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The 21-year-old who lost his leg during a car accident involving Haywood Highsmith earlier this month is now suing the NBA player ... claiming the hooper's careless driving caused the entire tragedy.

Alekxei Pino filed the lawsuit on Friday in Florida ... alleging he was helping assist a stranded motorist on Feb. 6 in Miami when Highsmith barreled into him in his 2021 Audi A5 at a high rate of speed.

Pino claims in the suit Highsmith was going over the roadway's legal speed limit before he hit him ... causing an above-the-knee amputation.

Pino also claims he suffered other significant injuries in the crash ... and has since undergone numerous medical procedures to address the damage.

Pino's attorney, Manuel Dobrinsky, said in a statement this week his client is actually still in the hospital recovering ... "with a very long road of rehabilitation ahead of him."

Pino and his lawyer are asking for unspecified damages but estimate it will be in excess of $50,000.

Pino's family, meanwhile, has also set up a GoFundMe, hoping to raise $100,000 to help him with the recovery process.

As we previously reported, cops said in a police report Highsmith was traveling 45 MPH in a 40 MPH zone before the accident a short time after the Heat beat the Orlando Magic at the nearby Kesaya Center.

Cops stated in the docs they believed drugs and alcohol were not involved ... though they did say Highsmith may have been distracted by unknown circumstances. They ultimately cited him for careless driving.

The Heat said in a statement following the crash that their "hearts go out to those who were injured."

Highsmith sat out of the Heat game the night following the wreck ... although he returned to the floor on Feb. 11 against the Celtics, and played 23 minutes.

Dramatic body cam footage shows the chilling moment a Florida sheriff deputy rescued an infant from a mangled car wreck -- and her survival is being attributed to his CPR.

As you can see in the footage, Charlotte County Deputy Sgt. Dave Musgrove was cruising along the state highway near Englewood on the night of Feb. 8 when a motorcycle sped past over 100 mph and crashed into another vehicle up ahead seconds later.

Upon arriving at the scene ... Musgroves wastes no time removing the toddler from the booster seat, handing the child over to the passenger of another vehicle he flags down -- this as the baby's mother pleads for him to help her kid.

He then gets to work removing the six-month-old infant from the car seat ... but it proves more of a challenge with the motorcyclist wedged directly on top.

Of course, the situation is every parent's worst nightmare ... evident by the panicked background shrieks of the mother asking whether her child is alive or not.

It quickly becomes clear the baby isn't breathing -- and once he officially gets the baby out of the car, Deputy Musgroves begins performing chest compressions on her in a race against time ... and thankfully, there's soon a pulse!!

Fort Myer's WBBH reported that the baby is now in ICU at a St. Petersburg hospital with a brain injury. The baby's mom, Kayleigh Foley, praised Musgrove as a hero, gushing to the publication, "He is such a genuine person."

Sheriff Bill Prummell also praised Musgraves ... saying in a statement, "The actions of Sgt. Musgrove are to be commended. His poise and calm demeanor in a scene of chaos and tragedy ultimately saved the life of a beautiful child."

Dakota Johnson's new superhero movie bombed at the box office -- but she's not trippin' ... 'cause the water in Mexico is fine, especially with her boyfriend right next to her.

The actress stripped down to a white halter neck-style swimsuit as she cooled off with her man Chris Martin in the beachy waters of Puerto Vallarta Sunday -- continuing her IDC tour by proving not even a major film flop was gonna ruin her good time.

The couple could be seen recharging on a sunlounger ... before Dakota dried off with a towel after a refreshing dip in the ocean.

Now, some may argue that DJ, perhaps, fled to Mexico to avoid all the 'MW' noise after it tanked this weekend. However, given her unbothered promo tour -- where she even admitted she hadn't watched the film much to the dismay of comic book fans -- something tells us she probably didn't even register how poorly it was received ... by fans and critics alike.

Safe to say ... Dakota didn't really put her best foot forward promoting the film -- at least on the face of it -- and the figures speak for themselves. Whether she's to blame for any of it though ... well, that's anyone's guess.

The running total for the six-day holiday weekend -- beginning Valentine's Day and ending on President's Day -- was just $25.8 million domestically and about the same amount globally ... definitely not up to par for a major superhero flick opening.

In fact, The Hollywood Reporter put it down as the worst opening for a Sony movie featuring Spider-Man-related characters ... and the consensus seems to be the same across the board.

