Legal

Derek Chauvin faces 40 years behind bars for murdering George Floyd, but that may be just the beginning, because there's another incident that is eerily similar to the killing of Floyd.

Authorities have received video of Chauvin allegedly brutalizing a 14-year-old Black teen, and the feds are now on the case.

The incident occurred in 2017, and the video allegedly shows Chauvin violently subduing the teen ... viciously striking him in the head with such force he needed stitches to close the wound. Chauvin allegedly held him down on the ground with his knee for 17 minutes as he gasped for air ... oblivious to the teen's cry that he couldn't breathe.

One of the prosecutors said there's another similarity with the 2 cases ... "Those videos show a far more violent and forceful treatment of this child than Chauvin describes in his [police] report."

The incident is now under criminal investigation. Federal prosecutors reportedly have convened a grand jury to review the case.

The incident did not escape state prosecutors, who tried to introduce evidence of the incident in the trial that just ended to show a pattern of brutality. The judge turned thumbs down on that request.

As for specifics in the 2017 incident, a woman had called police for help after she said she was attacked by her 14-year-old son and daughter.  When Chauvin arrived, he ordered the boy to get on the ground, and when he refused Chauvin allegedly hit him with a flashlight as he grabbed his throat. The now-former cop allegedly used a neck restraint that he held for so long the teen lost consciousness. The prosecutor who reviewed the video says 8 minutes in Chauvin changed positions and put his knee on the teen's back for another 9 minutes.

Donald Trump shoulda called 1-800-NOBILLS, because his now-defunct campaign is being dunned by a bill collector after its client got royally stiffed.

The City of Albuquerque shelled out more than $200k for security-related costs associated with a 2019 campaign rally ... this according to The Hill. The City had blocked off City Hall, among other areas of town, and it required massive police presence, which forced the City to pay cops a bundle of OT. There were many other expenses as well.

The rally was held in the nearby city of Rio Rancho. A spokesperson for the City said campaign honchos told them from the jump they wouldn't cover the expenses, but now the matter has been referred to a debt collection agency.

The campaign has also stiffed the city of Rio Rancho to the tune of $239,475. And, Bernalillo County also sent the campaign an invoice for nearly $140,000, which has now been written off as a bad debt.

Apparently, some of the notices of delinquent payment were sent to Trump's doorstep at Mar-a-Lago.

This isn't the only case where the Trump campaign allegedly cut and run. The City of El Paso hired lawyers to try and recover more than half a mil for rally-related expenses for a 2019 rally.

Michael Lohan has been arrested again ... this time for allegedly getting illegal kickbacks from a rehab facility.

Lindsay Lohan's dad was taken into custody on 6 counts of illegal patient brokering ... this according to the Palm Beach County Sheriff's website.

The 60-year-old allegedly cut deals where he referred drug addicts to a Florida facility and got money for each referral. According to authorities, "Patient brokering corrupts our health care system because decisions are motivated by greed instead of patient needs."

Lohan allegedly got checks totaling more than $25,000.

South Florida, where Lohan has been in the rehab biz for years, is considered the recovery capital of the world. Authorities say the prime patient is someone with good health insurance, so some recovery centers will give these kickbacks because the facility will in turn get paid through the insurance company.

Lohan has had his issues with the law in the past ... domestic violence and restraining order issues among others.

A woman got a blast from the past in the worst possible way -- learning of embezzlement charges against her ... all 'cause she supposedly never returned a rented tape in the '90s.

This story comes out of Oklahoma -- where Caron McBride told KOKH FOX25 she'd recently stumbled across a stunning discovery re: her criminal record -- namely, that she was wanted for felony embezzlement because she never returned a VHS movie from 1999.

The film in question is "Sabrina the Teenage Witch" ... and prosecutors say she rented it from a video store called Movie Place ... which ain't a thing anymore. Because the movie never made it back to its rightful owner, the Cleveland County District Attorney's Office filed the embezzlement charge in 2000, and it's been sitting ever since.

McBride says she was never aware of the charge, or the fact that she'd even rented that movie. As a result, the charge has been sitting in limbo, with her wanted by authorities. McBride says she only became aware of it after trying to change her surname at the DMV.

She says she tried clearing it up with the D.A.'s office, but it took a while before they ultimately decided to dismiss the charges against her. Thing is, she's still gotta get that charge expunged from her record -- which will undoubtedly be another pain in the ass.

