Crime

A Sheriff in Michigan not only shared a stage with one of the men arrested for allegedly trying to kidnap and possibly kill Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer ... he says the 13 alleged extremists wanted what lots of people wanted ... Whitmer arrested.

Barry County Sheriff Dar Leaf has a connection with William Null -- they were on the same stage at a Grand Rapids rally in May protesting Governor Whitmer's stay-at-home order -- and he says he has no regrets about being on the same platform as the man charged in a kidnapping plot.

Sheriff Leaf says he was "shocked" by the arrest and says he "did not see this coming" with Null ... according to an interview he did with FOX 17 in West Michigan.

Leaf is downplaying the arrest, saying "it's just a charge." The Sheriff claims the men might not have been trying to kidnap Governor Whitmer, and instead might have been trying to arrest her for a felony ... presumably her hardline on COVID regs.

Governor Whitmer called the 13 people arrested in the plot "sick and depraved," but Sheriff Leaf insists the Null brothers are nice and respectful ... and he says lots of people in his state are angry with the Governor and want her handcuffed and taken away.

Meanwhile, the Null brothers are being held on $250,000 bail and could face up to 22 years in prison if convicted.

Tory Lanez has been charged in connection with the shooting involving Megan Thee Stallion ... just weeks after the singer released an album claiming his innocence.

The L.A. County D.A.'s Office hit him with one count of assault with a semiautomatic firearm, and one count of carrying a loaded, unregistered firearm in a vehicle. The D.A. also alleges Tory inflicted great bodily injury.

If convicted, the rapper/singer faces up to 22 years and 8 months in prison.

As we reported ... the prosecutors had said they were mulling over a charge of felony assault with a firearm against Tory after Megan said she was shot back in July. Remember, Tory had been arrested but only charged with possession of a firearm. Prosecutors are now explicitly pointing the finger at Tory as the man who pulled the trigger ... leaving Meg with a gruesome foot injury.

It took Meg some time before she went public and accused Tory by name as the person who shot her. She didn't mince words saying ... "Yes, this n***a Tory shot me. You shot me, and you got your publicist and your people to these blogs lying and s**t, stop lying!"

As we reported, sources connected to Tory say there were mitigating circumstances -- and based on what we know ... we believe Tory's going to say it was an accidental shooting. Megan didn't help the D.A.'s effort with a social media caption -- which has since been deleted -- that said she had her back to the SUV when she was shot in the heel. That might indicate she didn't see it with her own eyes when Tory allegedly pulled the trigger.

You'll recall ... video of the incident showed cops pulling over the SUV in the Hollywood Hills -- with Tory lying face-down on the pavement and Megan gingerly tip-toeing ... leaving bloody footprints with each painful step.

Breonna Taylor's body was motionless in her hallway for several minutes as a SWAT team cleared her apartment, then checked for a pulse ... before cooly, and repeatedly, stating, "She's done."

Louisville PD just released body cam video from several SWAT officers who showed up on the scene after the raid and gunfight that killed Breonna and injured one Louisville cop, Jonathan Mattingly. The footage provides the first good look inside Breonna's apartment immediately after the deadly incident.

As SWAT prepared to enter one cop says, "The female is supposedly the one that's shot" -- speaking of Breonna. Her boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, had already walked out and surrendered.

Upon entering the apartment, cops immediately called out that Breonna was at the end of the hallway, but SWAT spends several more minutes clearing various parts of the apartment before addressing Breonna, saying ... "Ma'am, can you hear us?"

One officer told another to check her pulse. Of course, she did not have one ... and the cop declared, "She’s done." Most of the SWAT members then left the apartment to make room for a medic and crime scene investigators.

An officer's heard telling others not to turn their cameras off, and while examining all the casings on the floor says ... "Is that theirs? No that’s ours, the only casings look like 9mils."

At one point, it appears now-fired Officer Brett Hankison -- the only officer indicted by a grand jury -- popped his head back in to discuss the scene, before being told to back out.

Other footage, from a different officer, shows the horrific aftermath inside the apartment -- bullet holes and bloodstains on walls ... and Breonna's body on the floor. Her body is blurred in the video.

Now, body cam video outside the apartment shows police interacting with Walker after his surrender. It's interesting because almost immediately Walker, through tears, declared to police that Breonna was dead inside, and that they had no idea who was entering the apartment.

He repeatedly said, "We didn't know who it was" ... and one cop responded that they had announced themselves 3 times. That is, of course, the central dispute in the case. Walker says he fired his legally-owned handgun thinking someone was breaking into the place.

Police, and Attorney General Daniel Cameron, insist the cops ID'd themselves as law enforcement and were, therefore, justified in returning fire on Kenneth and Breonna.