12:27 PM PT -- Girl Scouts of Texas Oklahoma Plains tell TMZ they're "proud of the Girl Scouts at the booth for handling this situation safely and appropriately."

They continued, "Girl Scouts of Texas Oklahoma Plains will ensure the troop is not financially impacted by this loss. For those interested in supporting Girl Scouts, please find a cookie booth near you by entering your zip code at gs-top.org/findcookies. By purchasing Girl Scout cookies, you are supporting Girl Scouts with their goals of travel, camp, and community service."

A Girl Scout in Texas got her cash stolen by a thief who pulled a quick snatch-and-grab in front of a Walmart ... and the crime was caught on video, with cops on the case.

This awful incident went down last week in Fort Worth, where a young girl who was working a Girl Scouts booth with an adult who was briefly distracted while manning her table ... only to have some dude walk out the front door and grab her money bag in one fell swoop.

The guy makes a run for it, and by the looks of this video ... he got away in the moment.

You can tell the poor girl is absolutely stunned as she realizes what just happened -- wandering into the Walmart ... presumably to ask for help and get some answers. No word on how much money might've been in her bag -- but GS cookies can pull in a solid haul.

Anyway, Forth Worth PD is aware of this ... and they're asking the public for help in ID'ing the suspect -- a photo of whom they posted, and who they describe as a young man.

Obviously, it's a crappy situation ... but luckily, no one was hurt. Doesn't sound like the Girl Scouts org at large has addressed this yet ... however, ya gotta figure they're helping her out.

Like we said, cops are working the case and they're soliciting any tips or info to help track this guy down. Anyone with any insight is encouraged to contact a FW detective ... and they even cite the case number, #240311437. The suspect is still currently at large.

BTW, if you're wondering just how lucrative Girl Scout cookie sales are -- the org says they've raked in about $800 million a year nationally ... so there was probably a nice bundle in that little girl's purse.

Pretty crappy, indeed.

Jon Stewart is standing by his roasting of Joe Biden in the opening monologue for his 'Daily Show' return last week ... while also mocking everyone who clutched their pearls.

In his second show back for the Comedy Central series Monday night, JS managed to find humor in even the most savage of online messages ... noting that those on X get worked up on anything at the drop of a dime -- even telling labradoodles to "go f*** themselves." So yeah, he's not exactly gonna be crying over the criticism.

Ex-MSNBC star Keith Olbermann and Mary L. Trump particularly took offense to Stewart's roasting of Biden and Donald Trump -- the latter even going as far as to label him "a potential disaster for democracy" as seen in the tweets displayed on the screen.

But JS fired back at the absurdity of the outrage surrounding his monologue ... "It was one f***ing show! It was just one f***ing show! It was 20 minutes. I did 20 minutes in one f***ing show! But I guess, as the famous saying goes: 'Democracy dies in discussion.'"

He sarcastically concluded ... "It was never my intention to say out loud what I saw with my eyes and then brain. I can do better!"

You'll recall ... JS marked his 'DS' return by discussing the upcoming 2024 election -- in particular, his biting commentary was aimed at POTUS' age and mental state.

JB's opponent wasn't let off the hook so easily -- Trump was also roasted for being unable to remember basic stuff ... which is a pretty key trait to have if you're running the country.

The first-ever human to be fitted with Neuralink's brain chip can now move a computer mouse with thought alone -- this according to the tech billionaire Elon Musk himself.

The patient was part of the neurotech startup's first human test group and received the implant last month -- with Musk telling journalist Katherine Brodsky in an X Spaces event Monday they've recovered well and the progress on what they set out to achieve "is good."

He adds the patient is suffering "no ill effects" the company is aware of ...and can apparently move the mouse up and down to drag boxes on the screen just by thinking.

The brain chip is called Telepathy ... and Elon previously explained it "enables control of your phone or computer, and through them almost any device, just by thinking."

The device consists of an electrode with more than 1,000 flexible conductors that can be etched into peoples' cerebral cortexes via a surgical robot. The electrodes are programmed to register thoughts related to motion in the truly groundbreaking technology -- and so far, it looks like it's doing its job!

Taylor Swift got a response from the college student to whom she sent a cease and desist letter for tracking her private jet on Instagram – and his words definitely don't fly with her.

