Car Crashes

Lakers guard Ben McLemore was involved a single-car accident in the hours following his team's huge win over the Warriors ... but, thankfully, he was uninjured -- TMZ Sports has learned.

Law enforcement sources tell us sometime Thursday morning -- shortly after the Lakers beat the Warriors in their play-in game Wednesday night -- cops responded to a 911 call for an accident in Playa Vista, Calif.

We're told when officers arrived on the scene, they found McLemore and his crashed Ford truck ... and conducted a field sobriety test.

Sources say the 28-year-old, though, passed all their tests and did NOT appear to be drunk.

We're told McLemore explained to officers he had accidentally hit the gas instead of the brakes and crashed into a gate arm.

McLemore -- who had no injuries -- was not arrested and not issued any sort of ticket, we're told.

The former Kansas star played in 21 games for the Lakers this season ... averaging 8.0 points per contest.

He did not play in the team's win over Golden State due to a coach's decision.

Erik Cowie, one of the "Tiger King" stars who you saw caring for the zoo's exotic animals, was driving drunk when he crashed into another car ... at least according to cops.

Law enforcement sources tell TMZ ... Cowie was busted for DUI in Oklahoma after cops say they responded to a two-car collision on an interstate highway.

We're told Cowie was driving one of the cars involved in the accident last month, and responding officers say he reeked of booze and bombed field sobriety tests.

Our sources say he admitted to having 2 beers before getting behind the wheel, and his blood alcohol content came in at 0.11.

Our sources also say, Cowie was put in handcuffs on the spot, and taken to jail where he was booked for driving under the influence. He's already entered a guilty plea and will be sentenced on May 25.

Mass evacuations are currently underway in northwest Iowa -- where a train derailment has sent its cars bursting into flames ... and hazmat crews storming in.

The accident appears to have occurred just a short time ago near the city of Sibley, where black smoke has been billowing for several minutes now. Somebody nearby captured footage of the crash, and you can see spouts of flames coming up from behind a building.

Several different rescue crews are en route, as there are concerns the train might've been carrying flammable liquid ... which would explain the fire that's growing on site. Word is that authorities are clearing the area within a 5-mile radius ... so a massive hazard's unfolding.

Another person captured a photo from further away showing the damage, and it appears a massive pile-up occurred during the derailment. Unclear what might've caused it to get off the tracks in such violent fashion, but this isn't the first wreck like this, this week.

A Union Pacific train derailed in south Minnesota Saturday, with a huge pile-up of cars there as well, with upwards of 28 cars falling off the track. And even earlier in the week, there was a report of yet another derailment in Missouri -- where six cars came loose and spilled into a main road.

Reports of any injuries or fatalities from this latest disaster in Iowa haven't surfaced -- but we're monitoring for updates.

Tyrell Cohen -- the twin brother of NFL running back Tarik Cohen -- was found dead Sunday ... after officials say they believe he was electrocuted trying to climb power equipment.

Authorities say the 25-year-old, who's a fraternal twin of the Chicago Bears star, was involved in the tragedy shortly after a single-car crash Saturday morning in Raleigh, NC.

Officials say Tyrell left the scene of the accident after the wreck ... and could not be located in the ensuing hours.

Tyrell's family eventually filed a missing person report Saturday night ... with Tarik even putting out a message on social media asking anyone in the area for help locating his brother.

"Could be on foot in the [woods] around 540 and six forks," Tarik said in a since-deleted tweet. "Possibly injured!"

Officials say on Sunday morning, they resumed their search for Tyrell ... and, after an employee at a Duke Energy substation discovered a body, officials ultimately identified it as Tyrell's.

Authorities say Tyrell appeared to have entered the substation after the accident and was electrocuted shortly after. They say they do not believe foul play was involved.

The Bears released a statement Sunday evening mourning the death ... saying, "We are heartbroken."

"Our immediate thoughts and prayers go out to Tarik, his mother, Tilwanda, and the rest of their family and loved ones."

They continued, "On behalf of the entire Bears family, we extend our most heartfelt sympathies to all who mourn his loss."

Tarik was picked in the 4th round by the Bears in the 2017 NFL Draft. He's started 22 games for the team in his four-year career.

Trey Songz allegedly had a little road rage and took it out on a woman's car and her hand ... so she tells cops.