The man who was arrested and charged for a drive-by shooting of "Duck Dynasty" star Willie Robertson's house is now suing Willie and his family, claiming he was wrongfully arrested ... and defamed by the family.

This is a strange one, for sure, but Daniel Dean King is suing Willie, Willie's son John Luke Robertson, and John's wife Mary Kate ... alleging he's suffered from being incarcerated and took an unfair hit to his reputation.

In docs, obtained by TMZ, King says John and Mary reported they were targets of a drive-by shooting on April 24, 2020 while they were home with their child -- which led to King's arrest -- but he claims their statements to cops were "calculated, false and ultimately defamatory."

According to the suit, King claims the cops did not properly investigate the case before arresting him, and wrongly -- he believes -- charging him with felony aggravated assault by drive-by shooting.

Despite his allegations in the lawsuit, there's still an active criminal case against King -- and according to the 4th Judicial District DA's Office ... the charge against him has been changed to felony illegal use of a dangerous weapon.

King -- who appears to have filed the suit without a lawyer -- goes on to accuse Willie and John of publicizing his arrest and making defamatory statements, which he claims were intended to hurt his rep.

Along with suing Willie's family for damages, he's going after Robertson's Duck Commander company and the Ouachita Parish Sheriff's Office too.

As we first told you ... when King was arrested, he allegedly admitted to police he was the shooter and told them he "had been drinking Vodka during this incident." The Robertsons were also granted a restraining order against him. So, his lawsuit reads like a desperate attempt to get some revenge on the family.

A guy on Bumble didn't just strike out with a woman while trying to impress her -- he got arrested for it, because his pickup line involved the Capitol riot ... according to prosecutors.

According to legal docs ... a man named Robert Chapman began chatting with a woman on Bumble a few days after the January 6 Capitol riots and told her, "I did storm the capitol," adding ... "I made it all the way into Statuary Hall!"

The feds say after he boasted a bit more about doing interviews with the media, the woman simply replied "We are not a match." ... and according to the docs, she turned him in by providing a screenshot of their convo to law enforcement.

Based on the tip -- and some additional info about Chapman allegedly shared on Facebook -- the authorities say they learned he goes by Robert Erick on social media, and they discovered several more potentially incriminating posts.

Prosecutors say in one FB post, Robert said he was leaving "the rotten apple" of NYC to head "down to the District of Criminality to Enjoy some much deserved Entertainment."

A day later, the feds say he posted a photo of himself at the riots along with the caption, "I'M F**KIN INSIDE THE CRAPITOL!!!"

Chapman's now been arrested and charged with trespassing and disorderly conduct on restricted government property. He is one of more than 370 people arrested for involvement in the Capitol riot -- but he's one of few who was nabbed through a dating app.

Congrats ... denied and busted!!!

"Love is Blind" star Mark Cuevas claims a woman from his fiancee's past is now threatening her and their baby ... and cops have made an arrest.

To better understand his death threat story, Mark says his fiancee -- Aubrey Rainey, who is about to give birth to their son -- was one of the victims of a series of hit-and-run crashes last year in Ohio.

According to Westlake PD PIO Gerald Vogel ... the suspect in those crashes is Shayla Harris and she was charged with attempted murder. He says Harris was involved in 2 other crashes similar to Aubrey's accident.

Vogel tells us Harris was released on bond, and she recently sent Facebook and IG messages to Aubrey threatening her and threatening to kill her unborn child.

We're told Mark and Aubrey filed a police report about Shayla's threats, and she's now been arrested by Westlake Police for misdemeanor aggravated menacing.

In Mark's video -- which was seemingly posted before he knew about the arrest -- he claims Harris sent more than 100 messages referencing Aubrey and their baby.

The 3 officers who watched Derek Chauvin choke the life out of George Floyd will soon go on trial for doing nothing to stop the murder. We surveyed a number of police departments around the country to see if they allow/encourage officers to step in when another officer -- even if it's a senior officer -- crosses the line ... like what happened in the O.C. this week.

What we found was interesting. Virtually every department we contacted said they have a policy in place requiring officers to intervene when another cop uses excessive force. The question is, of course, are these regulations really followed? Here's what we found.

MIAMI PD -- "The MDPD has a policy on an officer's duty to intervene. This policy is specific to seeing another officer using force that is clearly beyond that which objectively is reasonable ... they are mandated to take action and stop these acts from taking place."

INDIANAPOLIS PD -- "Officers are required to take appropriate action when they are aware of violations of department policies. It does not matter the rank or seniority of the people involved."

