Crime

10:38 AM PT -- Next Generation Action Network president Dominique Alexander began the press conference several minutes after police sorted out the issue ... and he kicked things by ripping Jeff Metcalf for appearing uninvited. He called the man's behavior "inappropriate," and "a disrespect to the dignity of his son."

Alexander then went on to blast media members for spreading falsehoods about the Anthonys in wake of their son's arrest -- appearing to take the biggest issue with the family's GiveSendGo funds, which he was adamant nobody had access to until Wednesday.

Karmelo's mom, Kala Hayes, then addressed reporters ... and emotionally pleaded for the threats and harassment she and her family have received to stop.

Alexander ultimately wrapped up the event by insisting this will be their last press conference until a trial for Karmelo begins.

Karmelo Anthony's family was slated to address the teen's murder charge at a news conference roughly an hour ago -- but they put a pause on the proceedings ... as the father of the boy who Anthony allegedly killed unexpectedly showed up to the event.

Two Florida cops came terrifyingly close to death when an SUV barreling down the highway slammed straight into a patrol unit and a disabled car pulled over on the side of the road -- and the whole thing was caught on dashcam video.

The unoccupied sheriff's SUV was parked on the right shoulder in front of another marked police unit and a disabled vehicle, which was occupied by a passenger -- and despite emergency lights flashing, a 35-year-old female driver veered onto the shoulder and slammed straight into the cop vehicle in the rear with full force in Volusia County.

The impact caused the SUV to strike the disabled vehicle too, sending the woman's Hyundai Tucson spinning across three lanes of traffic before it smashed into a guardrail on the other side. The whole thing happened early Sunday around 3 AM.

Karmelo Anthony has not withdrawn funds from his nearly $450,000 GiveSendGo fundraiser ... even after he walked free from the slammer on a $250K bond Monday.

Jacob Wells, cofounder of the popular crowdsourcing platform, tells TMZ no funds have been distributed, as the company receives "clarity from the campaign recipient on use of funds so that the people that have given can be confident in how their donation is being used."

The revelation comes while folks question how Anthony satisfied his $250,000 bond -- which a judge reduced from $1 million -- and how his family is covering his legal costs as the 17-year-old faces a first-degree murder charge in the stabbing death of Austin Metcalf at their Frisco, Texas track meet earlier this month ... all while allegedly living in a $900,000 rental home.

The man who admitted to firebombing Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro's home says he did it to avenge Palestinian deaths in the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.

Pennsylvania State Police say Cody Balmer made a 911 call around 3 AM Sunday -- about an hour after he hurled Molotov cocktails into Shapiro's home -- and said he wanted the Governor to know he "will not take part in his plans for what he wants to do to the Palestinian people."

During the call, Balmer also said, "Our people have been put through too much by that monster" ... referring to Shapiro, and added, the Governor needed to stop having his friends (presumably in Gaza) killed.

An ATV driver in Kansas City, Missouri went rogue over the weekend ... running over a KC police officer as they attempted to avoid a tire-deflation device employed by the officer.

The shocking scene was captured on video ... the officer appears to be in direct contact with the ATV, gripping it with both hands -- before it rapidly backs up, forcing the officer to tumble to the ground.

The officer gets back to his feet ... but not for long, as the ATV pops a wheelie and fully runs him over, before fleeing.

Diddy is looking to beef up his legal defense team ... with an attorney famous for defending Young Thug in court.

According to new legal docs, obtained by TMZ, Georgia attorney Brian Steel wants to be admitted to practice law in the Southern District of New York so he can help defend Diddy at trial.

Brian's known for repping Young Thug in the rapper's YSL RICO case.

5:45 P.M. PT -- Andrew Tate's lawyer Joseph McBride tells TMZ ... "Look at the video. It’s ridiculous, uncomfortable, and scripted. It’s a pathetic attempt to manipulate the masses, unaware that Bri Stern is a man-eating she-wolf whose notable contribution to society is offering images of her body online for money."

He adds ... "For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. Bri Stern lied to the world when she accused Andrew of harming her. Now, she’s facing one of the worst ratios in internet history. And that’s that."

Bri Stern is speaking out after claiming her ex boyfriend Andrew Tate beat her ... she says she trusted him and he got her with a classic bait and switch.

Andrew's ex just posted a video on social media detailing her side of their relationship ... expanding on why she started dating him in the first place and pushing back on the haters she says are telling her she deserved his alleged abuse.

Bri says Andrew charmed her and convinced her all the negative things out there were not true and she says she takes full accountability for giving it a go as his girlfriends ... despite narratives that he's a misogynist.

"Ghost Adventures" star Aaron Goodwin's wife won't be haunting him ... in a court of law, at least -- she's struck a plea deal to avoid a lengthy murder-for-hire trial, and shorten her sentence.

Victoria Goodwin filed docs, obtained by TMZ, informing the judge in Clark County, Nevada, she intends to plead guilty to one of the 2 counts she was facing for allegedly plotting to kill her famous husband.

