Crime

The NYPD made the point traffic stops can go south fast -- but in doing so, they appear to have confused H2O for a harmful substance ... that's what the Internet's saying, anyway.

The department's news division posted a video Saturday that shows body cam footage of an NYPD officer making a "routine traffic stop" as they dubbed it. The cop asks for license/registration, and then the man gets out of the car ... to the confusion of the officer.

Before you know it, the guy chucks some type of liquid into the cop's mug, who stumbles back ... clearly shocked by what just happened. You hear his partner seem to ask what it was he threw, but then the video cuts out before you can see what happens next.

Now, NYPD claims this suspect doused the cop with a "chemical" before fleeing, tossing a Molotov cocktail ... before finally being arrested. They add the officer wasn't hurt.

Internet sleuths quickly attempted to pick this apart, however, and pulled screen grabs from the moment this guy threw whatever it was into the cop's face ... and at first glance, they're saying it looks an awful lot like a cup full of ice water without a lid or top -- nothing more.

Unclear if that is, in fact, what it was ... but to us, it does look like agua. Technically, that is a "chemical" in that it's made up of elements from the periodic table ... but the police make it seem like bleach or something that was tossed here. The NYPD hasn't elaborated.

Folks are also questioning their "Molotov cocktail" description ... wondering if it was actually what you'd consider a traditional bottle firebomb, or if it was just the container seen in this video. The NYPD posted an additional photo of what they say is a Molotov cocktail recovered from a traffic stop, but they don't directly connect it to this suspect/sitch here.

We've reached out to the NYPD for clarification ... so far, no word back.

Deshaun Watson claims at least 5 of his accusers performed massage therapy on the QB after alleged sexual misconduct incidents ... and the NFL star believes it's proof the women are lying.

Watson just filed new court docs responding to the 22 female massage therapists who have filed lawsuits against him. And, now that he knows the identities of his accusers, he's going after them one by one.

"In the few days since Mr. Watson has learned the identity of his accusers, his legal team has already uncovered evidence that numerous allegations in this onslaught of cases are simply not true or accurate," Watson's attorney, Rusty Hardin, says in the court docs.

Hardin lays out 6 points which he believes will help to prove his client's innocence ...

--"After the massage therapy sessions with Mr. Watson, 8 plaintiffs bragged about, praised, and were excited about massaging Mr. Watson"

--"7 plaintiffs willingly worked or offered to work with Mr. Watson after their alleged incidents"

--"3 plaintiffs lied about the number of sessions they actually had with Mr. Watson"

--"3 plaintiffs lied about their alleged trauma and resulting harm"

--"5 plaintiffs told others they wanted to get money out of Mr. Watson"

--"5 plaintiffs have scrubbed or entirely deleted their social media accounts"

Hardin clearly believes any woman who would work with Watson after suffering such trauma during an alleged sexual misconduct incident is lying.

Hardin claims he has proof that 5 accusers "chose to work with Mr. Watson even after they claim he acted offensively and aggressively in prior sessions."

"This, of course, raises the question of why they would agree to follow-up therapy sessions when they claim their experiences made them feel like they 'wanted to vomit' and caused them to 'no longer accept massage clients, for fear of a repeat of this type of harassment.'”

As for Hardin's claim that some of the accusers are scrubbing their social media accounts, he believes they're doing it to rework their images.

Watson names four accusers and says, "Before their names became public, their accounts contained pictures that are inconsistent with the image they portray through their petitions."

There was another officer-involved shooting in Minnesota this weekend, but it wasn't at all the kind that people have been protesting over ... not even close.

Burnsville Police say their officers first encountered a suspected car thief Sunday driving a vehicle with stolen plates, which he crashed. BPD says they were notified this same individual allegedly went on to carjack a female at gunpoint later in the day ... and then led police on a wild chase, all while he fired at officers who were in hot pursuit -- so claim the cops.

Part of that incident was captured by a bystander ... who filmed the suspect jumping out of the vehicle, and proceeding to run toward a highway with cruisers hot on his tail. In the clip, it appears the man attempts to carjack yet another vehicle on the road.

