Crime & Arrests

Kodak Black's weekend is off to an unfortunate start … the "Super Gremlin" was arrested after cops say they found a bunch of oxycodone pills in his car.

Law enforcement sources tell TMZ Kodak was traveling in a Dodge Durango Friday in Ft. Lauderdale with what cops believed was an illegal window tint.

After pulling the rapper over, cops say they smelled a strong odor of marijuana and eventually searched the car. Officers claim they found 31 oxycodone pills and $74,960 in cash during the search.

Our sources say Kodak's license and tags were also expired.

Kodak was then arrested and hauled off to Broward County jail.

Blake Jenner, one of the stars of "Glee," has a legal battle on his hands after cops hauled him in for an alleged DUI ... TMZ has learned.

The Burbank Police Department tells TMZ ... officers pulled over the 29-year-old actor when they noticed he failed to stop at a red light around 11:30 PM.

During the traffic stop last weekend, officers felt Jenner -- no relation to the you-know-whos, BTW -- was showing signs of intoxication, so they put him through the paces of field sobriety testing.

That didn't go so well for him, according to cops at least. Blake was arrested and booked for misdemeanor DUI. He was released shortly thereafter with a citation, and will have to appear before a judge at a later date.

Cyndi Lauper's son may have just wanted to have fun ... but cops say he broke the law when they found him inside a stolen vehicle.

The NYPD tells TMZ ... 24-year-old Declyn Lauper -- a rapper with more than 2 million Instagram followers -- was taken into custody early Thursday morning after cops say they found him in the driver's seat of an illegally double-parked Mercedes.

We're told police ran the plates as part of their investigation, and the plates came back as registered to a different car. After checking the VIN number, they say the Mercedes he was in had been reported stolen 2 years ago.

Declyn was taken to a nearby police station and booked for felony unauthorized use of a vehicle.

The artist, who has a music career under the name Dex Lauper, posted about the incident alongside some choppy videos of the supposed arrest.

NBA YoungBoy has just been found not guilty in his federal gun case.

The verdict, confirmed by both NBA's lawyer Andre Belanger and the U.S. Attorney's Office comes after a 3-day trial ... the jury found him not guilty of a charge of illegal firearms possession over a loaded handgun found in his car last year.

As we reported, LAPD and the feds attempted to pull over a vehicle the rapper was in last March on an outstanding federal warrant.

The guy apparently didn't give up easily -- a short pursuit went down, but once the car stopped, cops said the rapper bolted on foot. Police set up a perimeter and brought in a K-9 to help find YoungBoy. The gun in question was found in his vehicle.

He was released on a $500K bond from federal prison back in October, but the judge ordered him to sit in home confinement in Utah until his trial date.

Prosecutors have hit Duane Brown with a criminal charge stemming from his arrest at LAX last weekend ... and now, the NFL star could be facing up to 1 year behind bars if he's convicted.

We broke the story, the five-time Pro Bowler -- who most recently played for the Seattle Seahawks -- was busted at the airport in L.A. on July 9 after authorities said he tried to go through TSA with a gun in his luggage.

Now, TMZ Sports has learned Brown has been charged by Los Angeles City Attorney Mike Feuer, a longtime national leader on gun violence prevention.

According to court documents, Brown was hit with one count of carrying a concealed weapon, a misdemeanor that carries a penalty of up to 1 year in jail.

For his part, Brown -- through his attorney -- called the incident "an accident" in a statement to media members earlier this week.

"To err is human, and this clearly was an accident," Brown's attorney, Kennard McGuire, said. "As a law-abiding citizen, Duane will continue to exercise proper judgment and continue education on gun safety measures."

‘Beatbox’ rapper SpotemGottem is officially facing criminal charges now for what cops viewed as his attempt to jet ski his way to freedom in Florida a couple weeks ago.

Florida's State Attorney just charged the 20-year-old rapper with felony attempting to elude a law enforcement officer in a boat, and misdemeanor reckless operation of a vessel.

This marks young Spotem's 2nd high-profile arrest in his short career ... which, so far, is highlighted by the remix of his smash "Beat Box" hit with DaBaby, Pooh Shiesty and NLE Choppa.

In July 2021, he was arrested on gun charges in Florida for allegedly chilling with an AK-47.

Positive update from Kim Glass ... the former Olympic volleyball star got 40 stitches removed from her eye -- less than a week after it was gashed by an object thrown by a man in a brazen attack in Los Angeles.

The 37-year-old shared the news in a video on her Instagram page Wednesday evening -- showing Beverly Hills doctor Kam Rezzadeh removing the sutures from her face in a delicate procedure.

"It was definitely down to your bone," the doc told her as he worked on her face. "But you're healing."

"One thing I've noticed with my patients is that when they're optimistic, it plays a huge part in the healing process."

Following the removal of the stitches, Glass went to Dr. Nicole Garrett in L.A. to use a hyperbaric oxygen chamber to get some of the swelling down -- and the former outside hitter said it worked marvelously.

