Crime & Arrests

A Las Vegas woman found herself in a sticky situation with cops after she allegedly stole a super expensive watch and hid it in her genitals.

Police were called to the Aria hotel Sunday in Las Vegas, according to 8 News Now ... after a man claimed he was cuddling 33-year-old Sarah Richards, and she continually insisted he take his Rolex off while they laid together.

The alleged victim told cops he put the watch under his pillow and continued to drink wine at Richards' request -- but he says when he noticed it missing, she "went into a panic" and left. He says he followed her all the way down to the lobby where he alerted security -- before PD arrived.

According to the reports, police couldn't find the Rolex at first, but eventually located it in her genitals. She's now looking at grand larceny charges.

Cops are saying Richards had a preliminary hearing in town Monday ... in a case where she's facing residential theft and burglary charges for allegedly taking someone's watch back in June. The person in that case apparently told police he thought he was drugged at a hotel.

Megan Thee Stallion is in court for the second day of Tory Lanez's shooting trial ... letting cameras know how she's feeling as fans cheer her on outside the building.

Megan stepped into a DTLA courthouse Tuesday ... giving a thumbs up when asked how she was doing. The rapper was also asked if she's nervous about the trial, but shakes her head at that one.

Meg had a bunch of fans in her corner, too ... with a group of her supporters holding up banners and signs -- and even wearing shirts that all say "We stand with Megan."

Not everyone is backing the Megan train, though -- as she walked into court, one person shouted out, "Why you lying on that boy?" No reaction from Meg and co., though.

As we reported, Tory's trial kicked off Monday, with both sides laying out what they say happened the night Meg was allegedly shot in the foot. Prosecutors clearly say Tory pulled the trigger, while Tory's attorneys have laid out alternative theories, including pointing out some possible fighting between Kelsey and Meg that night.

Megan will reportedly testify at some point during the trial -- but it's unclear when she'll take the stand.

Coastal Carolina quarterback Bryce Carpenter, who played in 12 games for the Chanticleers this season, was arrested Sunday after he allegedly threw a woman onto a concrete sidewalk -- causing injuries ... though he denies the whole thing.

Police say in an incident report, obtained by TMZ Sports, that officers responded to a house party in Conway, S.C. on Saturday night regarding an alleged assault that had taken place at around 11:30 PM.

In the docs, officers say a woman claimed that earlier in the night, she and Carpenter were in the garage of the party ... when he "began making sexual advances towards her."

Police say the woman told them she rejected him -- but he still attempted to kiss her and "grab her butt." According to the report, the woman said other partygoers saw what was going on, and pulled the football player away from her.

Later on, police say the woman told them she saw Carpenter sitting on a sidewalk and "approached him to speak to him about what he was doing."

Cops say Carpenter then got up from the curb, and "attempted to advance on the victim again."

According to the report, she pushed him away -- and that's when he allegedly snapped.

Carpenter was accused of grabbing her, picking her up and throwing her down onto a concrete sidewalk. In the docs, cops say the woman suffered scratches on her back and arms -- as well as a hematoma on the back of her head.

Cops say in the docs that Carpenter told them he never went to any parties on Saturday night -- "and was home the entire time."

Police say Carpenter was arrested at 1:45 AM on Sunday morning. Court records show he's since been charged with one count of third-degree assault and battery.

Coastal Carolina said in a statement following the arrest that Carpenter has now been suspended indefinitely from the team.

Demetrius "Lil Meech" Flenory Jr. -- the lead star in 50 Cent's hit 'BMF' series -- learned the hard way it's a bad idea to stash a gun in your carry-on luggage.

Lil Meech landed in a bit of hot water at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport on Tuesday ... after we're told authorities found him with a gun.

Law enforcement sources tell TMZ Hip Hop Lil Meech was at the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport Tuesday when security discovered a firearm in his luggage. We're told deputies from the Broward Co. Sheriff's Office were called to the scene and arrested the actor.

As for the weapon, our sources say it was a Glock 19 9mm ... it wasn't loaded, but cops also found a 15-round magazine. Lil Meech did not have a carry permit.