NYPD -- "All members of the service must intervene to stop another member of the service from using excessive force. Failure to intervene in the use of excessive force, or report excessive force, or failure to request or ensure timely medical treatment for an individual is serious misconduct that may result in criminal and civil liability and will result in Department discipline, up to and including dismissal."

CHICAGO PD -- "A Department member who directly observes a use of force and identifies the force as excessive or otherwise in violation of this directive will, except in extraordinary circumstances, act to intervene on the person's behalf. Such action may include, but is not limited to, verbally or physically intervening to try and stop the violation."

LAPD -- "Regardless of rank, officers have a duty to intercede and report misconduct."

D.C. POLICE -- "The MPD has policy on an officer's duty to intervene. This policy is specific to seeing another officer using force that is clearly beyond that which objectively is reasonable."

ATLANTA PD -- "Any employee present and observing or who becomes aware of another employee exhibiting behaviors or performing actions that violate any department policy ... shall intercede to prevent such behavior or actions, when in a position to do so safely."

DALLAS PD -- "It shall be the duty of every employee present at any scene where physical force is being applied to either stop, or attempt to stop, another employee when force is being inappropriately applied or is no longer required."

CHARLOTTESVILLE PD -- "Any law enforcement officer who, while in the performance of his official duties, witnesses another law enforcement officer engaging or attempting to engage in the use of excessive force against another person shall intervene, when such intervention is feasible, to end the use of excessive force or attempted use of excessive force, or to prevent the further use of excessive force."

NEW ORLEANS PD -- "The core component of the training teaches officers, regardless of rank, to intervene and de-escalate an encounter before harmful action is taken."

OKLAHOMA CITY PD -- "Intervening to prevent excessive force where officers observe another officer using excessive force and they have a realistic and safe opportunity to stop the other officer from using the excessive force, they should attempt to stop the other officer."

We contacted a number of other departments as well, and virtually all of them said they have a policy requiring officers to intervene when they see a fellow cop using excessive force. Furthermore, almost all of the departments say this policy was in place BEFORE the murder of George Floyd.

Rich the Kid's injecting his own stimulus package ... for those lucky enough to catch it on Rodeo Drive 'cause that's where he was making it rain.

The rapper pulled up in his expensive Rolls-Royce Phantom on Thursday right outside the Burberry and Louis Vuitton stores in Beverly Hills, where he started throwing wads of cash in the air. It wasn't long before a throng of fans -- of the rapper and money, of course -- showed up to catch it.

Our guy asks him how much he's throwing but it's hard to tell if RTK gives a direct answer. He wishes a woman happy birthday before pulling out another wad of bills.

Then, things get interesting ... for Rich, anyway.

You can see near the end of the video he's taking a selfie and 2 police motorcycles pull up behind him. RTK's driver takes off ... and the cops follow right behind him. We never saw the sirens and lights go on, but our law enforcement sources tell us Rich did end up getting a ticket ... for littering. That's gonna cost him a few more dollar bills -- minimum $250, max $1,000 for a first offense.

BTW ... Rich was definitely in a celebratory mood 'cause we're told he had just been inside the Patek Philippe store on the eve of dropping his new track, "Richard Mille Patek."

As for the Phantom, we're told it's a brand new model and around $600k. Rich was cruising around town with his buddy, RD Whittington, who owns celebrity auto and aircraft super-firm Wires Only ... so you gotta imagine he helped hook him up.

Ronnie Ortiz-Magro is in police custody after cops say he was involved in a domestic violence incident ... TMZ has learned.

Law enforcement sources tell us the "Jersey Shore" star was busted Thursday in Los Angeles for felony domestic violence.

The arrest is seriously bad news for Ronnie, because he's currently on probation. As we first told you, he got 36 months probation as part of a plea deal he copped last year in a previous domestic violence case involving his ex, Jenn Harley.

It's unclear if Jenn was involved in this alleged incident. Ronnie avoided jail last time, but getting arrested while on probation could churn up a whole host of problems for him.

Ronnie's attorney, Scott Leemon, tells TMZ, "We have just learned of the new allegations against Ronnie and need some additional time to further investigate. As such, we will not be making any other statements at this time.”

Story developing ...

The Westminster Police officer seen on video punching a woman has been placed on paid administrative leave pending an internal affairs investigation. The WPD Internal Affairs Division is also in communication with the Orange County DA’s Office, which will evaluate the officer’s use of force and determine if criminal charges are warranted.

