Exclusives

Catwoman is now a crime fighter ... or at least the woman who played Catwoman is.

Cops apprehended a man suspected of stealing $25,000 worth of jewelry from Julie Newmar's home back in 2008 -- and authorities say the actress is responsible for cracking the case.

According to law enforcement sources, 76-year-old Newmar -- who played Catwoman on the old "Batman" TV show -- was trolling through the Internet recently, when she "discovered the items for sale on Ebay."

Authorities say they were able to track the items back to a man named Robert Ouriel -- a former acquaintance of Newmar. Ouriel was eventually arrested and charged with grand theft -- if convicted he faces up to 3 years in prison.

It takes five gun-toting men to keep Kobe Bryant from stepping on the basketball court -- we're told the superstar had to miss a Los Angeles Lakers practice this morning in the wake of a violent robbery in his neighborhood.

Sources close to the team tell TMZ Kobe was issued an "excused absence" from a team shootaround at the Lakers practice facility this morning.

Unfortunately for the Utah Jazz, we're told Kobe is expected to play tonight.

The cop from Village People just chalked up the first victory in college football bowl season -- dominating the people behind a major bowl game who used his image without permission.

The cop -- real name Victor Willis -- has settled a lawsuit he filed against the Sun Bowl after they allegedly used his voice and image to promote a halftime show at the 2009 game featuring the Village People ... even though Willis left the group back in 1984.

According to Willis, the Sun Bowl has agreed to run a disclaimer should they ever book the Village People again reading, "The original lead singer of the Village People, Victor Willis, is not performing."

"You can put your mind at ease."

Kobe Bryant's upscale neighborhood in Newport Beach was a dangerous place to be last night -- cops believe several gun-toting henchmen broke into a home near Kobe's place, roughed up a few residents and then ran from police.

Newport Beach police tell TMZ they suspect five men -- armed with handguns -- broke into one home, struck three residents over the head and then tried to rob them.

After a 911 call was made by someone in the backyard, cops arrived and arrested three of the men -- the other two got away and are still on the run.

We haven't been able to verify if Kobe was home at the time.

After the two men escaped, cops authorized an automated phone system to call every home in the neighborhood -- warning residents to be on the lookout for two armed men.

The call also instructed people to lock their doors and windows and call 911 immediately if they suspected anything fishy.

In the letter, obtained by TMZ, a rep from the "Canyon View Training Ranch for Dogs" explains how Anna Anka "verbally abused" a dog trainer last month over a scheduling conflict.

The letter also claims Anna "interrupted, belittled, and yelled" at their staff on the phone -- often hanging up on them and making extremely unreasonable demands like "YOU WILL pick up my dogs by 12 o'clock" and "You will do as I said, when I said it."

The company ultimately told Anna she wasn't welcome back -- a theme that seems to be common in her life.

As TMZ previously reported, Paul filed for divorce from Anna last week after a domestic incident ... their 2nd in two years.

By pure chance, we rolled up to the scene as dad and daughter were leaving a banged-up Prius -- and while Collins told us he wasn't involved in the crash, his rep confirms his daughter was, telling TMZ Stephen showed up "to check on" her after she called him to ask about insurance.

We're told both drivers are fine.

Cops are still on scene. Detectives are getting clipboards out of their trunks and going inside the house.

Nicky's big sis Paris Hilton knows a thing or two about burglary -- she was allegedly hit by the Hollywood Hills Burglar Bunch to the tune of around $2 million.

We're told someone working at Nicky's residence noticed something was wrong and alerted the authorities.

Story developing...

Michael Jackson allegedly left his Las Vegas mansion in shambles -- this according to the latest in an endless stream of creditor's claims filed against the estate.

Aner Iglesias is demanding $234,000 from Michael's estate, to repair damages to the exterior and interior of the home, and to replace the phone and alarm system.

Aner claims the $234k is just an estimate -- the price tag may go up.

According to the suit, filed today in L.A. County Superior Court, Fulton claims in 2001, Cage bought a house for her in the L.A. area and promised he would sign over the title.

Fulton claims this year, she planned to sell the home and realized Cage had never transferred title.

Fulton says in September, she was served with a 60-day notice to vacate the premises.

Fulton is also suing Cage's business manager, Sam Levin. She can join the crowd -- Cage is also suing him, claiming Levin is the reason he went broke.

Fulton claims the reason Cage promised to provide for her is because she gave up her acting career to take care of their child, Weston.

She says in the lawsuit, "Cage, due to his personal choice and lifestyle, was not exercising his joint physical and custody rights." She also claims as soon as Weston turned 18, he "removed" Weston from the home.

Fulton also claims she's in the hole for more than a million dollars in taxes because Levin didn't take care of the liability.

She says, in all, she's suffered damages to the tune of more than $13 million.

Fulton never describes the alleged "mental, physical and emotional abuse" that she mentions in the lawsuit.

Cage's lawyer, Marty Singer, tells TMZ, "The lawsuit is an absurd claim. All of these claims are long-time barred by the statute of limitations and are baseless."

Singer also says, even though Nic was only required to pay Fulton $6,000 a month in support, over the last few years he gave her around $3 mil each year.

The caller hysterically tells the dispatcher that her mother has "collapsed." At one point, you can hear a kid screaming in the background ... and there's no evidence Tiger is in the house.

Sources say Travis and the various defendants -- Clay Lacy Aviation, Goodyear Tire & Rubber, Global Exec Aviation and others -- struck a deal during a mediation session on November 18th.

were filed on December 3.

Thelma Still -- the mother of Travis Barker's bodyguard, Che Still -- also settled her case during the same mediation.

The terms of the settlement are confidential.

The estate of DJ AM, aka Adam Goldstein's estate, is suing the same defendants for wrongful death -- in the wake of his overdose death in August. That case is pending.

Tiger Woods' wife, Elin Nordegren, briefly returned to the family home in Windermere, Florida, today along with her twin sister, Josefin.

Elin and Josefin spent the evening at the home last night, along with their mother, Barbro Holmberg. We're told they went out for dinner and then returned. Tiger was nowhere in sight.

We're told Barbro woke up in the middle of the night with stomach pains. The sisters felt it was food poisoning.

Both Elin and Josefin were only at the home for a matter of minutes -- and just left the house in separate cars.

Still no Tiger in sight.

The call was made by one of David's daughters -- she initially tells the dispatcher David "collapsed ... he got back up but he keeps falling down."

Tiger Woods was admitted to Health Central Hospital the day after Thanksgiving as an overdose.

Sources connected with the hospital tell TMZ the admissions chart lists "OD" and that he was having trouble breathing.

We're told the fifth floor of the hospital was put on lockdown when Tiger arrived. Tiger was admitted under an alias -- William Smith. His wife, Elin Nordegren was by his side.

As we first reported, Elin gave paramedics two pill bottles at the accident scene -- we now know the prescriptions were for Ambien and Vicodin. Tiger was in and out of consciousness, snoring at the scene, and our sources say he clearly appeared to be under the influence of something -- not alcohol.

We're also told doctors used a breathing tube to assist his respiration.

We're also told hospital officials changed Tiger's alias after a few hours to another alias because they feared people would find out he was there.

Tebow -- a very outspoken virginity-possessing super-Christian -- is in NYC for the Heisman Trophy ceremony, and on his way out of the airport, we asked the dumbest question one could ask Tim Tebow -- "So you got all your ladies in check?"

Tebow responded, "No, no ladies for me right now." Duh.

Tebow did drop a bible verse on us on the way out, but the real question: Does this guy have a prayer of winning the Heisman this weekend?