asked Cameron if one witness coming forward to say they heard the police announcing themselves was enough when no other neighbors could confirm it.

Cameron skirted that question and said it was clearly enough for the grand jury. There's more ... he goes on to say that after officers received no response at the door, they entered. Sgt. Jonathan Mattingly was the first one in, and apparently saw Breonna and her boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, standing at the end of the hall. He claims Walker was in a shooting stance with a gun in hand, and that he fired at Mattingly first, who was struck in the thigh.

Cameron says Mattingly returned fire -- shooting six times -- while another officer behind him, Myles Cosgrove, also returned fire ... unloading 16 rounds. As for Hankison, Cameron says he fired 10 rounds from outside, which went everywhere ... including into another unit.

Cameron says Breonna was struck 6 times, and that the forensic reports indicate the one fatal bullet that killed her likely came from Cosgrove's weapon. He stressed that there wasn't conclusive evidence that Hankison's bullets hit her -- it was just Mattingly and Cosgrove's, and because of that ... Cameron said his office couldn't look into any criminality around her death, as he says the 2 officers inside were authorized and justified in their use of force, under Kentucky law.

Cameron also noted that justice is not easy and not meant to appease what the public wants -- under the letter of law, it can only answer to the facts. He also pled with Kentucky residents not to allow outside influences and voices to tell them out to feel about this.

Of course, Breonna's family's own legal team -- led by Ben Crump -- feel very differently about the results here. Crump said the fact that Hankison was charged for wanton endangerment of OTHER people besides Breonna is "outrageous and offensive."

He also made a pretty good point ... that if Hankison was charged for endangering others while firing recklessly, how is it possible he wasn't charged for endangering Breonna herself? While the AG did not specifically touch on that, presumably ... Hankison, too, was found to be justified, at least in part, when he fired from the outside in.

Crump emphasized that point by writing, "How ironic and typical that the only charges brought in this case were for shots fired into the apartment of a white neighbor, while no charges were brought for shots fired into the Black neighbor's apartment or into Breonna's residence."

He goes on to call the decision an utter travesty of justice, but goes on to hold out hope that the pending federal investigation into possible civil rights violations might bring about some actual closure the family and the Black community is looking for.

It's been a long road up to this point, which Cameron also touched on ... saying he and his team wanted to turn over every stone and conduct their investigation from scratch.

Comedian Bryan Callen claims his rape accuser's husband is waging a war to destroy his livelihood as an actor and stand-up comedian through intimidation ... so he claims in a new lawsuit.

Callen -- best known for roles in "The Hangover" and "The Goldbergs" -- is suing Gabriel Tigerman, the husband of Kathryn Fiore Tigerman, who recently publicly accused Callen of raping her back in 1999. Callen claims since the accusations came to light, Gabriel's been on the warpath to destroy his career through threats, harassment and intimidation of anyone who dares to hire him.

According to legal docs, obtained by TMZ, Callen claims Gabriel contacted his reps at talent agency CAA and asked whether they still represented Callen in light of the allegations ... suggesting doing so would send a "message to victims that this behavior is okay." Callen says the email went on to say, "Do you and CAA still represent this serial sexual predator? I hope the answer is no."

What's more ... Callen claims Gabriel went as far as contacting comedy clubs and attempted to get them to drop him. He claims some comedy clubs have cut ties with him after Gabriel reached out to them.

The Jacob Blake investigation is nearing its end, but before it crosses the finish line, a neutral third party has been looped in -- a former cop -- something a Blake family member is none too pleased about.

Jacob's uncle, Justin Blake, tells TMZ ... he feels the news about DOJ investigators bringing in former the Madison, WI police chief as a consultant in the probe is an open-palmed slap in the face.

Fact is ... he believes the so-called impartial second set of eyes announced this week, Noble Wray, can't be impartial. Justin believes he simply can't help but be biased against Jacob.

Wray is a retired chief who was on the force in Madison for years, a Wisconsin native ... and even has experience in legal consulting on the biggest stage. He served as a police reform specialist for the U.S. Department of Justice. But, Justin doesn't think Wray's accomplishments matter, because he says it's simply impossible for ANY law enforcement officer -- especially a former police chief -- to objectively reach conclusions about police brutality.

Justin favors putting a judge or even a politician in place of Wray.

ICYMI ... Wisconsin AG Josh Kaul and Kenosha County D.A. Michael Gravely said Monday they were going to have Wray -- who's African-American -- give a thorough review of the feds' DCI unit's findings in the case, offer up his analysis ... and then kick all of that back to Graveley's office for consideration on possible charges against Rusten Sheskey, and maybe others.

The process has dragged on for a month now -- the timeline the AG first gave to the public initially -- and now, it might be even longer before a final decision is made. The fact it's taken this long also irks Justin, who tells us he's been wanting more consistent updates.

The FBI's not done building its case against Jerry Harris -- federal agents in Chicago are asking for any individuals under the age of 18 who may have been victimized by the disgraced "Cheer" star to come forward.

The feds have launched a "Seeking Victim Information" webpage related to the investigation of Harris, who was arrested last week and is facing a federal child pornography charge for allegedly enticing 2 underage teen boys to send him sexually explicit images of themselves.

The FBI says it's seeking the public’s help in identifying any additional minors who may have been contacted by Harris and asked to produce or view graphic images or engage in sexual contact.

Victims may have communicated with Harris via Snapchat or Instagram ... according to the feds.

As we reported ... the feds claim Harris admitted to many of the allegations against him, including soliciting and receiving child pornography on Snapchat from at least 10 to 15 other individuals he knew were minors.

R. Kelly's renewed plea to get sprung from jail is getting push back from Uncle Sam, who says his most recent concern -- getting attacked behind bars -- has been neutralized.

Federal prosecutors just filed a reply to R. Kelly's latest request to be released on bail after he was ambushed and beaten by a fellow Chicago MCC inmate ... a guy Kelly says could've cost him his life. The government's response? Relax, it was a one-and-done.

According to the docs, obtained by TMZ, the feds say the attack on R. Kelly was a one-time, isolated event -- and that it can't happen again, at least not with the same guy ... because he's been moved to a new facility in Michigan.

So, in their eyes, the threat has left the building.

The feds also dispute R. Kelly's claim the attacker allegedly told a doctor on site that he needed to attack the singer for attention on his own case -- claiming the doctor denied that convo ever happened. That said, they also point out that if R. Kelly's still sour about his injuries ... he can take it up in civil court.