As for what brought cops out in the first place. Cops say they got a call about a female Hispanic adult assaulting an adult Asian woman who had tried to rescue a dog running in the street.

Cops say when they showed up the Hispanic adult exhibited signs of being under the influence and, while waiting for paramedics, the woman was not compliant and she became combative with officers. While trying to control her, a WPD Officer “used force and struck [the woman] two times in the face with his first. Two WPD Officers immediately intervened and deescalated the situation.” The woman was taken to a nearby hospital and later booked into Orange County jail.

The 3 cops criminally charged for not stopping Derek Chauvin from murdering George Floyd may have gotten the attention of a couple of California cops, because they stepped in and stopped a fellow officer who pretty clearly crossed the line by punching a woman.

Three cops in the O.C. were detaining and/or arresting a woman Wednesday when one of the officers landed a couple of right hooks to her face -- something that sure seemed unnecessary and excessive ... The other 2 cops clearly felt their colleague crossed the line ... they stepped in and stopped their partner from landing more blows, pushing the cop off the handcuffed woman.

It's fair to wonder if some officers are changing their behavior in the wake of Chauvin's trial.

As you know, the 3 officers who stood by and watched Chauvin choke the life out of George Floyd -- Thomas Lane, J. Alexander Kueng and Tou Thao -- are facing criminal charges for not intervening.

A rep for the department tells us they're aware of the video and they're investigating the incident.

Kendall Jenner has now been granted her second restraining order in as many days ... this time against the guy who allegedly tried to take a naked dip in her pool.

The 27-year-old man, Shaquan King, was ordered by the judge at a Thursday hearing to keep at least 100 yards away from Kendall for the next 5 years. The restraining order also protects Kris and Kylie Jenner, whose gated community King made a beeline for after spending 6 hours in jail for the alleged intrusion at Kendall's home.

King can't contact the 3 Jenner women, directly or indirectly, in any way, shape or form. He also can't get near their homes, workplaces and vehicles. Kendall, who's recently increased her security dramatically, was represented at the hearing by her attorney, Kate Mangels. King did not appear, nor did he have representation there.

As we reported ... cops say King got naked by Kendall’s pool and banged on windows at her home before her security apprehended him. Cops came and arrested him, but his jail stay was brief due to COVID protocols.

Lil Mosey's in big trouble in the state of Washington ... he's been charged with rape, and there's a warrant out for his arrest after failing to appear for a court hearing.

The “Pull Up" rapper was supposed to appear in court Wednesday, just weeks after he was charged with second-degree rape. We’re told Mosey never showed up ... so now he's a wanted man.

This all stems from an alleged incident back in January after a woman says she and a girlfriend went to a cabin to see Mosey but claims they ended up getting raped by him and another man.

According to the affidavit, obtained by TMZ, one of the alleged victims says she consented to having sex with Mosey in a vehicle but goes on to says she blacked out afterward in the cabin after drinking White Claws and champagne. She claims a short time later Mosey got on top of her and was pushing her legs up and apart while he was having sex with her. She said she recalled having pain in her leg muscles while Mosey was pushing her legs.

She says she blacked out again and woke up to find the other man forcing himself on her.

In the affidavit, the woman says she suffered injuries, including bruising on her arm, neck and inner knee. She also claims she got a message from one of the people at the party that said the guys were talking about "training two girls."

Rev. Al Sharpton's eulogy for Daunte Wright -- the 20-year-old father who was killed by police during a traffic stop -- was a testament to a commitment to justice in response to people of color continuing to die at the hands of police in America.

Al, who referred to Wright as the Prince of Brooklyn Center, used analogies of air fresheners and expired tags -- the alleged reasons why Daunte was pulled over by police in the first place -- to rebuke police brutality and racism in the country.

Sharpton suggested the tide is turning though, and said the large turnout for Wright shows people have had enough of the long line of Black men taken too soon ... but he's hopeful real change is coming, and Daunte will not have died in vain.

Before the eulogy, Ben Crump spoke and gave shout-outs to other families of Black men killed by police in attendance to support Wright's family ... including members from the families of Emmett Till, Oscar Grant, Philando Castile, Jamar Clark and George Floyd. Breonna Taylor's boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, is also at the funeral.

Then Crump introduced Wright's family members, who came up to reflect on their memories of Daunte ... who his siblings called the "life of the party" and said everybody loved.

