Arrests

Jeffrey Epstein's death may never be conclusively determined, because we're told standard practice in the area where he was detained is that cameras do not point inside cells.

Sources familiar with the correctional facility in question tell TMZ, there are cameras in the Special Housing Unit -- the SHU -- but SOP is that cameras do not point into the cells. We're told cameras capture, among other things, the doors to each cell to determine if anyone walks in or out, but they don't point inside.

One source familiar with the facility says the drill is for guards to pass by each cell in intervals ranging from 15 to 30 minutes depending on the circumstances.

Unless there's a one-off cell with a camera pointing inside -- and we're told there have been rare situations where this is the case -- the time and manner of his death may never be captured.

Our sources did, however, make it clear ... since Epstein was taken off suicide watch there were plenty of ways he could have hung himself. There are sheets, blankets, t-shirts and there are objects -- including beds -- on which the items can be tied to facilitate suffocation.

Our sources all agree on one thing ... the fatal flaw was taking someone off suicide watch days after they believe he may have attempted to take his own life. It is baffling, disturbing and suspicious that medical professionals and officials at the correctional center would clear someone as high-profile, notorious and important as Epstein.

Epstein's death Saturday morning appears to be a suicide by hanging, but no one in an official capacity has categorized it as such.

"Black Ink Crew" boss Ceaser Emanuel might be licensed to run a tattoo shop in the Big Apple -- but, apparently, he isn't licensed to drive there ... according to cops, anyway.

Law enforcement sources tell TMZ ... Ceaser (real name David Emanuel) was arrested Friday in NYC after police officers say they witnessed him blow a red light and fail to yield to pedestrians while driving through a residential neighborhood in Brooklyn.

We're told the officers immediately pulled him over, and asked him to produce a license. Our sources say he handed one over that read "Emanuel Thomas" with a date of birth that was off by 8 years, saying he was born in June 1971 ... as opposed to his real DOB, 1979.

Sources also tell us Ceaser failed to produce a valid insurance card, so he was arrested on the spot and booked for misdemeanor false impersonation and other traffic violations.

Ceaser runs the Black Ink shop in New York, where the hit VH1 reality series began in 2013. It's gone strong for 7 seasons, and its 8th is set to air in just a few days. The show has also spawned two spin-offs, one in Chicago and another in Compton.

It's unclear if cameras were rolling while Ceaser was getting busted -- presumably, VH1 is all wrapped up with filming the 8th season. What's that saying about publicity again though?

Cops mistook bird poop for cocaine on a Georgia Southern quarterback's car during an arrest last month ... and the argument over the white stuff was all caught on video.

Shai Werts -- GSU's junior starting quarterback -- was pulled over on July 31 in Clinton, South Carolina after cops say he was speeding.

During the stop, officers placed 21-year-old Werts in the back of their patrol car ... and went to search Werts' 2016 Dodge Charger.

In the video, you can see cops paying close attention to the hood of Werts' ride, shining a flashlight on the area and allegedly discovering a foreign white substance on it.

That's when an officer walks back to the patrol car to question Werts, asking straight-up, "What's the white stuff on the front of your hood, man?"

Werts immediately responds, "Bird sh*t."

The officer doesn't believe him, saying repeatedly that the substance looks nothing like bird poop ... and instead, he tells Werts test results indicated it was a controlled substance.

"I swear to God it's not [bird poo]," the officer says, "because I just tested it, and that turned pink."

Werts insists over and over again it's bird poop ... but the cop clearly doesn't believe him, with the officer eventually telling him, "It tested positive for cocaine."

Werts was charged with misdemeanor cocaine possession and speeding ... and he was also suspended from GSU team activities after the arrest.

But, prosecutors announced late Thursday they were dropping the charges ... admitting the substance on Werts' car was NOT cocaine.

"I was informed that the test did come back and that there was no controlled substance found," Saluda County prosecutor Al Eargle told the Savannah Morning News.

Georgia Southern athletic director Tom Kleinlein announced Friday the team was "elated to get the news" regarding Werts ... and said the QB is no longer subject to punishment over the incident.

Werts has been a star for the Eagles the past 2 seasons ... rushing for 1,630 yards and 18 scores on the ground while adding 1,916 yards and 17 TDs passing in 24 career games.

Werts is expected to open the season as the team's starter vs. LSU on Aug. 31.

Robert Durst got away with murder, according to his deceased wife's family, and he just beat them in court.

A judge dismissed the wrongful death lawsuit filed by the family of Kathleen Durst, who disappeared in 1982.

Her body was never found, but a judge subsequently ruled in 2017 her date of death was the same day she disappeared -- January 31, 1982.

Durst was widely suspected of killing her, but he was never charged. He has been charged with the murder of his good friend, Susan Berman, who prosecutors believe knew he murdered Kathleen.