On Monday, Jack Sweeney took to the social media app, X, and posted a two-page letter he sent to the pop superstar, claiming he did absolutely nothing wrong by showing her flight path to the world.

In the caption next to the January 25 missive, Sweeney quoted lyrics from Taylor's 2017 hit song, "Reputation," writing, "Look What You Made Me Do."

That must have really gone over well with Taylor after her attorney, Kate Wright Morrone, fired off a legal threat to Sweeney in December.

In her cease and desist ... Morrone claimed Sweeney was engaging in "stalking and harassing behavior" by revealing Taylor's flight information in real-time on social media. Morrone warned that if Sweeney did not stop putting her famous client's safety in imminent danger, he would be subject to further legal action.

But Sweeney and his attorney, James Slater, weren't scared off, composing their own letter and mailing it to Morrone.

Slater wrote that Morrone cited no law that supports her cease and desist, except for stalking, which does not apply since Sweeney has never made a "credible threat" against Taylor.

The attorney pointed out Sweeney merely uploaded publicly available data from the Federal Aviation Administration to track Taylor's plane movements.

In a nutshell, Slater said Sweeney -- a junior at the University of Central Florida – exercised his right to protected speech and has done nothing unlawful. He also noted Sweeney has posted online similar flight information for Elon Musk and some Russian oligarchs.

A massive crash marred the final laps of the Daytona 500 ... as 23 cars in total pinballed off each other in a wild mess toward the end of the famed race -- although the carnage ultimately allowed underdog William Byron to come out with the win.

The chaos happened with eight laps to go at Daytona International Speedway in Florida ... when Alex Bowman started the wreck by nudging Byron.

The bump caused Byron's No. 24 car to slide into Brad Keselowski's ... which set off a huge chain reaction of accidents.

Check out the replay from the race's broadcast ... more than half of the 40 vehicles in the field got caught up in the melee.

Somehow, Byron escaped it all unscathed ... and after another set of drivers wrecked a few moments after officials got the track all cleaned up, the 26-year-old was declared the winner.

Afterward, he celebrated like crazy ... telling reporters he couldn't believe it all was actually happening.

The race, meanwhile, was delayed a full day ... after rain forced NASCAR officials to move it from its usual Sunday start time to Monday.

While Pitbull could not perform his scheduled pre-race concert as planned ... The Rock still made it out to the festivities -- and fired up the crowd when he told the racers to start their engines.

Adele finally explained why she was making such a goofy ass face at the NBA All-Star game a couple years back -- and, apparently, it all has to do with film crews defying her wishes.

The singer got into the story over the weekend at her Vegas residency and explained what's become one of the most famous Adele memes. You've seen it by now ... the camera cuts to her sitting courtside, but she's awkwardly looking around avoiding making eye contact.

Adele says an NBA film crew on hand had asked ahead of time if it'd be okay to record her during the broadcast, which she says she politely declined because she "really doesn't like being famous" and was content with her boyfriend Rich Paul doing the schmoozing.

Well, they ended up circling back and filming her anyway ... and that ticked Adele off.

Adele says that rather than engage with the camera like she was supposed to -- or how others might in the situation -- she decided to play dumb and just scan the arena, all aloof.

In terms of her very full lips -- another observation people have made about the now-viral clip -- Adele insists it's all-natural, noting she doesn't need filler. Anyway, the bigger point here is that she says she was sulking in the moment ... and expressing defiance against the NBA.

It's pretty funny that Adele thought she could go unseen/unnoticed at a star-studded event -- especially when she was seated next to the most prominent NBA agent in the league ... the dude who literally reps LeBron James and a crap ton of other high-level players.

Since then, Adele has continued to be pretty camera-shy out in public with Rich -- but when she's in her own environment in Vegas ... she's an open book, and very chatty.

Taylor Swift doesn't have Travis Kelce around as she continues to tour in Australia -- but she'll be far from lonely as she ramps up for Sydney ... 'cause Sabrina Carpenter is there.

The two singers grabbed dinner Tuesday at a swanky hotspot in the city's Surry Hills neighborhood -- and as you can imagine, they were surrounded by fans and paps (and bodyguards) who were following their every move into the restaurant.

Taylor was dressed pretty casually, but was rocking some wavy hair here down under ... and SC wore a red getup, while rocking a big grin as she joined her gal pal for a meal.