The white SUV ended up swerving out of the way, and police units finally caught up to him. The video freezes at that point ... presumably, that's when he was shot. BPD says the suspect was shooting at cops and officers returned fire, and the suspect ended up dead.

The officers involved in the shooting were placed on administrative leave, and the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension is investigating ... standard operating procedure.

Now, here's where things get interesting ... a local reporter for FOX9 -- who was covering protests at the Governor's mansion in St. Paul Sunday -- posted video of a group of demonstrators taking a knee in silence, this after they'd apparently heard there was another officer-involved shooting. Not just that ... but she says they planned to head down there too.

Later, she followed-up ... tweeting, "Just an update on this, protestors said later they're heading back to Brooklyn Center because they need more information about what happened in Burnsville first." In other words ... it doesn't look like they had any real info from the jump -- kneeling for a guy cops say was going full GTA.

Lil Durk's concert was cut short Saturday night after gunshots rang out concert in Phoenix at the Celebrity Theatre.

Durk was performing at the Celebrity Theatre in Phoenix when the crowd of 10,000 heard gunfire erupt. The crowd scrambled as people fought to flee the venue.

The Phoenix PD says they couldn't locate anyone who was directly hit by bullets, and reports that one woman was grazed in the leg by a bullet are not true. Phoenix Police say It was reported to their team that the injury was not from gunfire. A few people suffered non-life-threatening injuries from attempting to fleeing the area. This is an ongoing investigation.

Durk seemed upset about something when he posted, "10k people sold out and no drama stop tryna stop us." He posted this before the gunfire but during the concert. It's unclear the drama to which he was referring.

The event was tagged, "Smurkchella," as Lil Durk and other rappers hit the stage.

Various videos were posted showing the mad dash to the exits as the crowd tried to get out of harm's way. Chairs were knocked over, people screaming ... the works.

The show abruptly stopped and that was the end of it.

So far, no suspects are in custody.

A massive police presence has converged on a mall in Omaha, Nebraska -- where another shooting just took place.

The details are scarce at this point, but one thing is clear ... Omaha PD is telling the public to steer clear of the Westroads Mall, where a legion of police cruisers and ambulances have arrived. OPD says there are 2 suspects at large, and that cops are doing a sweep of the facility out of precaution. So far, one person has been transported in critical condition.

Word of the shooting first started percolating on Twitter, where a local reporter said she saw people running for their lives ... but stopped short of saying she heard any shots herself. Another person confirmed people were barreling out of the mall, but with no obvious signs of a shooting just yet. Still, it's clear that one did, in fact, occur.

The mere fact officers were loading up semi-automatics in tactical gear and preparing for some type of gunfight indicates this might have been an active shooter situation at one point.

There has been a slew of shootings recently since restrictions have eased over the pandemic.

We're trying to get more details on what led up to the latest incident -- but haven't been able to get through to anyone. OPD says a press release will be sent out soon detailing the narrative.

Lori Loughlin's husband is free to leave the house earlier than expected ... it's only one day, but it's better than nothing.

Mossimo Giannulli was set to be released from home confinement April 17, which is a Saturday, but it's common policy to grant release on the last preceding weekday if their freedom date falls on a weekend.

So, according to the Federal Bureau of Prisons, Lori's hubby was eligible to get off home confinement Friday, April 16 ... which is what just happened.

As we reported ... Mossimo was originally supposed to be locked up behind bars until the 17th, but got sprung a couple weeks early to serve out the remainder of his sentence at home.

Of course, he tried to get a much earlier release in January over COVID-19 concerns, but the judge shot him down, claiming his worries weren't enough to justify it.

This happened about a month after Lori got released -- just after Christmas -- after serving nearly 2 months for her role in the notorious college admissions scandal.

As you'll recall ... Lori pled guilty last May to 1 count of conspiracy to commit wire and mail fraud. She and Mossimo were accused of paying $500k in bribes to get their daughters into USC and faking a photo that made it look like the girls were college-caliber rowers.