Derek Chauvin -- the former Minneapolis police officer accused of killing George Floyd -- is a free man for now ... he just got released from behind bars as he awaits trial.

Chauvin was cut loose Wednesday from the Oak Park Heights prison in Minnesota after court records show he posted a non-cash $1 million bond backed by a place called A-Affordable Bail Bonds. His trial is currently scheduled for March.

Chauvin was the last of the 4 accused cops still in custody. As we reported, the other 3 -- Alexander Keung, Thomas Lane and Tou Thao -- were released some time ago, and are all seeking a change of venue ahead of their trials.

Chauvin faces the most severe charges out of the group -- he's been rung up for 2nd-degree murder, 3rd-degree murder and 2nd-degree manslaughter after leaving his knee on Floyd's neck for 8 minutes and 46 seconds.

Lena Hernandez, the "Karen" who was accused of a slew of racist tirades in Southern California over the past year, is taking a plea deal ... and she is getting jail time.

Law enforcement sources tell us Hernandez will take a deal on her misdemeanor battery charge, and in exchange, prosecutors will seek a sentence of 45 days in Los Angeles County Jail.

Our sources say Hernandez will be in court Tuesday for a judge to accept the deal. We're told Hernandez will be on probation for the next 3 years, and she's gotta complete a year-long anger management class. Our sources say she will also be ordered to pay about $1,500 and can't own a firearm for the next 10 years.

TMZ broke the story ... Hernandez was busted in July after launching a series of racist rants in a park and a mall. Police issued a warrant for her arrest and cops finally tracked her down in the SoCal beach city of San Pedro.

The battery charge is related to an incident last October at a shopping mall in Torrance. Our sources say Hernandez will be given stay-away orders from the mall and from the victim.

James Otis -- famous for destroying Donald Trump's Hollywood Walk of Fame star in 2016 -- is back at it again, he just got busted for the same stunt ... even with an elaborate costume.

LAPD arrested Otis for felony vandalism after he allegedly took a pickaxe to Trump's star last week, completely destroying it beyond all recognition.

The cops claim James recently went on social media expressing his intention to damage Trump's star -- plus, Otis told us he was the vandal who dressed up as the Incredible Hulk.

As we reported, he was first arrested for this before the 2016 election.

LAPD says video of Friday morning's vandalism appeared to show James as the culprit, and when they contacted Otis' camp they were told he wanted to turn himself in for the crime.

Cops say James did just that Monday, turning himself in at the police station in Hollywood. Our law enforcement sources say he's still in jail, where he's being held on $20,000 bail.

The Hollywood Chamber of Commerce estimated the damage to Trump's star to be over $3,000 ... and crews are already working to restore it.

Finally, some good news for the NY Jets ... their star defensive end Quinnen Williams is officially off the hook for bringing a gun and ammo to an airport back in March.

As we previously reported, the 3rd overall pick of the 2019 NFL Draft was arrested back on March 6 when officials say they found a Glock 19 in Quinnen's luggage while going through a security checkpoint at NY's LaGuardia airport.

Officials say the gun was not loaded -- but they did find one 15-round high capacity magazine in Quinnen's bag.

22-year-old Williams was arrested and initially hit with two charges -- Class E and D felonies for criminal possession of a firearm.

At the time, Quinnen's attorney, Alex Spiro, told us the gun was "lawfully owned" and the issue was more about "the manner" in which the firearm was stored in the luggage.

Now, Spiro says the criminal gun charges have been formally dropped -- and Quinnen was instead hit with a minor citation.

"As we said from the outset, this matter has been resolved with no criminal charges," Spiro said in a statement.

"This case was nothing more than a technical issue with the storing of the firearm which is why the government gave Mr. Williams nothing more than a ticket."

Shoe designer Salehe Bembury got stopped by police in Beverly Hills after shopping at the store where he works ... and he thinks it reeks of racial profiling.

Bembury -- VP of Sneakers and Men's Footwear at Versace -- shared video Thursday night of his encounter with 2 Bev Hills cops ... which he called frightening and unjustified.

The cops allegedly stopped and searched Salehe after he left the Versace store with a bag of goods he purchased. He suggests he got hassled because he's Black, but one of the officers in the vid denies that and says Bembury's changing the story.

After checking his ID and determining he had a clean record, the officers let him go. Salehe later claimed he had just left the store and was walking to his car when a patrol car pulled up. He says it was startling, especially because the cops quickly jumped out and confronted him ... over jaywalking.

Bembury claims he told the cops he wasn't aware he had jaywalked, but they stopped him, patted him down and took his phone. That's when he says he asked to have his phone back to record the incident.

