Crime

A New Jersey officer in charge of the K-9 unit has been charged with animal cruelty ... after he allegedly left two department dogs to die in a hot car.

Cody L. Henderson of the Salem County Sheriff’s Office was arrested Tuesday and charged with recklessly causing the death of Boomer, a 6-year-old springer spaniel, and Rip, a 4-year-old Belgian malinois, according to NJ.com.

Both dogs were left in the same cruiser May 29 ... allegedly for seven hours in the beating sun ... with the engine off, no windows cracked, while Henderson worked the courthouse. He is accused of ignoring the dogs until the end of the day, when he discovered them dead of heat stroke.

A distressed woman scaled the world-famous Brooklyn Bridge in NYC ... but she didn't plunge into the East River ... her life was saved thanks to the NYPD.

The death-defying incident went down Wednesday night on the Brooklyn-bound side of the bridge, where the woman in her 30s was sitting on a support suspension beam near eyewitnesses.

The NYPD's Emergency Service Unit officers quickly responded to multiple 911 calls and climbed up the bridge to talk with the troubled woman.

Courtney Clenney says she wasn't staying silent after allegedly catching beatings from boyfriend Christian Obumseli ... she was texting him about them ... and now she wants to use the messages in her criminal trial, in which she's accused of murdering him.

New court documents, obtained by TMZ, reveal the OnlyFans model wants to introduce a string of text messages backing up her claims she endured repeated abuse before fatally stabbing Obumseli in their Miami high-rise apartment in 2022.

According to the filing, one exchange came after Clenney claimed Obumseli punched her in the face in April 2021. Her attorneys say she immediately fired off a text accusing him of hitting her "in my face as hard as you could" ... while Obumseli allegedly brushed it off, responding he was only trying to move her hand and "really didn't mean to."

Clenney argues the messages show a pattern of him minimizing what allegedly happened.

12:23 PM PT -- Christine Russo joined us today on "TMZ Live" Wednesday, where she explained that Mackenzie's behavior is making a mockery out of their family's tragedy.

Mackenzie Shirilla is posting glammed-up prison selfies on Instagram ... but Dominic Russo's sister tells TMZ all she sees is a convicted killer soaking up attention online.

Mackenzie's new prison selfie and a message saying she's "trying to do better every day and holding on to hope" has Christine Russo demanding prison officials investigate whether she's improperly accessing social media behind bars.

Christine tells TMZ ... "As Dominic Russo's sister, it is heartbreaking to see someone convicted in connection with my brother's death appear to have a social media presence while our family is suffering every day. While my brother is buried, seeing her post selfies, full face of makeup, and bragging how she is famous is painful and, to me, completely inconsistent with remorse."

Here's the booking photo Big Tigger's estranged wife Alicia Brown posed for after being busted on kidnapping-related warrants ... and she looks shocked and surprised.

The mug shot, obtained by TMZ, was snapped after Brown was taken into custody Monday during a felony traffic stop on Interstate 85 in Georgia.

As TMZ first reported, the Hart County Sheriff's Office says deputies received a BOLO for Brown's vehicle after learning she was wanted on kidnapping-related warrants out of Maryland. With help from the Georgia State Patrol, authorities tracked down the car, conducted a felony traffic stop and arrested Brown without incident.

Taylor Parker's disciplinary file behind bars appears to be remarkably thin ... and the lone conduct report is over her chosen sleeping arrangement ... TMZ has learned.

According to jail records obtained by TMZ, Parker was written up after allegedly refusing a direct order from a correctional officer.

The incident report says the official ordered Parker to stop sleeping on the floor using her mattress ... however, according to the write-up, Parker "failed to obey the order."

Mackenzie Shirilla is sharing a new photo from behind bars ... along with a positive message after suffering a legal setback.

Despite being locked up, Mackenzie's supporters are using her Instagram account. In a recent post, they uploaded a snap of her from prison, explaining she's "trying to do better every day and holding on to hope" ... despite a recent court decision denying her request for post-conviction relief.

Mackenzie's team explained the denial wasn't based on the substance of her claims. Instead, they said the filing was rejected because it was submitted one day past the deadline.

Big Tigger's estranged wife, Alicia Brown, is now facing a whole new set of legal problems ... TMZ has learned she's been arrested in Georgia on a warrant related to kidnapping.

Hart County Sheriff's Office tells TMZ ... deputies tracked down Brown's SUV Monday night after receiving a BOLO tied to outstanding kidnapping-related warrants out of Maryland. Authorities say Brown was arrested without incident during a felony traffic stop on Interstate 85, and two young children inside the vehicle were safely recovered.

We're told Tigger's kid that he shares with Brown was one of the children in the car.

Investigators say the Maryland warrants stem from the 2019 disappearance of a 10-year-old child. Brown faces a felony interference with child custody charge in Georgia, and officials say she'll be extradited to Maryland.