Cariol Horne -- the Buffalo police officer who was fired for trying to stop a chokehold employed by a fellow cop -- says George Floyd's death demonstrates how fearful police are of crossing the thin blue line ... even when they know it's the right thing to do.

Cariol joined "TMZ Live" Friday on the heels of winning a ruling this week to get her pension and back pay reinstated, after she was fired for the 2006 incident in which she intervened during the arrest of Neal Mack ... stopping a white officer from choking him.

Horne tells us she cried for 2 days after Floyd's death because it didn't have to happen, but the case brought to light what she dealt with 15 years ago. She adds that it shows there needs to be systemic change in how police behave when they witness brutality among their peers.

She's already done her part to make it happen, not just with the 2006 incident, but by writing legislation that's been passed into law in Buffalo which obligates officers to stop police brutality, and legally protects those who do.

It's called Cariol's Law, and she's pushing for it to become the norm in the U.S. ... so police can actually play their part in ending police brutality.

As for her legal victory this week, Horne believes the current climate factored in ... as she says people are finally recognizing that police brutality is simply a progression from the days of slavery and segregation.

Deadly mass shootings in America continue at a demoralizing pace, the latest coming out of a FedEx facility in Indianapolis ... leaving 8 dead and an undetermined number wounded.

The gunman opened fire both outside and inside the facility near the Indianapolis Airport late Thursday night, creating a terrifying scene of people running for cover before the shooter turned the gun on himself and took his own life.

Cops were called to the scene around 11 PM, and say the gunman parked outside, got out of his vehicle and quickly began shooting ... first in the parking lot and then made his way in the building. It happened fast -- 1 to 2 minutes, suggesting he used some sort of semi-automatic weapon.

Along with 8 people killed, there are at least 5 others reportedly hospitalized with injuries from the shooting, including one in critical condition. It appears some of the walking wounded took themselves to a hospital, but the number hasn't been determined.

FedEx says it's "shocked and saddened" by the tragic shooting and loss of its team members, and is sending "heartfelt sympathies" to all of those affected.

Sadly, this type of story is hardly shocking to wake up to in the U.S. anymore -- as disgusting as that sounds -- because there have been deadly mass shootings in more than 20 cities in just the past month, as COVID restrictions subside.

Three men in hoods broke into soccer star Chris Smalling's home in Italy on Thursday night ... held him at gunpoint and robbed him of his watches, jewelry and other valuables.

The horrifying incident all went down sometime before 5 AM in Rome, according to multiple reports, when Smalling was jarringly awoken by the assailants.

Per the reports, the men forced Smalling to go to his safe and hand them Rolex watches, cash and a bunch of his other prized possessions.

The men reportedly took off after that ... and Smalling -- who was at the home with his wife and son -- quickly called authorities.

Cops arrived and launched an investigation ... though no arrests have been made yet.

According to reports, Smalling and his family were unharmed during the incident ... though the 31-year-old was obviously emotionally shaken up by it all.

"Thinking about you @ChrisSmalling and your lovely family," Smalling's former teammate, Marcus Rashford, tweeted after learning of the incident on Friday.

"So sorry to wake up to the news this morning. Can’t imagine how you’re feeling but I hope you’re ok."

Smalling's Roma team had played earlier Thursday night ... but the star defender did not participate in the game due to a knee injury.

Adam Toledo was holding a gun mere milliseconds before a Chicago cop fatally shot the 13-year-old ... that's according to Chicago PD, which released more video footage to support that version of the tragedy.

The new videos provide a complete picture of what cops were responding to on March 29 -- a report of shots fired. The new footage shows Adam and a 21-year-old man walking on the block when the shots are heard ringing out ... and then running afterward.

Most importantly, though, police have frozen the moment the officer caught up to Adam in an alley -- and the enhanced video shows the teen was holding something as the cop yelled, "Show me your f**king hands!" CPD says this is when Adam tossed the weapon and then -- fractions of a second later -- turned to raise his hands.