According to law enforcement sources ... the singer and the woman got into an argument while they were each in their cars Thursday ... shortly after midnight.

We're told the argument escalated, and the woman reported to cops at some point Trey bumped his car into hers ... so she got out to confront him.

The woman claims that's when Songz sped off and hit her hand with his vehicle. She called the police, but when they arrived she says Trey was long gone. Cops took a hit-and-run report.

According to our sources ... the woman complained of hand pain but refused medical attention. It's unclear what she and Songz were arguing about, but there's no indication the 2 have a prior relationship. We're told the incident's being investigated.

A source close to Trey's camp tells us the woman's allegations are false.

This is just the latest legal hot water Trey finds himself in. As we first told you, he got sued last week for allegedly punching a bartender working at a Cardi B concert back in 2019.

The Boston Celtics held a touching tribute and a moment of silence for Terrence Clarke on Tuesday -- honoring the Boston-born NBA prospect less than a week after he was killed in a car crash.

Right before the Celtics took the floor against the OKC Thunder at TD Garden, the P.A. announcer took a moment to reflect on the 19-year-old's life and what he meant to the city.

FYI, Clarke grew up in Boston, where he developed into one of the best high school players in the country -- ultimately leading the Brewster Academy to the 2019 National Prep championship.

In fact, he brought the school back to the Finals in 2020 -- but the COVID pandemic forced the tourney to shut down.

As the P.A. announcer points out, Clarke went to the University of Kentucky where he "quickly became a favorite of teammates and fans alike."

"His work ethic, commitment and talent had him on the path to achieving his dream of playing in the NBA."

Sadly, Clarke was involved in a bad car crash on April 22 during a trip to Los Angeles. He was raced to a nearby hospital but succumbed to his injuries.

During the on-court tribute, the Celtics displayed photos of Clarke with stars like Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown.

"His larger-than-life personality always lit up a room and made him loved by everyone he touched," the Celtics P.A. announcer said.

"His goal was to inspire and be a role model for a generation of youth basketball players across Boston. Quite simply, Terrence was the pride of the entire city."

TIGER WOODS!!!

The golf superstar is up on his own two feet -- and flashing that trademark smile -- to mark the 2 month anniversary of that horrific car crash.

45-year-old Tiger is standing on crutches at one of his golf courses -- with a medical brace on his lower right leg and ankle ... standing next to his beloved dog.

"My course is coming along faster than I am," Tiger wrote on IG ... "But it’s nice to have a faithful rehab partner, man’s best friend."

It's a great sign to see Tiger smiling and upright ... considering the catastrophic injuries he suffered during that Feb. 23 car wreck in Southern California.

As we previously reported, Tiger suffered comminuted open fractures in his right leg -- meaning the bone was shattered in at least 2 places and broke through the skin.

Doctors used a rod to stabilize it, according to Tiger's medical team -- and he's reportedly been spending the past several weeks recovering and rehabbing at one of his residences in Florida.

Tiger was driving through Rancho Palos Verdes on his way to an L.A. golf course when he crashed his Genesis GV80 SUV down the side of a hill -- wrecking the car and suffering major injuries.

Investigators determined Tiger was doing driving at speeds between 82 and 87 MPH leading up to the crash -- more than 40 MPH over the 45 MPH speed limit ... and was doing 75 when he collided with a tree.

Officials said Tiger showed no signs of impairment and believe he may have panicked behind the wheel and stomped on the accelerator instead of the brake when he realized he was losing control.

Woods obviously missed The Masters tournament due to his injuries and many wonder if he'll ever be able to play pro golf again.

"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.

Terrence Clarke -- a 19-year-old University of Kentucky basketball player and a projected 2021 NBA Draft pick -- was killed Thursday in a car accident in Los Angeles, law enforcement sources tell TMZ Sports.

We're told Clarke was driving a Genesis around 2 PM in the San Fernando Valley when his vehicle was struck by another car ... sending him smashing into a pole and before ultimately slamming into a wall.

Footage from the accident shows Clarke's vehicle completely smashed in.

Law enforcement sources tell us the accident is being investigated -- but so far, no official cause of the crash has been determined.

We're told Clarke was in Los Angeles with his Kentucky teammate, B.J. Boston -- another NBA Draft prospect.

Boston was reportedly in the car behind Clarke when the accident occurred -- but we're told he's physically okay.