Diddy's getting his steps in behind bars ... TMZ has obtained video showing him out for one of his daily walks inside FCI Fort Dix.

The footage is quick, but it's a rare glimpse of the Bad Boy founder on prison grounds in New Jersey.

Take a look ... Diddy can be seen making his rounds inside the federal compound Monday afternoon, dressed in a light T-shirt, shorts, sneakers, and a hat.

We're told the video was shot around 2 PM -- right in the middle of Diddy's regular outdoor routine.

Sources with direct knowledge tell TMZ ... Diddy spends about two hours walking the compound every day, from roughly 1 PM to 3 PM, as long as the weather cooperates.

Andrew Gillum -- the ex-politician who lost to Ron DeSantis by a slim margin in the 2018 Florida governor's race -- was arrested last week in Alabama on drug offenses, TMZ has learned.

Gillum was taken into custody Thursday night by officers in Daphne, AL, and then booked in the Baldwin County jail for possession of dangerous drugs, drug paraphernalia, and possession of marijuana, according to online police records. The Daphne PD has yet to release details on what led to his latest brush with the law.

You may recall ... in 2020, Gillum and another man were found dazed and confused inside a room by paramedics at the Mondrian Hotel in South Beach, Florida. Another man discovered the two and called 911, worried that the person with Gillum had possibly overdosed.

Here's a fresh look inside Jeffrey Epstein's notorious pedophile island ... and it's creepy.

Never-before-seen video offers a trip around Epstein's island -- Little Saint James -- in the United States Virgin Islands ... with an insider's look around the grounds and inside some of the eerie buildings.

The cameraman here is a Romanian artist who claims he worked for Epstein from 2010 to 2019 ... he says he did interior artwork on the blue and white striped building Epstein reportedly referred to as his "mosque."

Ex-NFL star Marcellus Wiley's sexual assault accuser is trying to use his recent domestic violence arrest against him in court ... TMZ has learned.

According to new legal docs, obtained by TMZ, Janine de Novais and her legal team submitted exhibits related to Marcellus' recent arrest to support their effort to compel Columbia University to hand over documents they believe will help them with their case against Marcellus. Janine is suing Marcellus, claiming he raped her in a dorm room in 1994 when they were both students at Columbia.

Janine's legal team attached the complaint and a no-contact order entered in the case about Marcellus' wife, Annemarie Wiley, claiming he threatened to kill her and poked her in the face during an argument in a Florida hotel room.

As TMZ first reported, Marcellus was arrested after he and his wife spoke to officers.

Karmelo Anthony's new attorneys are making a bold first move ... asking for a new trial and trying to sideline the judge who presided over his murder case.

The defense filed two major motions Tuesday -- one seeking to remove Judge John Roach from all remaining post-trial proceedings, and another asking the court to throw out Anthony's conviction altogether. Anthony's lawyers argue the new-trial issues should be decided by a different judge and want Judge Roach to recuse himself.

In the recusal motion, Anthony's attorneys point to Roach's post-verdict interview with a local TV station and his written statement to Fox News ... arguing he publicly endorsed the guilty verdict, defended his courtroom rulings, and declared Anthony received a fair trial -- comments they say make it impossible for him to fairly rule on the defense's post-trial motions.

Andrew Gillum -- the former Florida politician who lost to Ron DeSantis by a slim margin in the 2018 governor's race  -- allegedly had methamphetamine, cut straws, weed, pipes and a bong on him when he was arrested in Alabama.

According to the incident report, obtained by TMZ ... Gillum was arrested last week on U.S. Highway 98 near Walmart Drive in Daphne, where cops say they found 3 grams of methamphetamine, 8 pre-rolled marijuana joints, 4 cut straws, 3 pipes, and a bong during the bust.

Police say they pulled Gillum over because he was driving erratically.

We broke the story ... the ex-gubernatorial candidate was arrested and charged with felony unlawful possession of a controlled substance and misdemeanor possession of marijuana.

Celeste Rivas' family is doing as well as can be expected given the circumstances ... so says one of the main prosecutors in D4vd's murder case.

We got Beth Silverman before a status hearing on Tuesday ... and we asked her about the family of the slain teenager.

She told us, "They're doing as well as possible, thanks for asking" ... but remained mum when we asked her what justice in this case might look like.

Mystikal's now doing hard time behind bars ... because he was just transferred to the notorious Angola Prison in Louisiana ... TMZ has learned.

The Grammy-nominated rapper, whose real name is Michael Tyler, will be housed in protective custody at the maximum-security prison -- known as the "Alcatraz of the South" -- according to the Louisiana Department of Public Safety & Corrections.

We're told Mystikal's custody arrangement was the best option due to his celebrity status ... and he'll be kicking back in his own single occupancy cell.

Previously, Mystikal was locked up for four long years in Ascension Parish Jail while his rape case slogged through the court system. Under a plea deal with prosecutors, Mystikal copped to third-degree rape and was sentenced to 20 years in The Big House.