Wright's parents, Katie and Aubrey, fought through tears as they spoke on how much they are going to miss him ... and Katie described how much Daunte loved his young son and was looking forward to their future together. It was heartbreaking.

Wright's funeral began with a reading of scripture, followed by a powerful prayer by Pastor Carmen Means. Means said, "There's joy and there's pain, there's loss and there's gain," and told the crowd they experienced the God of justice this week with the guilty verdict on April 20 ... praying justice would be served for Daunte as well.

After an emotional song that brought tears to the eyes of Daunte's loved ones, the audience witnessed an amazing piece of performance art by jazz musician Keyon Harrold and an artist who painted an incredible photo of Wright live on stage as Harrold trumpeted.

Harrold, you may recall, is the father of 14-year-old Keyon Jr., who was attacked in late 2020 by Miya Ponsetto in an NYC hotel when she falsely accused him of stealing her phone.

Daunte's funeral was held at Shiloh Temple International Ministries in Minneapolis ... 11 days after he was killed in the nearby city of Brooklyn Center.

His wake was held Wednesday, where Trahern Pollard -- a member of the anti-violence group We Push For Peace -- said of Wright's death ... "It's sad, man, especially right after the verdicts of the trial, that we have to go right into another moment like this."

Pollard, of course, was referring to the guilty verdicts for Derek Chauvin ... the ex-cop convicted Tuesday of murdering George Floyd nearly a year ago.

Nine days before the verdicts, on April 11, Wright was fatally shot by police officer Kim Potter just about 10 miles away from the courthouse where Chauvin was standing trial.

Potter claims she meant to use her Taser as he tried to get back in his car, but fired her gun instead. She resigned from the force soon afterward, and was arrested and charged with second-degree manslaughter.

As we told you ... Daunte's family is hopeful they will get justice for his killing -- especially on the heels of Chauvin being found guilty -- but today they continue mourning.

A Grand Rapids cop punched a Black man in the face at least 6 times during his arrest that was, at least initially, for littering ... according to the police.

The video comes from body cam footage of a March 26 incident in Michigan where Grand Rapids PD officers pulled over Diabate Hood. According to reports, Hood had 2 other men in the car with him, but he refused to step out like his passengers.

The full video shows Hood apparently trying to flee from cops by jumping from the driver's seat and sliding out the passenger side door, but 3 officers immediately pounced on him ... and that's where the violence begins.

As you can see ... Hood is being held down by the 3 cops, and one begins delivering several blows to his face. As he screams, the other officers can be heard yelling "stop resisting." Moments later, Hood claims he can't breathe as officers hold him down.

According to Grand Rapids police ... the traffic stop was part of its Operation: Safe Neighborhoods program in response to an uptick of violent crime in the area, and claim they had "timely and accurate intelligence" to justify it.

In fact, Grand Rapids PD Chief Eric Payne says ... "This is the police work that I expect from my personnel." It's unclear if he's referring to the seemingly unnecessary punches that were thrown -- but the department claims they did find 4 weapons in Hood's vehicle. So, the littering stop turned into 3 felony arrests.

But, Tyrone Bynum, the lawyer for the 3 men arrested in this incident, claims the cops had no right to ask the men to get out of the car in the first place ... and seems to be gearing up to take legal action.

Police officers stopped and detained 2 guys riding by on their bicycles ... apparently because they looked like two other guys they were after, but considering the current climate, it was a pretty scary encounter for the cyclists.

Check out this video ... you see 2 young men -- possibly minors -- cruising on the sidewalk in Orlando, when all of a sudden they come across a few police cruisers that have their lights flashing. The cops tell them to stop, get off the bikes and to get on the ground.

The guy recording -- who seems to be shooting from a GoPro -- asks what's going on and why they're being stopped. He even asks why the officers have their guns drawn, but it's hard to make out if they're actually pointing weapons from his vantage point.

Anyway, the video continues ... and you see the guy filming seated on the ground with his legs crossed, continuing to ask why they were stopped. One cop tells him they're being detained for matching the description of a couple suspects.

Unclear what crime was committed, but the dude recording -- who is Black -- continues to insist he and his pal are innocent, and that they'd just come from shopping at a 7-Eleven.

In a later video ... he further explained what happened after they were stopped and searched. He says the officers actually trotted out an alleged robbery victim to ID them -- but he told the officers the 2 guys on bikes weren't the ones who did him wrong ... so they were cut loose.