Clarke was rushed to a nearby hospital ... but injuries proved too severe and doctors were unable to save his life.  He was pronounced dead shortly after arriving at the hospital.

Terrence -- a 6'7" guard -- was an absolute stud on the hardwood. Rivals rated him a 5-star recruit coming out of high school in New Hampshire ... and ranked him as the #8 overall high school player in the entire country.

He didn't play much at Kentucky -- but he clearly had the talent to succeed at the pro level and recently declared for the 2021 NBA Draft.

Some experts projected he would be a 2nd-round pick -- with tons of upside.

Tragic story.

RIP.

Elon Musk claims the fatal Tesla crash this weekend in Texas was not the result of Autopilot failure ... but 2 federal agencies are not convinced.

The Tesla founder was responding to a Twitter comment disputing the working theory ... the 2 men who died in the crash were not behind the wheel ... likely because they were using the car's Autopilot feature.

The Twitter user pointed out Autopilot has safety features in place requiring someone to be in the driver's seat, and Musk responded by saying this person's research is better than reporters.

Elon went on to deny Autopilot was involved at all in the wreck, tweeting ... "Data logs recovered so far show Autopilot was not enabled & this car did not purchase FSD." FSD stands for Tesla's Full Self-Driving feature.

Musk goes on to say "standard Autopilot would require lane lines to turn on" and claims the street where the crash occurred in Spring, TX doesn't have them.

As we first told you ... the authorities have issued subpoenas to get data on the crash vehicle, and are working with Tesla experts on the investigation. Along with that, 2 federal agencies -- the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board -- are on the case.

According to authorities ... the 2 men who were killed in the Saturday night accident were talking to their wives about taking the Tesla for a drive and testing the driver-assistance technology just minutes before they took off and crashed.

Based on the initial investigation ... cops say one man was in the passenger seat and one was in the rear seat, but nobody was driving.  If neither was in the driver's seat, how did the car gain speed and crash if Autopilot wasn't engaged? After all, why else would one guy be in the back seat and the other in the passenger seat, other than to drive on Autopilot?

Renowned automotive engineer Sandy Munro believes it would be criminal for Tesla to hit the pause button on its self-driving car technology following a fatal crash this weekend ... because it's still doing way more good than harm.

The "Munro Live" YouTube host joined "TMZ Live" Monday to discuss the Saturday night accident in Texas, where 2 men in a 2019 Model S -- with Autopilot engaged -- were killed. Police say neither man was behind the wheel.

Sandy says this is simply an unfortunate reminder that the driver-assistance tech is not perfect yet -- which is why self-driving cars are not operational -- but he thinks it's getting there.

Much like Elon Musk did this weekend before the fatal Tesla wreck, Munro points out that vehicles with driver-assistance are already 8 times less likely to get into a crash than regular ones ... and in a very short time of being tested.

So, he strongly opposes any sort of knee-jerk reaction to what happened in Texas ... because he believes Tesla's Autopilot and similar features in other cars are making driving safer by and large.

As we reported ... cops say the 2 men who died in the fiery Tesla crash Saturday night were not driving the vehicle, but were instead in the passenger seat and rear seat when it failed to navigate a turn, ran off the road and slammed into a tree.

Worth noting -- Tesla warns that the Autopilot and full self-driving capability are "intended for use with a fully attentive driver, who has their hands on the wheel and is prepared to take over at any moment."

The fiery Tesla crash that killed 2 people in Texas was most likely the result of the car's Autopilot feature failing, as cops tell TMZ ... neither man was behind the wheel.

Physical evidence after the Saturday night crash led authorities to believe the 2 men in the Tesla 2019 Model S were not driving it when it failed to navigate a turn, ran off the road and hit a tree ... then burst into flames.

According to Mark Herman, the Harris County Precinct 4 constable ... one of the men was in the front passenger seat, and the other was in the rear seat when it was traveling at a high rate of speed before the crash.

Law enforcement sources tell us they'll be issuing subpoenas for information on the car to determine if it was indeed on Autopilot ... though that's their working assumption. We're told law enforcement is also in contact with Tesla honchos to determine what went wrong.

The men, ages 59 and 69, were with their wives minutes before the fatal wreck telling them about taking the Tesla out for a drive and wanting to use the driver-assistance feature ... according to Herman.

