Crime & Arrests

The security guard seen on video accosting 'Bachelorette' alum Michael Garofola last month is now facing 3 charges, including one for allegedly committing a hate crime.

TMZ's learned cops picked up the guard, a man named Ernest Anwuri, and he's been charged with felony battery, and felony vandalism for allegedly damaging Michael's cell phone during the altercation.

Beyond the physical action, Anwuri's words also got him in trouble. We've learned he's been hit with a misdemeanor hate crime charge. You’ll recall ... Garofola said Anwuri went on a rant about Jewish people during the incident. For what it's worth, Michael isn't Jewish.

Some of that is referenced in the video Michael was able to shoot.

We broke the story ... Garofola started recording when the guard allegedly flew into an anti-Semitic rage after Michael told him he should be wearing a mask. In the video, you see the guy charging toward Michael while spewing something about "the Jews."

Michael claims Anwuri then snatched his iPhone, threw it down and punched him in the head.

Michael's best known for finishing fifth on Desiree Hartsock's 'Bachelorette' season. He also appeared on "Bachelor in Paradise" and "The Bachelor Winter Games."

Michael tells us, "As a new resident of L.A., the last thing I expected was to be physically attacked in the parking garage of my own residential building ... While my injuries will eventually heal and my damaged property will eventually be replaced, I am just glad that a person who holds so much hatred in his heart for certain groups of people has been brought to justice and will no longer be a threat to anyone else he encounters.”

The ex-wife of the former cop who was arrested for killing George Floyd says she doesn't feel safe these days ... even after divorcing Derek Chauvin.

The former couple's divorce was finalized this week and Chauvin's ex, Kellie, revealed she's been unable to work since last May due to "safety concerns" ... but she doesn't specify what her concerns are.

In the docs, obtained by TMZ, Kellie also says it's unclear when she will be able to return to work full time, and she doesn't even know what kind of work she could find.

The May 2020 date Kellie mentions in the divorce docs is significant ... that's when Chauvin had his fatal interaction with Floyd on camera, a video seen around the world.

As we reported ... when Kellie, a former Mrs. Minnesota, filed for divorce just days after Chauvin was charged with murder and manslaughter in Floyd's death, she mentioned the need for safety and privacy for her family.

Screw the future -- Kodak Black's present is looking super bright, literally.

The rapper's post-prison look is filled with diamonds all over his body ... from his new diamond-crusted grills to massive bling hanging around his neck, wrist and fingers. We don't know how much it's all worth, but it's super icy ... and pricy, for sure.

One thing's for sure ... Kodak's enjoying his newfound freedom since former President Trump commuted Kodak's sentence last month. As we reported, the rapper was one of the 142 either pardoned or freed from prison.

Kodak, who had been sentenced to 46 months in prison for making a false statement on a Federal document, served nearly half his sentence. The pardon statement had noted Kodak's charitable contributions in various ways, "such as providing educational resources to students and families of fallen law enforcement officers and the underprivileged."

Kodak also donated $50k to Dave Portnoy's Barstool Fund, which provides financial assistance to struggling businesses in the wake of COVID.

Casey Anthony will mark the 10-year anniversary of her acquittal by partnering up with a couple of producers for a documentary about her daughter's murder.

Casey -- along with producers Tamra Simmons and Ebony Porter-Ike -- is currently developing a documentary about the notorious Florida vs. Casey Anthony trial.

Casey will be an executive producer for what's being dubbed an "authorized" documentary in which Casey will offer her viewpoint of the gruesome death of her 2-year-old Caylee Anthony in 2008.

Of course, Caylee's mother was charged with her murder, but was acquitted in 2011 ... sparking outrage and condemnation throughout the country.

Casey and her co-producers say she's "finally ready to clear her name, bring justice to her daughter and begin the process of establishing her daughter's legacy in a different light."

The producers claim "many of the revelations will be shocking," and will answer questions much of the nation has had since the trial. Remember, Casey did not take the stand.

They don't teach this in law school, but they do in playas school -- a Florida man turning on the charm with an attractive judge only to fall flat on his face.

Demetrius Lewis appeared in Judge Tabitha Blackmon's Fort Lauderdale courtroom Thursday for his bail hearing. Due to COVID, it was held remotely, but Lewis was still determined to kick some game to the Judge.