As for the wrongful death lawsuit, a judge just said the family waited too long to file it and the 2-year statute of limitations has long-since run.

There's a twist in all of this ... the lawsuit could be filed -- even long after the statute of limitations had run -- if Durst were in criminal court over Kathleen's murder. Her family argued the criminal case did involve Kathleen's murder, because prosecutors believe Durst killed Susan Berman because she was going to blow the whistle on him over Kathleen's death. They felt that wasn't a direct tie ... or at least not enough to allow a wrongful death suit.

Durst was arrested and charged with Susan Berman's murder after the show "The Jinx" aired on HBO. You hear Durst in the bathroom, thinking his microphone was off, saying, "What the hell did I do? Killed them all, of course."

Meek Mill has to wait a few more weeks to find out if his 2008 gun conviction gets tossed out or if he gets a new trial -- but that's all happening in front of a new judge, which has to be a huge relief for the rapper.

Judge Leon Tucker was presiding Tuesday morning when Meek walked into the Philadelphia courthouse. He's replacing the controversial Judge Genece Brinkley for Meek's potential retrial, which was granted by a panel of judges in Pennsylvania Superior Court in July.

Tuesday's hearing was an extremely brief bail hearing. Meek was released on his own recognizance, and Judge Tucker said both sides will return August 27 for a status hearing. At that point, they'll figure out whether to go to trial or just drop the whole matter.

As we reported ... it's highly unlikely prosecutors will refile the case and retry Meek. His attorney Joe Tacopina tells us, "While we had hoped that this matter would end today, we remain confident that justice will prevail in Meek's case once and for all."

That's because the main witness in the '08 case turned out to be a dirty cop, and a retrial over a decade later would mean the memories of other witnesses would be less reliable as well.

R. Kelly just got hit with more sex crime charges ... this time in Minnesota, where prosecutors say the disgraced singer once paid a teenage girl to have sexual contact with him in his hotel room.

According to prosecutors, the alleged incident went down on July 11, 2001 in Minneapolis ... and they say the alleged victim was between the ages of 16 and 17.

Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman says the alleged victim initially approached Kelly seeking an autograph, and claims Kelly paid her $200 to get naked and engage in sex acts with him.

Prosecutors are charging Kelly with two sex crimes ... engaging in prostitution with someone under 18, and hiring/offering/agreeing to hire someone for sexual contact.

Freeman says there was no sexual intercourse between Kelly and the alleged victim, but he claims there was "dancing and sexual contact." He admitted the case will be difficult to prosecute, given that the evidence is almost 20 years old. Prosecutors say the tip came through a Chicago tip line.

The alleged victim is being represented by Gloria Allred.

R. Kelly's attorney, Steve Greenberg, just weighed in on the new charges ... tweeting, "give me a break. This is beyond absurd."

Kelly is currently in custody in New York, where he’s pled not guilty to 5 federal criminal charges including kidnapping and racketeering. The New York case is separate from Kelly’s 13-count indictment in Illinois federal court, which includes charges of child porn, enticement of a minor and obstruction of justice. Kelly is also fighting 10 charges of aggravated sexual abuse in Cook County, Illinois.

Stormy Daniels is getting a taste of justice after the Ohio cops who busted her at a strip club last year are now facing some consequences ... but she ain't done with them yet.

The ex-adult film star was beaming Friday night as she strolled through LAX -- without any makeup at that -- as she reacted to the news that five of the officers who went undercover and arrested her at a strip joint in Columbus will be reprimanded by their department.

When a pap asks how she feels about the update a year later -- she actually corrects him with a more precise time frame (387 days, to be exact) ... so yeah, she's definitely been keeping tabs on the case.

She also doubles down on what's come to light about the arrest since it went down -- that it never should've happened, and it was completely bogus. Stormy was a guest at the venue she was performing at -- she was just booked for a special appearance -- and the no touching law the Columbus cops tried nabbing her on only applies to regular employees.

The charges were dropped, and since then ... Stormy also sued some of those officers, and she tells the photog here that the lawsuit's still on. In the filing, she claimed the cops targeted her for speaking out against Trump ... alleging the arrest was purely political.

She obviously wants damages, but funny enough ... there's one other thing they could give her that might smooth things over.

A$AP Rocky's saying good riddance to Sweden FOR GOOD and never looking back ... assuming everything goes according to plan.

Rocky left Sweden hours after the judges in his assault case decided to let him out of jail while they noodle on their decision, which is expected on August 14. A$AP returned to the U.S., and he won't have to return for the reading of the verdict, because it will be a written ruling.

All signs point to Rocky being acquitted. Prosecutors tried to keep him in jail pending the verdict, because they said he was a flight risk. The judges could have ordered him to stay in Sweden but they gave him the all clear to leave the country. That smells like a not guilty verdict.