Bembury insists he did nothing to warrant the police harassing him -- despite the cops claiming otherwise.

We've reached out to Beverly Hills PD ... no word back yet.

The Grand Jury audio in the Breonna Taylor case reveals important information about the central issue in the case -- whether the Grand Jurors were adequately informed about whether cops identified themselves before breaching the door to Breonna's apartment.

According to the audio, a police lieutenant testified one of the neighbors did NOT hear police identify themselves. It's unclear why the neighbor didn't testify in person before the grand jury. We know there were 12 neighbors in all who said they did NOT hear the cops ID themselves.

Another cop testified one neighbor DID hear the cops announce who they were before entering the apartment. The key -- what about the 12 who didn't hear it?

This is critical because if police did not identify themselves, then Breonna's boyfriend had every right to fire a shot, and cops couldn't use self-defense as a justification for shooting in the apartment.

Cops say they announced themselves as law enforcement before entering Breonna's apartment, according to the testimony we've heard so far. It's about 20 hours of audio, and we're continuing to going through it.

Police Lt. Shawn Hoover said in an interview, recorded the same day Breonna was shot, cops knocked on the door and announced themselves as police before waiting another 10 or 15 seconds to repeat the announcement.

Hoover said cops waited another 45 to 60 seconds before approaching again and breaching the door -- and, as you've heard, cops had a "no-knock" warrant, but Cameron later said police did ID themselves.

Taylor family attorney Ben Crump says his team has spoken to the 12 witnesses who claim cops did not announce before the raid.

As we reported ... Cameron announced earlier this week he would release the recording after an anonymous grand juror filed a motion asking a judge to allow the grand jurors to go public.

The juror who filed the unusual request blasted Cameron for hanging the grand jury out to dry when he announced the indictment of ex-cop Brett Hankison.

Cameron insisted a grand jury is meant to be a secretive body, but relented it's "apparent that the public interest in this case isn't going to allow that to happen."

He added ... "Once the public listens to the recording, they will see that over the course of two-and-a-half days, our team presented a thorough and complete case to the Grand Jury."

Of course, the very next day the Kentucky AG admitted he never recommended the grand jury indict either of the 2 officers for shooting and killing Breonna Taylor. Instead, he said the case he presented to the grand jury is that the officers were justified in firing their weapons because Breonna's boyfriend had fired first at them.

All new wrinkle to the old saga of President Trump's Hollywood Walk of Fame getting destroyed -- this time cops are blaming a superhero, a not-so-jolly giant green one.

Law enforcement sources tell TMZ ...a man dressed as the Incredible Hulk showed up around Friday around 5 AM and took a pickaxe to Donald's star ... completely destroying it beyond recognition.

The man who says he destroyed Trump's star, James Otis, tells TMZ ... he didn't know Trump had coronavirus when he took a pickaxe to the star.

Our sources say a felony vandalism report was taken after the star was left with more than $5,000 in damage. Nobody's been arrested and police are still investigating. Hollywood Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Rana Ghadban tells TMZ ... "Any star, which is vandalized or destroyed, no matter which honoree it belongs to will be replaced by the Hollywood Historic Trust, a non-profit, non-partisan group."

Seriously, they've gotta have replacing this thing down to a science by now.

Ghadban added, "When people are angry with one of our honorees, we would hope that they would project their anger in more positive ways than to vandalize a California State landmark. Our democracy is based on respect for the law. People can make a real difference by voting and not destroying public property.”

The star, of course, has been a lightning rod for bad vibes toward Trump ... from vandalism to even all-out brawls. As we've reported, the star was most recently messed with back in June after someone used black spray paint and completely blacked it out. Someone also left behind a bag of poop on top of the star.

Nearly a year ago, someone spray-painted Trump's name in broad daylight. Over the years, the star's also been jackhammered and someone else took a pickaxe to it. Even George Lopez fake peed on the star back in July 2018.

Rick Moranis got a punch to the head during an unprovoked attack ... but the suspect was busted on video, and now cops are searching for him.

Law enforcement sources tell TMZ ... The "Ghostbusters" and "Honey, I Shrunk the Kids" star was walking on Central Park West Thursday in Manhattan when, out of nowhere, a man in an I Love NY hoodie unleashed a violent punch ... knocking Moranis down hard.

Check out the video ... Rick had zero time to react to the attack. Almost as frightening ... the attacker calmly continues walking away while Moranis lay on the ground writhing in pain.

Cops say Moranis filed a police report and went to a hospital for evaluation. He told docs he was suffering from pain in his head, back and right hip ... as first reported by WCBS.