According to the docs, Goodwin says she's copping to conspiracy to commit murder, and in exchange prosecutors will drop the charge of solicitation to commit murder. Additionally, prosecutors have agreed to make no recommendation to the judge on Goodwin's sentence.

The Menendez Brothers' relatives are ripping L.A. County D.A. Nathan Hochman ... blasting his use of crime scene photos in a recent court hearing as a "grotesque spectacle" with dire consequences.

Bryan Freedman -- the attorney representing the family -- rips Hochman in a new court filing ... saying the county's top prosecutor is making a mockery of Marsy's Law, which protects the rights of crime victims.

In the docs, obtained by TMZ, Freedman says Hochman gratuitously and needlessly displayed crime scene photos at Friday's court hearing, which was attended by a bunch of Erik's and Lyle's relatives -- and he claims the photos caused the brothers' 85-year-old aunt, Terry Baralt, such severe emotional distress she ended up in a hospital bed.

The man who cops say they arrested at the UnitedHealthcare campus in Minnesota has just been identified ... and only TMZ has his mug shot.

Law enforcement tells us Ian Stanley Wagner was busted Monday outside UnitedHealthcare HQ and he's been booked for allegedly making threats of violence.

The FBI and Minnetonka Police say Wagner contacted the FBI Minneapolis Field Office on Monday morning and "issued threats of violence directed at the United Healthcare facility if specific demands were not met."

Nick Carter is being sued by a woman who says he raped her and infected her with a bunch of sexually transmitted diseases ... but he says her allegations are bogus.

The Backstreet Boys singer is being sued by a woman named Laura Penly, who claims he sexually assaulted her multiple times.

In the lawsuit, obtained by TMZ, Penly claims she met Nick in 2004 when she was 19 years old and they started banging for a couple weeks ... meeting up at a Los Angeles apartment to hang out and have sex. She says she asked him to wear a condom but he refused and told her he was "clean" from STDs.

Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman says Erik and Lyle Menendez needed to 'fess up to all their lies when talking to TMZ from prison ... but their lawyer Mark Geragos says prosecutors are focused on the wrong things.

Nathan and Mark joined us Monday on "TMZ Live" and we asked them about the upcoming resentencing hearing and the brothers' bid for freedom.

Hochman digs his heels in and argues why Erik and Lyle should remain behind bars  ... telling us the Menendez Bros missed a golden opportunity to take responsibility and apologize in their recent TMZ special.

2:23 PM PT -- Just hours after a judge in Texas agreed to drastically reduce Karmelo Anthony's bond amount, the 17-year-old is out of the local county jail.

A local reporter, Steven Dial of FOX 4 Dallas, captured the moment Anthony walked out of the facility ... where he's been since April 2.

Karmelo Anthony -- the teenager charged with the murder of 17-year-old Austin Metcalf -- had his bond drastically reduced during a court hearing Monday morning ... from $1,000,000 to $250,000.

Mike Howard, Anthony's new attorney, argued the $1 million bond was unnecessary ... as his client has no history of criminal activity.

"Give this young man a chance to get out of jail and be with his family," Howard said.

Taylor Lorenz is inserting herself into the Luigi Mangione case -- well, hypothetically -- 'cause she’s weighing in on what her verdict would be if she had a seat on that trial jury.

The ex-Washington Post columnist swung by "TMZ Live" Monday ... and we grilled her on which route she'd go on Luigi's fate -- guilty with the death penalty, guilty with prison time, or not guilty via jury nullification. Let’s just say, it wasn’t an easy call for the outspoken journo.

Check it out ... Taylor tells us she's firmly against the death penalty, so that one’s off the table -- but when it comes to the other two options, she’s torn ... because we haven't seen the potential evidence presented yet.

The Menendez family is blaming the Los Angeles District Attorney's Office for the hospitalization of Terry Baralt -- Erik and Lyle's aunt ... claiming the graphic crime scene photos they were shown did a number on her health.

In a press release from the Justice for Erik and Lyle Coalition -- a collective of family members fighting for the brothers' release -- the group confirmed our story that Baralt had been found unresponsive in her hotel room.

The coalition says the D.A.'s office didn't give the family a heads up that they would be presenting photos of the crime scene at Friday's resentencing hearing ... a violation of Marsy's Law, a law designed to protect the victims of crimes.

Lyle and Erik Menendez's aunt, Terry Baralt, has been rushed to the hospital after being found unresponsive in a Los Angeles hotel room ... TMZ has learned.

Our sources tell us Terry -- who is 85 and battling colon cancer -- has been exhausted, stressed and traumatized in the last year as the entire Menendez family works to get the two brothers released from prison.

It all came to a boiling point Friday when the Menendez brothers appeared in a Los Angeles courtroom for a resentencing hearing. During the tense hearing, the defense team went at it with prosecutors while the Menendez family looked on.