Sabrina's been hired to open for Taylor for the next handful of shows -- including 4 in Sydney that start up Friday ... and another batch in Singapore, where they'll jet off to next. After that, TayTay's gonna switch up her opening act yet again ... and bring on Paramore for Europe.

In other words, she's back into the swing of things ... just like she was here in the States last year before she went public with Travis and started going to all his games in the fall.

Obviously, she rode that wave all the way to the Super Bowl ... which made for some memorable snaps -- but now, it's back to reality for her ... and thus far, Travis doesn't appear to have joined her on her international leg of the tour, and it remains to be seen if he will.

Of course, T-Swift still has Kansas City on her mind ... something she proved the other day by rocking a Chiefs SB hat -- so not all is forgotten as she delves deeper into the tour.

Major Beatles alert -- Sam Mendes will direct four different movies from each band member's perspective ... and all of them are apparently supposed to come out the same year.

The famed filmmaker was announced as being hired to helm what can only be called a massive undertaking in the movie biz -- namely, making four feature-length films ... with each one focused on a different Beatle, including Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, John Lennon and George Harrison.

Sony is the studio getting behind this -- they'll finance and distribute these flicks -- and not just that ... but the two living Beatles and the families of the late members are all on board.

All 4 members/their estates have given Sam and Sony the life and music rights for the respective scripted films -- and what he says he'll do is intertwine all their stories in an intricate web of storytelling to bring the band's full legendary history to life on the big screen.

The craziest part ... Sam and co. plan on releasing all 4 films in 2027, which is crazy.

BTW, a multimedia company the Beatles started way back when -- Apple Corps Limited -- is going to be a partner in producing these ... so yeah, everyone's coming together for this.

It goes without saying ... this will be the first time the Beatles, at large, are depicted in a film as a unit that wasn't a doc. In other words -- the definitive Beatles biopic(s) has arrived.

Donnell Rawlings lost it on fellow comic Corey Holcomb at a comedy club this weekend -- and it all seems to have stemmed from an insult the latter hurled at DR.

This wild scene unfolded Sunday night at the Laugh Factory here in Los Angeles -- where Donnell went up to do a set ... and Corey went on after him when we're told he started hurling wild claims and barbs at Donnell and Dave Chappelle's expense.

Donnell tells TMZ he wasn't going to let Corey torch his close friend -- the two of them were on "Chappelle's Show" together back in the day -- so he confronted him over it.

That argument is what you see here on video, obtained by TMZ, with Donnell going absolutely ballistic on Corey -- whom you can hear calling DR "mild" and a lame funny man.

You can also hear Corey questioning Donnell's street cred ... and Donnell was ready to defend himself and his rep -- which he did from the audience level, right in front of everybody. Indeed, it must've been pretty surreal to see play out live.

Now, Donnell claims another inflammatory comment that Corey made played into how angry he got -- namely, Corey allegedly saying that anyone in comedy who has 3 movies or more under their belt has had to perform fellatio on someone in the biz.

The reason Donnell says he got as fired up -- in addition to feeling insulted and hearing his friends get insulted -- is because he has 3 movies, and he insists he's never done anything like that in his career.

BTW, this beef between Donnell, Corey and Dave runs pretty deep -- Corey recently did a podcast where he trashed DC ... and suggested he simply wasn't funny, let alone a legend.

In terms of how this ended, Donnell tells us he ended up walking away from the situation before things escalated further. However, he says he'd still like to hash things out with Corey in a more calm setting and hopefully put their differences aside.

Sylvester Stallone says he doesn't advise actors to do their own stunts in the movie biz ... and 7 surgeries oughta serve as a warning -- you listening, Tom Cruise???

The legendary action star made the revelation in an upcoming episode of his Paramount reality show, "The Family Stallone," where he said he'd undergone more than half a dozen back surgeries to deal with an injury he suffered on the set of "The Expendables" back in 2010.

Basically, "Stone Cold" Steve Austin -- who's also in the movie -- was body-slamming Sly on set ... and the dude was actually absorbing the blows, going take after take after take.

He says, "I did stupid stuff. I was directing 'Expendables' and like an idiot I’m doing take ten, take whatever, and I remember one slam and I could actually feel one bang. Steve knew. I never recovered from Expendables 1. After that film, it was never physically the same."

Sly adds .. "I’ve warned people -- don’t do your own stunts."