The Toledo family's attorney, Adeena Weiss Ortiz, acknowledged Adam did appear to have a weapon, but during a Thursday news conference added, "He tossed the gun. If he had a gun, he tossed it. The officer said, 'Show me your hands.' He complied. He turned around."

The first body cam footage CPD released on Thursday did not clearly show the weapon in Adam's hand -- but police say the new video shows why the officer fired ... he saw the gun, and believed Adam was turning with it in his hand.

Gunshots rang out on the set of the TV show, "The Rookie" Thursday afternoon ... where you couldn't tell the difference between real and fake cops.

Production sources tell TMZ ... the show was filming outside Los Angeles Center Studios near downtown L.A. ... and moments ago someone ran by on foot and fired 3 shots that hit a building near the set location. There were people all around where the bullets hit. Thankfully, no one was injured.

Law enforcement sources tell us at least 2 people are believed to have fired the shots, and they were aimed toward the area where security officers were stationed.

We're told this is a known gang area, but there was no known conflict between security or anyone else before the shooting.

Although we don't know the motive, it appeared from a casual glance the area was filled with police officers.

We're told "The Rookie" star, Nathan Fillion, was on set.

A white man who is a U.S. Army sergeant saw a Black man he didn't recognize strolling through his neighborhood, and decided to get in his face about it ... but we've learned the sergeant's been arrested over the incident.

42-year-old Jonathan Pentland -- reportedly based at Fort Jackson in Columbia, SC -- was recorded aggressively confronting the young Black man, and even shoving him around in the suburb of Summit Monday evening.

The Black guy kept his cool, and said he was just passing through ... doing nothing else but walking. Pentland and others recording the altercation continued to press him -- accusing him of lingering around their home and surrounding streets for 15 minutes.

As for what triggered this altercation ... the Richland County Sheriff's Office says calls initially came in describing an altercation going down. Once officers arrived and did a preliminary investigation, RCSO says they learned the alleged victim here was supposedly going around and approaching different neighbors in what they described as a threatening manner. Eventually, they say someone asked Pentland to step in ... and things picked up there.

RCSO notes that when officers first responded, they were not aware of nor did they see this video. However, after the clip eventually went viral ... the agency says they passed their findings to a judge, who found sufficient evidence to bring Pentland in on an arrest warrant.

The Sheriff's Office also says this of the alleged victim ... he apparently has an underlying medical condition that might've affected his behavior that day, and the authorities are working to get him the help he needs, while trying to keep him out of the criminal justice system.

The young man claimed to live near this area ... but no word yet if that's, in fact, the case.

In any event, Pentland ended up getting arrested early Wednesday morning over the altercation. We've confirmed he was booked on assault and battery charges. It's unclear if he's still in custody.

Fort Jackson officials also commented on the widely-circulated video, saying ... "This type of behavior is not consistent with our Army values and will not be condoned. We have begun our own investigation and are working with the local authorities."

A Chicago police officer shot and killed a 13-year-old in what was reported as an "armed confrontation" -- but newly released footage of the incident seems to show the kid raising his empty hands as the cop fired.

Adam Toledo was killed during a foot pursuit in Chicago around 2:30 AM on March 29, and the officer's body cam was recording as he caught up to the teenager in an alley.

In the video, the officer yells, "Show me your f**king hands." It also sounds like he said, "stop it" ... or "drop it" ... and then fired a single shot. Adam was putting his hands up at that moment.

He died as a result of the gunshot according to the Cook County medical examiner. Adam's family claims Chicago PD took 2 days to notify them of his death, and they think cops have been cagey about providing details.

According to police, officers were responding to a shots fired call, and saw "two males in a nearby alley." Cops say one of them was armed and fled, then one officer fired shots and hit a suspect in the chest.

Police initially only said the person "was pronounced deceased on scene" but didn't specify the age of the person the officer had shot.

Juelz Santana is staying grounded in New Jersey, a judge just denied his big trip to sunny South Florida -- this after the feds claim the rapper failed a drug test -- but his team believes it's a mistake.