He opened with, "Judge you so gorgeous. I just had to tell you. I love you, I love you." Yeah, Lewis poured it on pretty thick, and actually got a smile out of Judge Blackmon ... who seemed receptive. But, watch the video ... seconds later she totally burst his bubble.

Lewis is facing charges of attempted burglary and ecstasy possession, and also got vocal during the prosecutor's remarks, blurting out, "Whaaat??!!" Yes, just like Lil Jon.

Entertaining for sure, but he might wanna let a lawyer do the talking. Judge Blackmon set his bail at $5,000 ... and Romeo's still sitting in jail.

Panic! At The Disco's original bassist is in a heap of trouble out in Sin City -- because the guy's facing multiple felonies for drugs and possession of a gun.

According to a Las Vegas Metro PD report, obtained by TMZ, Brent Wilson was pulled over on Jan. 22 after cops say he crossed 3 lanes of traffic without a turn signal, cutting off oncoming traffic.

During the stop, the officer says he saw a bag with a white substance inside sitting out in the open in Wilson's center console.

Ya know what that means ... time for a search, and cops say they discovered substances consistent with coke and heroin in his pockets and in the car, as well as a scale and a lot of little baggies.

On top of that, the police say they found a loaded handgun too. Plus, they say Wilson was already on probation for a previous offense. They hauled him off to jail, and he's been charged with possession with intent to sell and possession of a gun by a prohibited person.

His attorney, Dustin Marcello, tells us it's too early to make a call on the merits of the case.

Former Ohio police officer Adam Coy, who shot and killed Andre Hill in his own garage, has been indicted for murder.

A grand jury just indicted Coy for murder in the commission of a felony and felonious assault, plus two counts of dereliction of duty and failing to turn on his body cam.

Coy was arrested Wednesday and his first court appearance is set for Thursday.

As we reported ... Coy, a 19-year veteran of the Columbus Police Department, fatally shot an unarmed Hill inside his own garage Dec. 22 while responding to a non-emergency call.

Coy and the other responding officer allegedly did not turn on their body cams before the fatal shooting, but the body cams have a feature capturing the minute before it's turned on ... and that's how the shooting was recorded, though there's no audio.

The body cam video shows Coy and the other officer waiting 10 minutes before helping a dying Hill.

Silento's family is banding together on the heels of his arrest for allegedly murdering his cousin ... and they’re addressing reports the rapper's been battling mental health issues.

A rep for Silento, Chanel Hudson, tells TMZ ... the family's trying to move forward as a close-knit group. As we reported, the rapper's facing a murder charge in Georgia for the fatal shooting of his cousin, Frederick Rooks.

We're told the family is reeling from both events -- Rooks' death on Jan. 21, and then Silento's arrest 11 days later.

Hudson claims Silento's been suffering from a "series of mental health illnesses" for years, including depression and we're told the family echoes her concern about his well-being.

Silento is being held without bail in DeKalb County Jail and his entertainment attorney, Bernie Lawrence-Watkins, tells TMZ ... he needs a psychiatric evaluation ASAP and should be watched closely.

She told us they don't think he would take his life behind bars, but admits "anything is possible," and they want to make sure the jail is taking proper precautions.

Silento had an opportunity to get mental health treatment in 2019 after he appeared on "The Doctors" to talk about depression -- however we're told he never followed through. Folks on his team feel that's when things started to unravel.

NFL running back Mark Walton has been arrested again ... and this time, cops say it's all 'cause the 23-year-old lost his mind over a failed Pizza Hut order.

Walton allegedly tried to smash a glass window at a Pizza Hut in Miami at around 11 P.M. on Jan. 31, before getting into a fight with his cousin, who was trying to restrain the NFL player, according to the police report obtained by TMZ Sports.

So, what triggered the alleged pizza shop meltdown? This is where things get even more bizarre.

Walton told cops he was "disrespected over the phone by one of the employees" -- so he apparently went to the shop in person to confront the staff.

Once Walton arrived to the eatery, a witness says he flipped out because his order was canceled -- "and started banging on the windows trying to pull on the door to gain entry to the business to confront one of the employees."