Meech was transported and booked for introducing a firearm into the sterile area of the airport ... a felony. Apparently, the actor isn't alone in his mistake ... as we're told this was the 130th gun found at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood this year.

Former cryptocurrency billionaire Sam Bankman-Fried has been arrested in the Bahamas ... and it appears his legal woes are only gonna get worse, with expected criminal charges in the United States.

Bahamian authorities announced SBF's arrest Monday, and Bahamas Attorney General Ryan Pinder added the U.S. filed criminal charges against the FTX founder. SBF was scheduled to appear Tuesday before a Congressional committee for a hearing on the crypto company's recent multi-billion dollar collapse.

The U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Damian Williams, says SBF was arrested "at the request of the U.S. Government, based on a sealed indictment filed by the SDNY."

It's unclear what criminal charges SBF is facing ... but Williams says the indictment will be unsealed Tuesday morning.

Meanwhile, the Bahamas AG says the U.S. is likely to request SBF's extradition.

As you know ... FTX was once one of the world's biggest crypto exchanges, recently being valued at $30 billion before becoming insolvent and filing for bankruptcy.

Longhorns men's basketball head coach Chris Beard is in jail in Texas ... after officials say he committed an assault on one of his family/household members.

According to jail records, Beard was booked in Travis County, Texas on Monday at 2:18 AM ... on a charge of felony "assault on family/household member impede breath circulation."

A spokesperson for the Austin Police Dept. said officers were called to a residence in Austin "for a disturbance" at 12:15 AM -- and Beard was arrested a short time later. No further details surrounding the allegations have been released.

49-year-old Beard is in his second season at UT -- in 2021, he led the Longhorns to a 22-12 record and an NCAA Tournament appearance. This year, he got the team off to a 7-1 start.

The Longhorns last played on Saturday night, beating Arkansas - Pine Bluff, 88-43. Their next game is scheduled for Monday night against Rice. The school said in a statement Monday morning, "The University is aware of the situation regarding Chris Beard. We are continuing to gather information and monitoring the legal process."

Takeoff's alleged murderer, Patrick Xavier Clark, wants a taste of freedom at a discount ... asking a judge to reduce his bail so he can afford to get out from behind bars.

According to legal docs obtained by TMZ, Clark filed a motion in Texas Monday to reduce his $2 million bail ... his attorney, Carl Moore, says it's too much for his client to afford.

The alleged gunman wants a reduction to $100K, which he thinks he can pull together with the help of a professional bondsman. If granted, Clark says he'll stay with his parents, where he says he's always lived.

His legal team also says he'll wear a GPS monitor and abide by any curfew that may be imposed by the judge. Clark is also willing to surrender his passport and says he'll willingly follow any "no-contact" order with respect to certain people.

Takeoff was shot and killed outside a Houston bowling alley in November. Clark was arrested and charged with the murder of the Migos rapper.

A Tennessee State University staffer was arrested earlier this month ... after she allegedly rammed her vehicle into a Tigers player's car in a fit of jealous rage.

According to court records, Devon Starling -- a TSU junior running back -- called police at 2:30 AM on Dec. 3 in Davidson County, TN after he said he saw his "ex-'fling'" Ariel Escobar, the Tigers' director of football operations and on-campus recruiting, in her car outside of his apartment as he was arriving home with his girlfriend.

The football player -- who logged 540 rushing yards and 2 total touchdowns this season -- claims he told Escobar to leave, but she refused. Police said in the documents that Starling then proceeded to drive around with his girlfriend while waiting for the cops to arrive.

According to the docs, Starling said that after pulling into a parking lot, Escobar followed him ... and then blocked him into a spot. The Tigers tailback alleged she then rammed her vehicle into his car while he and his girlfriend were still in it.

In the docs, Starling said Escobar actually backed up and hit his car a second time ... before pulling off. He claimed his car had minor damage.

According to the docs, Escobar later showed back up at his apartment ... where she was arrested. Police say she told them she did block them in with her car and said she wanted Starling to confess to his girlfriend that he had "had a sexual relationship" with her the day before.