According to new legal docs, the Dipset MC was asking for permission to fly down to Miami this month for work, but when he asked the court for approval, the feds said he wasn't fully following the rules of his supervised release, and a judge put the kibosh on the whole thing.

Remember ... Juelz is on supervised release after serving 19 months in prison as part of a 27-month sentence in his airport drug case. So, he has to get permission to travel outside NJ, and take mandatory drug tests.

In the docs, obtained by TMZ, the feds claim Juelz was planning to travel to Miami with 2 convicted felons -- a no-no under supervised release -- and the Assistant U.S. Attorney also says his recent urine sample tested positive for opiates and methadone.

Add it all up, and the judge ended up denying the request.

A high school basketball coach in North Carolina was shot to death while trying to steal drugs and money from a stash house used by a violent Mexican drug cartel, officials say.

Yeah, this is one of the craziest stories we've ever heard.

Officials have identified Barney Harris -- who worked as a coach and teacher at Union Academy in Monroe.

Investigators say Harris was also part of a "criminal organization" that was hell-bent on robbing some of the most dangerous people in town ... the Sinaloa New Generation Cartel.

According to the Alamance County Sheriff’s Office, Harris -- along with "a team of people" -- snuck into a mobile home park on April 8 to clean out a "stash house" used by the Cartel.

Harris allegedly entered the stash house first and captured one of the Cartel members, Alonso Beltran Lara.

Officials say Lara was subsequently tied up and shot twice in the head, execution-style.

At some point during the incident, officials say another suspected Cartel member entered the home and a gun battle broke out.

"It was almost like an old western shootout," Alamance County Sheriff Terry Johnson said.

"What was found was over 30-some shell casings in the trailer and outside the trailer, and three other mobile homes, in that particular park, with bullet holes in them."

When cops arrived at the scene, they found Harris shot to death in one of the bedrooms. He was wearing a bullet-proof vest and mask at the time. But, officials say his vest was no match for the high-powered weapons that were used against him.

Officials say they found Lara still alive and raced him to a hospital where he later died from his injuries.

Sheriff Johnson says investigators searched the crime scene and found 5 guns, roughly $7,000 in cash and more than a KILO of what they believe to be cocaine.

The concern now ... officials are VERY worried about violent retaliation from the Cartel.

"When we are dealing with the Mexican drug cartel ... somebody is probably gonna die as a result of this," Sheriff Johnson said.

"The Mexican cartels, they don't forget. They're gonna pay somebody back, somewhere and that concerns me."

Deshaun Watson's accuser list is back down to 22 ... one of the women who had filed a lawsuit against the QB officially dropped her case this week, though she stressed the move might only be temporary.

In court docs, obtained by TMZ Sports, the female masseuse -- using the pseudonym, Jane Doe -- said she was not going forward with her case due to "privacy and security concerns."

She noted in the docs, however, the decision was only "for now" ... explaining if her concerns are assuaged, she might refile the suit later on.

As we previously reported, judges ruled last week most of Watson's accusers could NOT use "Jane Doe" aliases in their suits anymore... and ruled the women must identify themselves if they wanted to go forward with their cases.

It seems one of the Does did not feel comfortable doing that ... and officially dropped the suit in a court filing this week.

22 other women are still moving forward with their cases, though ... with Watson's latest accuser officially filing a new suit against the Texans player Wednesday.

In that suit, Erica Chapman -- a make-up artist -- claims Watson contacted her on Instagram in Sept. 2020 ... and the two set up a massage at the quarterback's Texas residence shortly after.

While there, Chapman claims Watson was sexually inappropriate.

According to the suit, the two still agreed to do another massage session two months later in November ... and during that one, Chapman says Watson manipulated "the massage and her into sexual coercion."

Chapman, who claims the QB's actions left her "ashamed, embarrassed, deeply distressed and confused," is suing for undisclosed damages.

Watson, through his attorney, Rusty Hardin, has admitted to having sexual encounters with some of his massage therapists in recent years -- but the QB has insisted the acts were always consensual.