At one point during the madness, witnesses say Walton's cousin tried to physically remove the running back from the premises ... but Walton refused to go and attacked the guy instead.

Cops noticed Walton's cousin had obvious injuries -- so they called for paramedics. Walton's cousin refused to explain exactly how he was injured.

Walton was eventually arrested and booked on charges of trespassing and disorderly conduct. At the station, he took a smiling mug shot.

Of course, this is far from Walton's first brush with the law ... he's been arrested several times in the last couple years, including once in 2019 when a pregnant woman accused him of punching her.

Walton -- who was drafted by the Bengals in the 4th round of the 2018 NFL Draft -- was waived by Cincy in 2019 after an arrest.

The Miami Dolphins signed him a short time later ... but they too released him after an arrest.

It took 3 police officers to detain massive NFL lineman Chad Wheeler during a bloody domestic violence rampage at his GF's apartment ... and cops described the battle like they were trying to subdue a bear.

According to multiple police reports, obtained by TMZ Sports, the Kent P.D. officers got a heads up that the suspect in the Jan. 22 incident was Seattle Seahawks OL Chad Wheeler, who was listed at 6'7", 315 pounds.

When they arrived at the scene and saw Chad's GF was badly injured, they said they raced to subdue the 27-year-old ... despite the fact he fights off bigger and stronger men for a living.

One cop said in the docs, "When I grabbed ahold of Chad, I could tell that he was very solid and muscular as he was not easy to move."

The officer said he began to understand the strength of Wheeler when all three responding cops piled on top of him -- and it barely slowed Wheeler down.

"As the three of us (with a combined weight of about 700 pounds) were on top of Chad, I could feel him lifting his body up like he was pushing up to get away," one officer said.

"Chad, whose massive size took up the whole length and width of the bathroom floor, was able to lift his body about three to six inches temporarily with what appeared to be little effort from him."

According to the police report, cops say Wheeler was not cooperative ... so they used a Taser in an effort to detain him -- but it had "little to no effect."

When officers were finally ready to put him in handcuffs, Wheeler's size and strength continued to be a factor.

"Chad was so strong that even with the combined weight of three officers he was able to move around and prevent us from putting his arms behind his back," one officer said.

Ultimately, cops were able to take Wheeler into custody -- but they said he was so big, they were concerned he wouldn't fit in a standard police cruiser ... so they called for the larger jail van to take him to the station.

Wheeler was later arrested and hit with three criminals charges -- including 1st-degree domestic violence assault -- over the incident.

The NFL player -- who blamed all of his actions on a "manic episode" -- pled not guilty to the charges at a hearing in a Washington courtroom on Monday.

Silento allegedly gunned down his cousin, and now he's facing a murder charge for it.

The "Watch Me (Whip/Nae Nae)" rapper was arrested Monday for allegedly murdering Frederick Rooks after an investigation into the man's death ... according to the DeKalb County Police Department.

Cops say they found Rooks shot to death in the street on Jan. 21 ... and found 8 bullet casings on the scene. Cops say they still don't have a clear motive behind the shooting.

As for how they connected Silento to the crime, we don't know for sure ... but cops say they obtained Ring camera footage from homes in the area which captured at least one gunshot, and several vehicles fleeing the scene.

As we've reported ... Silento had a rough 2020, legally speaking. He was arrested back in October after cops said he was driving 143 MPH ... and in September, he was arrested and charged with 2 felony counts of assault with a deadly weapon for allegedly threatening people with a hatchet.

He's currently being held in DeKalb County Jail. We've reached out to his camp ... so far, radio silence.

Lil Wayne can display this next to his platinum albums and Grammy Awards ... his official pardon letter signed by former President Donald Trump.

The rapper's Presidential pardon was filed last week in federal court in South Florida, where Weezy pled guilty in December to a gun charge that could've meant serious time behind bars ... IF Trump hadn't come through for him.

The doc, obtained by TMZ, is embossed with the official seal from the Department of Justice and, of course, Trump's John Hancock.

As you know ... Lil Wayne received the pardon from Trump on his last full day in office. Tunechi was scheduled to be sentenced in March for illegally possessing a loaded weapon on a private jet.