Cops say the 22-year-old also admitted to throwing ketchup and scratching Starling's apartment door as well.

Court records show Escobar has been charged with 2 felony counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon ... and one count of misdemeanor vandalism. She's scheduled to appear in court in January.

Escobar is in her 2nd year as TSU's director of football operations and on-campus recruiting. We've reached out to the school for an update on her status with the program, but so far, no word back yet.

A serial killer on the U.S. and Mexico border seems like a Ted Bundy copycat, at least to the Mexican authorities desperately trying to hunt him down.

So far, cops believe the murderer has snuffed out 3 Tijuana sex workers -- women he targeted in strip clubs, lured back to a hotel room ... and then performed violent sexual acts before killing them.

Baja California (Mexico) Attorney General Ricardo Iván Carpio Sánchez told reporters Friday ... “This subject has criminal tendencies associated with violent and psychopathic behavior. His profile is very similar to someone who became very well-known decades ago: Ted Bundy."

They also suspect the killer is American. Tijuana is just over the California border.

Bundy confessed to abducting and murdering 30 women and girls across the United States from 1974 to 1978. He was later captured and executed by the state of Florida in 1989.

Joe Exotic feels he ought to be next in line after President Biden struck a deal with Russia to free WNBA star Brittney Griner, and he's stating his case for freedom ... from behind bars.

In audio obtained by TMZ ... The "Tiger King" star says, "The whole Brittney Griner and Trevor Reed prisoner swap is a slap in every American's face that is wrongfully detained in the American Federal Prison System, including myself."

He goes on to plead his case to the Prez, saying he's innocent of any crimes and calling out his ex-costar Carole Baskin in the process.

Quite frankly, Joe's drawing a ridiculous parallel here, between Brittney and himself. While she was imprisoned as Vladimir Putin's political pawn, Joe was tried and convicted for hiring a hitman, and various crimes tied to the treatment of animals at his infamous wildlife park.

After she spent nearly 10 months incarcerated, U.S. officials finally struck a deal this week -- Russia agreed to free Brittney in exchange for Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout ... AKA the "Merchant of Death."

You'll recall, BG was accused of bringing hashish oil in her luggage to a Moscow airport, back in February, and was sentenced to nine years in prison.

Joe is serving a 21-year sentence, but insists he's innocent -- jury be damned -- and totally deserving of freedom ... something he's been pushing for since Donald Trump was in the White House.

R. Kelly isn't admitting a damn thing when it comes to the "I Admit It" album that dropped Friday -- speaking from jail, he calls the recording a plot to screw him over in court.

TMZ obtained this audio Kelly's attorney, Jennifer Bonjean, says he recorded Friday shortly after they'd met. The disgraced singer immediately shuts down the notion he'd put out any music right now, much less something with the lyrics, "I Admit It," because he's trying to appeal his latest federal conviction.

Even more mysterious ... Kelly seems to insinuate the album recordings aren't even his voice. He says, "I hope people recognized my voice and know that" he wouldn't be recording in the middle of a legal battle.

As we reported, it certainly looked and sounded like he'd release a 13-track album, with the title track addressing many of the allegations leveled against him.

After just a few hours, though, the project was pulled from Spotify and Apple Music -- as Kelly's label, Sony Music, denied any involvement in the recording or in distributing it to the streamers.

His legal team later told us, they were investigating to figure out who may have released the music. BTW, we know it was uploaded by Ingrooves, a distributor owned by Universal Music Group ... with no ties to Sony Music.

Also, the Federal Bureau of Prisons confirmed R. Kelly didn't produce any songs using equipment in prison.

During this voice recording, he seemed to want to prove it's not his voice on "I Admit It" -- so, he broke into a few bars of his song, “When A Woman's Fed Up."

He thinks there's a clear difference, but listen for yourself.

Courtney Clenney, the OnlyFans model accused of murdering her boyfriend, has been denied bond ... mostly because the court doesn't buy her claim that she killed him in self-defense.