Jeffree Star just posted photos of the Rolls-Royce that was crushed during his horrific car accident -- but turns out, this beast of a machine might've saved the guy's life.

The makeup mogul gave a health update Saturday from the Wyoming hospital where he and a friend were treated after slipping off the road near Cody ... and barreling into a snowbank as their vehicle flipped over multiple times.

After Jeffree was discharged from the hospital -- with a back brace attached, no less -- he went over to the tow yard where the Rolls was being stored ... snapping and posting photos of the wreckage and aftermath. Yes, it looks bad -- but it could've been much worse.

JS writes, "This was hard but I had to go see my car today. Thank God a #RollsRoyce is built with highly reinforced steel because it saved our lives 🙏 Time to heal and let my body repair."

Jeffree also shared more deets about what exactly happened on his IG Story ... confirming what we'd been told -- that he lost control of the car after hitting some black ice, which sent him and his passenger flying off the road. While he's leaving doctors' care, his friend, Daniel, isn't ... as he revealed he's dealing with some lingering colon issues.

While it's great to see both of them in high spirits following a life-threatening wreck ... it's not great to hear how people apparently responded to word that they were okay and alive. Jeffree says he and Daniel were sent incredibly hateful messages, wishing them death.

'Pioneer Woman' Ree Drummond's nephew, Caleb, was arrested for DUI just over a month after he was involved in a scary wreck that could've claimed his life ... TMZ has learned.

According to arrest records out of Osage County, OK ... the 21-year-old was booked for DUI early Saturday morning. No word on whether he's still in custody at this point, but Caleb posed for this mug shot on his way in ... there's no question it's Ree's flesh and blood.

The exact circumstances of his arrest haven't been released, but there are other charges he got rung up on ... including transporting an open container (beer) and carrying firearms while under the influence.

Caleb's arrest comes a little more than a month after he and his uncle -- Ree's husband, Ladd -- collided head-first in two different fire trucks they were both operating, respectively. The family was battling a raging fire on their Oklahoma ranch when the two rigs crashed.

We were told at the time Caleb wasn't wearing a seatbelt ... and he was flung from the vehicle, about 70 feet or so. He and his uncle were both hospitalized, but were eventually released and seem to have been on the mend.

Ree herself gave an encouraging update on March 15, saying that they were indeed injured, but "fixable" in an update post on her famous blog. She also posted photos of the actual fire rigs in question -- which are way older than modern-day trucks, BTW -- and it loos like the impact was immense.

Jeffree Star is in a hospital bed with a neck brace ... and he says he's lucky to be alive after his car flipped 3 times in a scary accident.

The YouTube star and beauty influencer says he was in a severe car accident Friday -- the car he was riding in lost control on black ice and ended up tumbling over.

Jeffree says his friend Daniel was in the car with him, and he posted a photo of them both in hospital gowns ... but as you can see, it looks like Jeffree got the worst of it.

The rollover reportedly went down near Casper, Wyoming ... with local reports saying Jeffree is getting treatment at Wyoming Medical Center and he's in stable condition.

Jeffree was reportedly driving a brand new Rolls Royce, with Daniel as his passenger.

Story developing ...

Tragic news out of the North Texas basketball program -- assistant coach Nelson Haggerty has passed away after a single-car crash Friday morning. He was 47 years old.

Haggerty was part of the coaching staff that helped lead the Mean Green to their first-ever NCAA tournament win last month ... when #13 North Texas beat #4 Purdue 78-69 in the first round on March 19.

Law enforcement officials in Texas say Haggerty was driving on Highway 380 near the city of Decatur in Wise County around 2:30 AM Friday ... when his car went off the right side of the road and hit a culvert, according to local reports.

Cops say Haggerty's vehicle flipped and hit a fence before coming to a halt. Emergency responders rushed to the scene, where Haggerty was pronounced dead.

Haggerty is a Texas hoops legend -- he was a high school star out of Houston ... and played 4 seasons at Baylor University, leading the NCAA in assists during his senior year.

NH went on to coach from 1997-2019 ... including 8 seasons with Midwestern State, where he became one of the most successful coaches in program history. He was named National Association of Basketball Coaches regional coach of the year in 2012.

Haggerty joined North Texas in 2019 ... and head coach Grant McCasland immediately praised his positive presence on the team.

The North Texas athletic department honored Haggerty Friday morning ... saying "Father, Husband, Friend, and Coach."