That sentencing's off the books now with the pardon ... which came a few months after Weezy endorsed Trump for Prez.

NFL offensive lineman Chad Wheeler has pleaded not guilty to 3 criminal charges ... this just days after he was accused of violently beating his girlfriend.

The 27-year-old showed up to a courtroom in King County, Wash., on Monday to enter the pleas, according to ESPN.

He was then ordered to stay in the state of Washington and to remain under electronic home detention with a monitoring device strapped around his ankle.

Wheeler -- under the conditions of his pretrial release -- had already been ordered to have zero contact with the alleged victim.

The alleged victim appeared in court for the hearing, and, according to ESPN reporter Brady Henderson, she showed up with a sling around her left arm.

As we previously reported, Wheeler was hit with three criminal charges -- including 1st-degree domestic violence assault -- after his girlfriend told cops he beat the hell out of her on Jan. 22.

According to court documents ... the woman told law enforcement Wheeler choked her unconscious twice, made her bleed from her face and severely mangled her arm in the violent attack.

Prosecutors said after filing the charges against the former Seattle Seahawks player, "The defendant, who is physically conditioned and trained to compete at the highest level of professional sports, strangled, suffocated and beat the victim into unconsciousness -- twice -- both times leaving her for dead as blood poured from her nose and mouth, and into her stomach and lungs."

Wheeler apologized for the incident last week ... blaming the entire thing on a "manic episode."

"I apologize profusely for the turmoil that I have caused to my family, teammates, fans and those closest to me," Wheeler said. "The most important thing right now is that [the alleged victim] gets the care she needs and I get help. Both are happening."

Wheeler added he's stepping away from football and seeking treatment.

Rihanna is once again calling out Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron for his handling of the Breonna Taylor case ... dragging him on the first day of Black History Month.

RiRi ripped Cameron on social media Monday, responding to a Black History Month video he posted on Twitter. Her dig at him was short and definitely not sweet -- she simply said, "Sup n***a?"

In his video, Cameron -- the first Black man elected to statewide office in Kentucky and the commonwealth's first Black A.G. -- says he's standing on the shoulders of the great Black men and women who came before him.

Rihanna's not feeling it ... remember, 3 grand jurors in Breonna's case called for Cameron's impeachment after claiming he lied about putting possible homicide charges on the table for the Grand Jury.

As you know, no charges were filed for the killing of Breonna ... just one charge of wanton endangerment against Brett Hankison, for firing his gun into her neighbor's apartment.

Irene Bedard, the actor who voiced "Pocahontas" in the classic Disney film, was disturbingly vocal during 2 November arrests cops referred to as wildly drunken incidents.

We broke the story ... Bedard was arrested twice over the Thanksgiving weekend in  Beavercreek, OH, and police body cam of the first arrest shows her immediately getting hostile with the officers who showed up to talk to her.

Bedard had a belt in her hand as she repeatedly yelled at the "white man" cops, and then started jumping and screaming, "I'm so crazy" they put her in cuffs.

As we first told you ... the arrest went down at her ex-husband's home, after police responded to a possible domestic violence situation. Cops say she was yelling at her 17-year-old son ... which you can see in the video.

Bedard's second arrest, a couple days later on Nov. 30, was at a hotel where she allegedly harassed an employee. The police footage, once again, shows her get aggressive and refuse to leave.

She got even more out of control ... wildly running around the lobby, and eventually charging at the officer, who managed to take her down and arrest her.

A judge is showing no mercy for a Michigan man who appears in new video of the January 6 Capitol insurrection, to strike several cops with a hockey stick.

The federal government released the footage it says shows Michael Foy assaulting the officers -- including a Metro PD cop on the ground -- by violently swinging the stick near their heads.

According to the feds ... Foy was one of the "most violent" rioters, and allegedly hit police officers guarding the doors at least 10 times with the hockey stick, swung at them, hit them in the face and neck, then rallied other rioters before busting into the Capitol.

A federal judge denied Foy bond this week ... so, for now, he'll remain behind bars until trial.

Foy -- a former marine -- was arrested on Jan. 21 at his home, after the FBI reportedly tracked him down through his father's Facebook page. The bond hearing judge said the video strongly suggested Foy brought the hockey stick to use as a weapon.