Cops are now looking for the attacker. There's a $2,500 reward to anyone who provides info that leads to his arrest.

The 4 accused ex-cops involved in George Floyd's death are asking for a change of venue for their trial ... saying the crowds of citizens outside the courthouse are terrorizing them.

Alexander Kueng filed a motion with the court seeking to change the venue out of Hennepin County ... claiming he, Derek Chauvin, Tou Thao and Thomas Lane as well as their attorneys were all subjected to a dangerous situation outside the courthouse following a hearing last month.

In docs, obtained by TMZ, Kueng says there was no recognizable plan in place in advance of the hearing to ensure their safety and orderly entry. He adds Chauvin -- who pressed his knee on Floyd's neck for 8 minutes -- was subjected to "humiliation by being paraded in public dressed in jail clothes and body armor."

Kueng, who says the other cops have filed similar motions to move the trial, says they were also harassed going in and out of the courthouse. As we reported ... the ex-cops were met by angry protesters when they left court.

Kueng claims Thao, in particular, was followed for several blocks by jeering protesters when he left court. He also claims Lane was physically assaulted.

Shia LaBeouf allegedly transformed into a bully and thief over the summer ... and now he's being charged over it.

Law enforcement sources tell TMZ ... the "Honey Boy" star and a man got into some kind of verbal altercation that turned physical back in June in L.A. Our sources say after the dust-up was over, Shia took off the man's cap and left the scene with it.

It's unclear what led to the altercation or where exactly it went down but we’re told there were no major injuries to either guy. We're told the man filed a police report and cops investigated ... determining Shia was the aggressor.

The L.A. City Attorney ultimately charged Shia earlier this month with battery and petty theft, both misdemeanors. It's the first time in a while Shia's run into trouble with the law. You'll recall several incidents -- from his drunken arrest to his scuffle in NYC -- in 2017 that got him in hot water.

We've reached out to Shia's rep for comment, so far no word back.

The L.A. County Sheriff's Department has identified the man who allegedly opened fire on 2 of its deputies during an ambush, and he's now been charged with attempted murder.

The District Attorney's Office charged Deonte Lee Murray with 2 counts of willful, deliberate and premeditated attempted murder of a peace officer ... as well as possession of a firearm by a felon, carjacking, second-degree robbery and assault with a semiautomatic firearm. Most of those charges stem from a separate September 1 incident where Murray allegedly shot a Compton citizen and stole his vehicle.

The 36-year-old suspect was found and arrested on September 15 ... 3 days after he allegedly walked up to Sheriff's deputies while they sat in their car outside the Martin Luther King Jr. Transit Center and fired at them.

Murray's expected to be arraigned Wednesday, and prosecutors are recommending bail be set at $6.15 million. If convicted, he faces a possible maximum life sentence in state prison.

As we reported ... the deputies -- a 31-year-old woman and 24-year-old man -- were in critical condition after they were shot from point-blank range. The female deputy's credited with saving her partner's life by applying a tourniquet to his arm. They've since been discharged from the hospital and both are recovering.

The woman accused of breaking into Joe Montana's home and snatching one of his grandkids just got slapped with 2 charges that could land her in prison for a long time.

The L.A. County D.A. just charged Sodsai Dalzell with two felonies -- one count of attempted kidnapping of a victim under 14, and one count of first-degree burglary.

According to the docs, obtained by TMZ, Dalzell faces up to 6 years in state prison if convicted of burglary, and up to 11 years on the attempted kidnapping charge.

TMZ broke the story ... cops say Dalzell broke into Joe's Malibu home over the weekend, and took his grandchild out of a playpen where they were sleeping. After being confronted by Joe and his wife, Jennifer, the couple was able to pry the kid away from her ... without any harm.

Dalzell was picked up by cops shortly afterward as she tried to flee the premises.

Prosecutors recommend Dalzell's bail be set at $200,000.

The governor of California has signed a new "Kobe Bryant Law" -- which makes it a crime for first responders to take unauthorized pictures of a dead person at an accident scene.

The measure -- which takes effect on January 1st -- was triggered by the aftermath of the Kobe Bryant helicopter crash ... when 8 local deputies were accused of taking or sharing death pics for unofficial business.

In fact, at least one deputy was accused of using a Kobe death photo to try and pick up a woman at a bar.

But, on Monday, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed the bill which will make it a misdemeanor for a first responder to take or share pics from an accident or crime scene for any purpose outside official law enforcement or genuine public interest.

Kobe's widow, Vanessa Bryant, has already filed a lawsuit against the L.A. County Sheriff's Office over the alleged accident photo scandal. She's suing for negligence, invasion of privacy and intentional infliction of emotional distress.