Our sources say if the verdict comes in as expected, Rocky will never go back to the home of IKEA.

He never said the arrest was racially motivated -- at least not for public consumption -- but a lot of people, including his mom, think that's exactly what's behind his arrest and prosecution. As we reported, Snoop and Quavo say they had similar experiences with Swedish cops, and Snoop also said good riddance to the country.

The rapper said during his testimony he won't seek any money from the Swedish government for wrongful prosecution, because he can easily earn back his profits from canceled concerts. Smart move ... more incentive for the judges to find him not guilty.

Rocky's lawyer says he believes he did enough to show the judges his client acted in self-defense and the attack on the alleged victim was not overboard or premeditated ... as the prosecution alleged.

Pro golfer Thorbjorn Olesen was arrested at Heathrow Airport in London on Monday after allegedly sexually assaulting a woman mid-flight ... and then PEEING in the aisle.

Officials say 29-year-old Olesen -- who placed 6th at the 2013 Masters -- was a drunken menace on his flight from Nashville to London ... screaming at passengers and acting like a moron.

The most serious allegation is the alleged molestation of a female passenger. The details surrounding that particular incident is unclear.

During the hellish flight, a witness told The Sun ... Olesen began urinating right in the aisle of the 1st class cabin.

Olesen was traveling with fellow PGA star Ian Poulter -- the two had competed in the WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational in Memphis over the weekend.

Poulter reportedly tried to diffuse the situation during the flight ... and when he felt Olesen was under control, he decided to take a nap.

But, when he woke up, Poulter's rep says the golfer learned about the wild allegations against his fellow golf pro. In other words, Poulter feels he doesn't deserve a single ounce of blame.

The Met. Police Dept. (the agency which took Olesen into custody in London) tells TMZ Sports Olesen was booked on several charges including "suspicion of sexual assault, being drunk on board an aircraft and failing to comply with the orders of cabin crew."

We also reached out to British Airways, which said, "Our customers and crews deserve to enjoy their flights, and not to suffer any form of abuse."

"This sort of behaviour (they used the "u") will not be tolerated, and the appropriate action will always be taken."

Olesen was eventually released from custody and the incident is currently under investigation.

For what it's worth ... Olesen finished 27th in the tournament over the weekend and tweeted, "Not much to say, other than I’m pretty disappointed with today’s performance!"

"Now for some time off and practice to get things right."

Kenya Moore's ex-boyfriend, Matt Jordan, was hauled in by cops in Arizona over the weekend for a list of alleged crimes, which include assault and theft.

The former 'Real Housewives' star was booked Saturday in Pinal County for trespassing, plus 3 separate charges -- aggravated assault, theft and threatening/intimidating with damage to property -- which stem from an arrest warrant issued in Maricopa County.

Matt's bail was set at $3,250, but no one's paid it -- he's still in custody, and has a hearing this week to face the charges.

As for how all this got started, court docs show the initial incident allegedly went down back in April -- but, apparently, Matt never showed up in court to deal with it. He got nabbed for trespassing Saturday, which revealed the outstanding warrant.

The guy is a 'RHOA' notorious for a number of reasons, but he's probably best remembered as the one who brawled with fellow reality star Peter Thomas, who Matt claimed had a weapon on him ... believed to be a box cutter or knife of some sort.

Kenya also got a restraining order against Matt in 2017, after claiming he was hounding and harassing her by calling her up to 30 times a day and allegedly threatening her.

One of the men testifying against A$AP Rocky in Sweden -- a witness to the street brawl -- has his own serious legal trouble, but, mysteriously, his case seems to now be on the back burner.

As we previously reported, A$AP's alleged victim, Mustafa Jafari -- the guy in the video who got tossed like a rag doll -- was convicted of assault in 2016 for striking a guy in the face on the streets of Stockholm.

Now, we've learned Jafari's buddy, Dawod Hosseini -- who's set to take the stand in support of Jafari -- was just arrested this month for theft. In fact, Hosseini was busted 2 weeks AFTER A$AP was hauled into custody.

According to legal docs, obtained by TMZ, Hosseini was arrested July 19 for shoplifting two high-priced jackets from a Swedish clothing store. The docs also say cops found a knife on him during the arrest.

Hosseini's remained in custody ever since then, but he's scheduled to testify in Rocky's 3-day trial, which begins Tuesday. Sources familiar tell us Hosseini's own trial has been delayed just so he can weigh-in on A$AP's case, as a witness for the prosecution.

Ya gotta think both men -- Hosseini and Jafari -- will be vulnerable, to say the least, if the judge permits A$AP's attorneys to raise their records during cross examination. Remember, there's already the video showing Jafari using headphones to strike one of A$AP's bodyguards before the all-out brawl started.

A$AP Rocky has fans here in the States going to bat for him -- but one chick might've taken it too far after she was arrested for storming the Swedish Embassy in D.C. ... and allegedly threatened to blow it up.