According to legal docs, obtained by TMZ, a Florida judge isn't allowing Clenney to be released on bond while she awaits trial -- saying her description of how her BF, Christian Obumseli, got his fatal stab wound "is not supported by the evidence."

Specifically, the judge didn't buy Clenney's claim that she threw a knife at Obumseli from more than 10 feet away ... noting the medical examiner's testimony indicated the wound was too deep and required more pressure than could have been applied from throwing the blade.

The judge also ruled that releasing Clenney was not warranted because there are worries Clenney could leave the country ... noting she's got a ton of cash to do so if she wanted.

A man has been arrested in connection to the brutal baseball bat attack in NYC last week -- and cops say it appears to be totally random ... because the suspect and victim were total strangers.

36-year-old Karim Azizi was hauled in by the NYPD Wednesday morning on three different charges -- assault, attempted assault and criminal possession of a weapon. Of course, Azizi is the man cops suspect was behind the brutal attack that was captured on camera.

Law enforcement sources tell us the perp and victim were total strangers, and that the beating seems to have come out of nowhere, despite some believing it may have been targeted at first. A warrant squad, we're told, picked Azizi up at his Hamilton Heights home.

Our sources also say ... the video of the incident assisted in capturing him.

As we reported ... the victim was walking on the sidewalk minding their own business, when suddenly -- the attacker pulls a bat out and hits the victim in the back of the head.

Takeoff's alleged murderer, Patrick Xavier Clark, is asking a judge for money ... because he says he can't afford a private investigator, but needs one to build his defense.

According to legal docs, obtained by TMZ, Clark's asking for an initial sum of $5,000 to hire a P.I. ... adding he's financially unable to cover the costs on his own.

The docs say Clark's family has already spent all its money on his attorney who agreed to work at a reduced rate for him. He says it's necessary to add a private investigator to his defense in order to "properly investigate [Clark's] case and to prepare effectively for trial."

Clark says he's already identified a P.I. who will work on the case for the reduced rate of $85/hour.

As we reported, Houston PD announced last week Clark had been arrested and charged with the murder of the rapper. He's currently being held on a $2 million bond.

The docs say Clark will be put under house arrest if released ... and he'll be prohibited from possessing firearms or any deadly weapons, and must refrain from using marijuana or any controlled substance without a prescription.

Big break for Israel Adesanya ... TMZ Sports has learned the UFC star's brass knuckles case will be dismissed if he stays out of trouble for the foreseeable future.

According to a spokesperson for the Queens District Attorney's Office, Adesanya's case was called on Tuesday -- and he was issued an adjournment in contemplation of dismissal (ACD).

Per the spokesperson, that means if Adesanya keeps his nose clean for the next six months, he will no longer be facing criminal charges.

We broke the story, Adesanya was initially arrested back on Nov. 16 -- just four days after his loss to Alex Pereira -- after authorities say he went through security at JFK airport with metal knuckles.

He was ultimately issued a desk appearance ticket -- a written notice from a police officer -- and ordered to appear in court on Tuesday.

Adesanya's manager, Tim Simpson, told us at the time of the arrest that "Israel was handed a gift by a fan, which he put in his luggage. When flagged at the airport, Israel quickly disposed of the item, and cooperated with authorities."

Trap rapper Hoodrich Pablo Juan is going to do some hard time in prison as part of a plea deal he made, and once he gets out ... he'll have to be on his best behavior for an even longer stretch.

According to legal docs, obtained by TMZ Hip Hop, HPJ pleaded guilty to one count of violating the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act -- aka a RICO case -- and got 5 years in prison. He'll get credit for time already served, which is substantial ... he's been in custody for more than 2 years.

The Jersey-born, Atlanta-bred rapper was arrested back in October 2020 along with 45 other people as part of a sweep that targeted the local Rollin 20 Neighborhood Bloods.

His plea deal calls for 10 years of probation after he gets out of prison. During that time, HPJ must avoid any contact with members or associates of a criminal gang ... and he's also barred from possessing firearms and ammo.