"I just got out of the hyperbaric chamber ... this is the most I've ever been able to open eye."

"This is crazy," she added. "Like my eye is literally so much more open than before and this is my first session. I'm blown away!"

As we previously reported, Glass said a homeless man threw a metal object at her after she had finished eating with a friend in Downtown L.A. last Friday. She said she suffered multiple facial fractures and cuts in the incident.

Benson Parks, a good Samaritan, captured the aftermath of the attack on video while he held down the suspect ... showing puddles of blood on the sidewalk.

Semeon Tesfamarian -- who, according to prosecutors, has a history of using weapons to attack people at random -- was arrested for the attack ... and later charged with a felony.

Alex Murdaugh — who’s at the center of a double murder scandal in South Carolina — has been charged with murder in connection to the killings of his wife and son.

The disgraced powerhouse attorney was indicted by a grand jury Wednesday, which heard evidence from prosecutors and decided there was enough to charge Murdaugh with two counts of murder ... according to the South Carolina Attorney General’s Office.

Maggie Murdaugh and 22-year-old Paul Murdaugh were found dead at the family’s hunting property last summer after they were shot and killed by what investigators believed were two different weapons. Alex told investigators he discovered them there after the fact, and claimed he had an alibi as to his whereabouts at the time of the murders.

Despite being a person of interest for a while, Murdaugh was never formally charged over their deaths. He was, however, arrested and charged for allegedly trying to stage his own death months later.

Murdaugh survived the ordeal — a gunshot wound to the head that left superficial injuries — but prosecutors claim his intention was to actually die, and have his surviving son collect a $10 million life insurance policy. Instead, he lived … and was subsequently accused of trying to hatch an elaborate scheme.

In addition to those charges, he’s also been hit with dozens of other charges over financial crimes — prosecutors claim he swindled various people out of millions of dollars through his legal practice.

Murdaugh has pled not guilty to all the charges thus far. He’s due in court later this week, and is expected to enter a plea on the new murder charges as well.

Several members of Brittney Griner's Russian basketball team came to her aid at her trial in Moscow on Thursday ... praising her character and leadership skills in testimonies inside of the courtroom.

One week after pleading guilty to drug charges in the foreign country, Griner's trial pressed onward -- and during the proceedings, players and officials from UMMC Ekaterinburg, Griner's former basketball team in Russia, testified in support of the WNBA star.

Team captain Evgeniya Belyakova, according to NPR, told the court Griner was "the heart of our team." She added that fans in Russia "adored" the 31-year-old center.

One of Griner's attorneys added following the hearing that the director of UMMC Ekaterinburg, Maxim Ryabkov, also "gave a positive description of Brittney Griner during his speech in court, noting her outstanding abilities as a player and personal contribution to strengthening the team spirit, which allowed the team to achieve the highest results in the Russian basketball premier league and in international competitions for many years."

Griner showed up at the courtroom in a dark-colored t-shirt and glasses. She did not give a testimony during the proceedings. Her trial is expected to continue on Friday morning.

As we reported, Griner is facing up to 10 years behind bars after she pled guilty to charges that she had hashish oil in her luggage at a Moscow airport back in February.

LOX rapper Styles P intervened while cops arrested a woman, accusing them of roughing her up outside the NY juice bar he owns with Jadakiss ... and the whole thing's on video!!!

The video starts right in front of Juices For Life, just as a couple of Yonkers Police officers slam a woman to the ground and try to handcuff her.

The officers scream the woman is under arrest, but never specify why ... and that's when Styles P runs into the shot screaming at them. He tells another bystander to keep recording as he gets right up in the face of one of the cops, and yells about their aggressive tactics.

The woman recording claims the cops have been targeting women. Styles then challenges the officers, saying they were scared of Black people and were unfamiliar with the area.

At one point it seemed like they were gonna arrest Styles, but that didn't happen.

After cooling down a bit, Styles jumped on IG, and admitted he was wrong for his hostility towards the officer ... but admits seeing a woman involved in the ruckus made him act "out of character."

Styles has a star-studded 20th-anniversary concert scheduled next month to celebrate his "Good Times" weed anthem.

We're sure he knew how to calm down after this brush with 12.

R. Kelly is engaged to be married to one of his alleged victims, Joycelyn Savage ... at least that's what she's saying in a letter to the judge -- and her family says they had no idea.

According to legal docs, obtained by TMZ, Joycelyn revealed the engagement by writing, "I'm Robert Kelly's fiance" ... in her correspondence with the federal judge right before Kelly was sentenced. The letter, which she wrote asking the judge for a lenient sentence, doesn't say when they got engaged.

In the letter, she says ... "I’m not the victim that the government has portrayed me to be."

She goes on to say her relationship with Kelly is "amazing," noting he's the best thing that's ever happened to her. She claims he always made sure her needs were met, as well as "any other women he was with."