SS fractured his neck and needed a metal plate inserted to stabilize things -- and as he jokingly notes ... his next role might be Quasimodo in a 'Hunchback' flick.

While he might be discussing it in jest on his show -- the injuries/surgeries are quite serious ... apparently, Sylvester's doctors have told him he might need artificial discs popped into his lower spine down the line, and his wife Jennifer Flavin says on the show it's tough on the family.

Two actors from 'Boy Meets World' say they now have a warped view of a guest star from their show ... after the guy was later convicted on a child molestation charge.

Rider Strong and Will Friedle tackled this issue head-on alongside fellow costar Danielle Fishel on their 'Pod Meets World' podcast Monday -- where they discussed Brian Peck, an actor who was convicted on child sexual abuse charges back in the early 2000s.

At the time, he was accused of molesting an unidentified Nickelodeon child actor and ended up taking a plea deal and serving over a year behind bars. He's now set to be featured in this new documentary about the ugly underbelly of Nick that's airing in March.

Welp, as it turns out ... Rider and Will say they also knew this guy back in the day since he acted on their own show a couple times -- and even though he literally only guest-starred on two 'BMW' episodes with very minor roles, the actors now say he was deeply embedded into their lives ... and it's left them feeling creeped out and uneasy all these years later.

As they look back now, Will and Rider say his eagerness to be good pals with 'em back then -- hanging out with them a lot after work, apparently -- was wildly inappropriate and weird ... but at the time, they say they didn't suspect anything.

When allegations against him first surfaced in the early aughts -- which ultimately landed him in court -- Will and Rider say they bought Peck's story of falling victim to "jail bait" ... and even went to bat for the guy as he appeared before a judge, 'cause they believed him.

They say they now realize how twisted their relationship with this guy was ... and both express shame and regret for ever affiliating themselves with him, even as young adults.

Soap star Joshua Morrow -- famous from 'The Young and the Restless' -- is unloading his L.A. pad, and you could step into his lap of luxury if you've got a few mil lying around.

The actor has put his extraordinary 6-bedroom, 6.5-bathroom Westlake Village estate on the market for a whopping $5,250,000 ... and you can imagine, at that price, the new owner will be getting a whole lotta perks.

First, it's all location, location, location ... the 5,900-square-foot private property sits on a sprawling 1.21 acre at the end of a cul-de-sac ... nestled within the guard-gated North Ranch Country Club Estates.

The two-story floor plan boasts a super lavish kitchen with a new center island that opens seamlessly to the family room -- and that's not all, it also comes with a media and a separate bonus room for all your entertainment needs.

JM's acclaimed interior designer wife, Tobe, who owns Morrow & Co. designed the whole inside ... so, it's no surprise every inch of this home is adorned with the finest finishes.

It's not just the breathtaking inside; the grounds are something else ... there's a detached pool-house, custom pool and spa, fire pit, and massive manicured lawns. That's luxury Southern California living right there!!

Josh, who's played Nicholas Newman on "The Young and the Restless" since 1994, and his wife Tobe lived there together with their 4 kids.

Antonio Brown has been ordered to cut a high-profile jeweler a check for over $1 million ... this after he failed to fight a lawsuit that the diamond expert slapped him with last year.

TMZ Sports broke the story ... Shuki International -- a world-renowned businessman who's been the jewelry guy for high-profile celebs like Floyd Mayweather for years -- sued AB back in April 2023 after he claimed the former NFL star borrowed a bunch of his prized items in 2022 but never returned them or paid for them.

In his lawsuit, Shuki said he gave AB a pair of his "Shuki International" diamond fingers -- which the jeweler said cost $500K apiece -- under the premise that Brown would eventually give them back ... or simply cough up the dough for them.

Shuki said he also handed over a rose gold black diamond version of the finger piece, a white gold chain, and a ring -- all with the same expectation.

Yet the jeweler claimed Brown failed to ever return the pieces or hand over the money ... so he asked a judge to force AB to fork over $1,095,000 for it all.

And, after Brown never responded to the suit, a judge issued a default judgment for Shuki last week.

Shuki told us he attempted to reach out to Brown over the decision on Sunday ... but the ex-Buccaneers wideout never returned his call. He added that he's disappointed over the whole matter -- considering the two used to be close.

Brown, meanwhile, was just seen out in LA with one of Shuki's diamond fingers earlier this month ... showing it off to our photog on Rodeo Drive.