A woman named Rebecca Kanter was arrested on Tuesday after she allegedly caused a ruckus in the Swedish embassy here at home -- this a day after she allegedly threw a bunch of liquid on the front doors and said, "I'm going to blow this motherf***er up!"

The Secret Service issued a lookout warning for the lady on Monday after the alleged incident, and when she came back Tuesday ... she drew even more attention to herself by berating staff and a student group, trumpeting human rights rhetoric and seemingly arguing for Rocky's release. Authorities say she also kicked over a display and some furniture.

She was arrested on the spot and later booked for destruction of property and unlawful entry.

A video of what appears to be the woman surfaced online shortly after her outburst. You can hear her asking the student group where they're from, and saying she thinks it's important that they know about international human rights. The kids seem confused.

Pro boxer Jose Benavidez was arrested this weekend for alleged street racing in Arizona.

Benavidez -- who fights as a welterweight -- was busted Saturday night in Maricopa County, where he was taken in and booked for one count of misdemeanor racing/exhibition of speed and one count of driving with a suspended or revoked license (also a misdemeanor).

Benavidez is no longer in custody as of Sunday afternoon, but he stuck around long enough to pose for this mug. The exact circumstances around his arrest remain unclear, but we're working on getting more info. What we do know is that the Arizona Department of Public Safety -- which has state troopers -- is the agency that picked him up.

The guy is a rising star in the world of boxing -- he recently fought and lost to Terrence Crawford, who's a megastar. Crawford retained the welterweight belt after knocking out Benavidez in the 12th round, this following tons of trash talking from Mexican-American fighter.

He reportedly suffered a leg injury about a week ago, and postponed a fight he had scheduled with Luis Collazo on August 17. It was postponed for October of this year.

Rapper Blueface says the LAPD is full of crap and they lied when they said they swarmed a bunch rappers out of concern for them ... he says it could be racial prejudice.

The man behind the "Bust Down" dance craze was arrested back in February after cops say he was illegally carrying loaded guns in downtown L.A. Cops claimed they had heard there were a bunch of rappers in the area who were carrying large amounts of cash and wearing lots of jewelry.

The LAPD said they went there to actually protect the rappers since there were a bunch of robberies in the area and they feared the rappers would be easy targets. When they arrived, they say Blueface and his crew scattered and tossed their guns.

In new legal docs, obtained by TMZ, Blueface calls BS, saying he and his legal team believe the officers who made the arrest may have complaints against them for racial or ethnic prejudice. They also claim the cops may have a history of writing false police reports.

Lawyers for Blueface say the rapper wasn't in possession of guns, and the reason he was singled out is because one of the cops thought he had a nervous look on his face after police heard the clang of guns hitting the concrete. They concede cops say they saw him make "furtive movement toward his waistband."

President Trump is sticking up for A$AP Rocky by dressing down the Swedish Prime Minister ... the Prez says he's very disappointed Sweden's leader didn't step in to help A$AP skirt an assault charge.

POTUS just went on a Twitter tantrum against the European nation and its government ... demanding the Swedes give A$AP his freedom and telling Sweden to fix crime in their country.

Trump says he's "very disappointed" Sweden's Prime Minister was unable to act, and he says the inaction has let down the African-American community in the United States.

The Prez claims he's watched the video footage of A$AP's street brawl in Stockholm, which shows him trying to play peacemaker before finally losing his cool and absolutely pummeling his attacker, who has a criminal record.

Trump also rips Sweden for not treating Americans fairly ... and he slams the country for not doing anything to help our citizens when "we do so much for Sweden."

As we reported ... A$AP was officially charged with assault Thursday, and he will remain in a Swedish jail as he awaits next week's trial.

Trump and the State Dept. already tried to butt in on behalf of A$AP before the Harlem rapper was charged, but to no avail.

Maybe Trump's new Twitter salvo will move the needle.

The man at the center of the A$AP Rocky assault case -- the man who provoked the rapper and even attacked him before A$AP reluctantly snapped back -- was convicted of criminal assault in Sweden 3 years ago.

Mustafa Jafari, Rocky's alleged victim, was convicted of striking a man in his forehead and beating the victim's face back in 2016, when Jafari was 16 years old. It happened on the streets of Stockholm, the very place Jafari harassed and assaulted A$AP and his crew earlier this month.

Jafari was prosecuted and convicted of assault, and his sentence ... 30 hours of community service. He was also ordered to pay his victim around $500 in cash.

Jafari was also convicted of 2 minor drug offenses ... one in November 2017 and the other in May 2018. He was ordered to pay a fine for both, but served no jail time.

As we reported, Jafari was the instigator in the A$AP Rocky incident -- he's the guy in the white shirt. Prosecutors have cleared him, claiming he was acting in self-defense.