Obviously, she wasn't too successful in swaying the judge, who hit Kelly with a 30-year sentence.

Gerald Griggs, an attorney for Savage's parents, tells TMZ ... she never made the engagement known to the family, and they've never even spoken about the possibility beforehand.

Griggs tells us he finds it odd Savage didn't testify about it under oath, and instead slipped it into the letter submitted to the court. Savage's family "strongly doubts" the engagement story ... and are wishing to reconnect with her to get the full story.

Jen Shah is no longer claiming total innocence in her fraud case ... because she just changed course and took a plea deal.

According to new legal docs, obtained by TMZ, "The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City" star filed a change of plea notice Monday with the court.

Jen just went before a judge and pled guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud in connection with telemarketing ... and as part of her plea deal, federal prosecutors dropped one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering.

The plea deal comes a week before Jen's trial was set to begin ... and it calls for a sentence of up to 14 years behind bars and for Jen to pay back over $9 million to her alleged victims and forfeit another $6 million.

As we reported, Jen's attorney said she was "totally innocent" in the wake of her March 2021 arrest for allegedly targeting and scamming folks out of their money as part of an alleged telemarketing scheme.

The feds accused Jen of "greater culpability" in the scheme ahead of her trial, and Jen initially pled not guilty.

TMZ broke the story ... Jen even tried getting the criminal case against her dismissed, claiming two federal agents were way too chatty about her case on a Hulu documentary, which she claimed tainted the jury pool and destroyed any chance of her getting a fair trial.

We reached out to Jen's legal team ... so far no word back.

NFL offensive lineman Duane Brown and his camp are finally breaking their silence on his arrest this weekend ... calling the incident "an accident."

We broke the story ... the 36-year-old, who most recently starred for the Seattle Seahawks, was busted at LAX on Saturday after he allegedly tried to go through TSA with a gun in his baggage.

On Monday, his agent, Kennard McGuire, addressed the arrest in a statement to NFL reporter Josina Anderson ... saying, "To err is human, and this clearly was an accident."

McGuire continued, "As a law-abiding citizen, Duane will continue to exercise proper judgment and continue education on gun safety measures."

Brown was ultimately booked on a charge of possession of a concealed firearm, and, according to records, he bonded out of jail late Saturday night. He's due in court for a hearing on the matter next month.

Lil Rel Howery thinks race is coming into play all too often when cops are on duty, and there's been way too much visual evidence of it lately across the country -- but he adds there are ways to reduce the carnage.

We got Lil Rel at The Ivy, where he talked about Black people getting gunned down for minor offenses, if any ... while white suspects like Robert Crimo III get taken into custody, as Crimo did after opening fire on the Highland Park 4th of July parade, leaving 7 people dead.

The Chicago native says the death of Jayland Walker was nothing short of brutal ... and he doesn't get why the unarmed kid was shot 60 times, while mass shooters at churches and protests get taken alive -- seemingly referring to Dylann Roof and Kyle Rittenhouse.

He says a big part of the problem is how easy it is to get a gun nowadays, and if it's gonna get better ... gun laws gotta get stricter.

Security guards for Selena Gomez are earning their keep, because some weird stuff's been going down at her house ... including a fan getting on her property early Sunday morning.

LAPD sources tell us officers arrested the guy as he tried to stroll away from her L.A. home, but Selena's security team had already caught him in the act. We're told the suspect jumped a fence around 1 AM, and security called cops.

The guy tried to flee, but we're told responding officers found him wandering around the neighborhood, and he said he just wanted to meet Selena.

That seems low-key compared to an incident a few weeks ago at the "Only Murders in the Building" star's house. Our sources say security also called cops when a man allegedly wrote Selena's name on a mattress, using what appeared to be blood ... and then lit the mattress on fire!

We're told her security says that guy didn't make it onto the property -- it all went down just outside her gate. Selena wasn't home during either incident, but still ... super creepy.

Polo G's lawyer thinks cops in Miami did the rapper dirty by only releasing parts of his 2021 arrest that make him look like the bad guy ... but Miami PD is denying it released the bodycam footage.

Polo's attorney Bradford Cohen tells TMZ this is something he's never experienced in his decades of work ... law enforcement releasing what he calls "heavily redacted" body cam footage, and only "the parts that disparage the defendant."

Cohen says there are crucial moments in his arrest that were left out of the released video -- "They didn't show him getting slammed to the ground or the reason why was pulled over. Of course, they wouldn't show that."

The video does show Polo verbally berating one of the arresting officers, but Cohen says that is "part of being a police officer out in public, people are going to say things you are not going to like."

He thinks Miami PD was embarrassed because it had no probable cause to stop him or arrest him last June, and the case has been largely dismissed after Polo completed anger management classes.

Here's the wild card, though -- we asked Miami PD why it only released portions of the arrest, and a spokesman told us the department did NOT release the footage ... which first popped up Thursday on Twitter.