Crime

Ashli Babbitt would not have died at the Capitol Riot if her husband was traveling by her side on the fateful cross-country trip ... at least that's how he feels about her death.

Ashli's husband, Aaron Babbitt, tells TMZ ... he did not accompany his late wife to Washington D.C. on Jan. 6, 2021, because he was back in Cali running their business, but if he had gone with her they would have never stepped foot inside the Capitol.

Aaron says he would have had Ashli's back at the insurrection, but says they would NOT have stormed the building if they were together ... and he was shocked to see her inside.

As you know, Ashli was shot by Capitol Police during the chaos, draped in a Trump flag as she jumped up on a windowpane and tried to charge through.

Video showed her falling backward onto the marble floor and blood flowing from her body. She later died in a hospital from her injuries.

The way Aaron explains it ... neither of them like crowds first of all, so they wouldn't have been in the thick of the mob if he was there.

Aaron also says he would have noticed something bad was potentially about to happen, calling himself a vigilant person, and explaining why there were red flags he thinks he would have picked up on if he were there.

It's interesting ... Aaron says Ashli made the decision to fly to D.C. when they were celebrating Christmas in Cabo, and he learned she was actually inside the Capitol from a friend who called to say he saw her on TV and it looked like she had been hurt.

Aaron was happy to see Ashli's name trending on social media on the first anniversary of the insurrection, because he wants to keep her name alive. However, since she passed he says he's gotten hate mail and death threats, but he's become desensitized.

Drakeo the Ruler's family says it can't afford to bury him in a coffin ... so they're asking a court to give them access to his coffers.

According to new legal docs obtained by TMZ ... the rapper's mother says she just can't foot the bill for his funeral, which she is pegging at just under $52,000. She'd like to cover it with money from Drakeo's estate, but she can't access his assets without a court order.

In the docs, Drakeo's mom says her late son's assets should be at least $2 million, and she's asking the court to let her dip into those funds to say goodbye to her son with a proper burial. She adds ... the memorial she's planning will be full of "dignity, style and grace."

As we reported, Drakeo was fatally stabbed in the neck last month while backstage at the Once Upon A Time in L.A. festival.

The judge in Lil Mosey's rape case just handed down a ruling that could have a huge impact on the rapper's fate ... blocking his lawyers from using any prior acts of consensual sex with the alleged victim as a defense, TMZ has learned.

As we reported, the rapper was charged with rape back in April, after the alleged victim claimed she blacked out from drinking and couldn't possibly have consented. Last month, Mosey asked the court for permission to introduce evidence that he had multiple previous consensual sexual encounters with the woman.

Well they just got an answer -- no.

According to the legal docs, obtained by TMZ ... Mosey claims he met the alleged victim at one of his concerts, and they engaged in consensual sexual activity multiple times. Lil Mosey claims on the night of the alleged rape, the woman invited him to a party. He claims he met up with her and they had consensual sex in a car.

As we previously reported, the alleged victim told police ... she and Mosey had two sexual encounters that night. She said the first was in the car and it was consensual. However, she told cops the second was not consensual because she was too drunk to give proper consent.

Prosecutors argued the previous acts were irrelevant because Mosey was charged with rape based solely on the alleged victim's inability to consent due to her level of intoxication.

The judge sided with the prosecutors, with one caveat. The judge will allow Mosey's team to bring up what happened in the car on the night of the alleged rape ... but only for the limited purpose of letting him explain why his DNA was allegedly found on her body.

Ex-NFL running back Clinton Portis has just been ordered to spend 6 months in prison ... after pleading guilty to defrauding a plan designed to help retired players pay for medical bills.

Portis -- who pled guilty in the case back in September after reaching a deal with prosecutors -- was sentenced Thursday, TMZ Sports has confirmed.

In addition to the 6 months behind bars, the sentence also tacked on 6 months of home confinement. Portis also got 3 years of probation.

According to court docs, Portis must report to prison on March 8.

As we previously reported, the former Washington and Denver superstar was accused of joining over a dozen other ex-NFL players in an elaborate scheme designed to fraudulently make money off the league's Gene Upshaw NFL Player Plan.

Prosecutors said Portis and the others made up fake claims for things like pricey hyperbaric oxygen chambers and ultrasound machines, and then submitted them to the plan.

Officials alleged the players then made serious coin when they were reimbursed ... claiming Portis raked in nearly $100,000 in the scheme.

Portis initially went to trial over the allegations, but jurors could not reach a verdict. The case had been set for a re-trial, but Portis ultimately reached an agreement with prosecutors before it got to that point.

TMZ Sports has just obtained the mug shot that Nate Hobbs took after his DUI arrest earlier this week ... and you can see in the photo, the Raiders player clearly wasn't happy to be in custody.

We broke the story ... Hobbs was arrested early Monday morning in Las Vegas after cops say he was found passed out behind the wheel of his car in the exit lanes of a parking garage at The Cromwell.

In new police docs, cops say when they made contact with the Las Vegas cornerback -- who had just played in the team's win over the Colts on Sunday afternoon -- he smelled like booze and had "glassy watery eyes."

Officers also said in the docs that Hobbs had mumbled speech.

Hobbs, though, according to the cops, said he was not drunk ... and instead told them he had fallen asleep in his 2019 Mercedes because "he was just tired."

But police say when they put him through a set of field sobriety tests, he "failed said tests" and was ultimately arrested.

Hobbs was booked on a misdemeanor DUI charge ... and he posed for a mug shot photo looking stern in a pink T-shirt. He's now due in court for a hearing on the matter in May.

Hobbs' attorneys told us following the arrest they have "serious concerns" that Hobbs' situation "does not qualify as a DUI under Nevada law."

President Biden traveled to the U.S. Capitol on the 1st anniversary of the insurrection, and he made it clear ... Donald Trump is a loser who couldn't accept his loss and was willing to destroy democracy to maintain his grasp of power.

Biden painted a picture of his predecessor watching the riot unfold with satisfaction ... a riot fueled by Trump inciting his supporters in an effort to invalidate the election results. It was extraordinary ... the president called the former president a flat-out liar.

Biden did not mince words ... saying Trump was a loser whose ego went into overdrive as he spread lies about the vote count.

It was possibly Biden's strongest speech ever ... squarely calling Donald Trump a liar who tried to ruin the United States.

Young Dolph's shooting suspect certainly didn't cover his tracks well -- twisting his music career with murder, perhaps handing investigators much-needed clues to connect him to the case.

Cops announced Wednesday 23-year-old Justin Johnson is wanted for murdering Dolph. Johnson is a Memphis-area rapper who goes by the name Straight Drop -- and used areas around the city as the background to many of his music videos.

However, it's his music video for the song "Going Straight In" released on November 21, 2021, that had fans making an eerie connection.

Shortly after Dolph was killed, detectives tracked down the getaway car -- a white Mercedes -- to a Memphis-area home. You can see very clearly, Johnson uses the same home as the backdrop to his "Going Straight In" music video.

Shockingly enough -- Dolph was murdered November 17, which means that the music video was actually posted to YouTube AFTER he was gunned down.

There's been a break in the investigation into Young Dolph's death  ... law enforcement says a suspect has been identified and is wanted for murder.

The U.S. Marshals, Memphis Police Department and Tennessee Bureau of Investigation say one of the suspects is a 23-year-old man named Justin Johnson.

Authorities released a mug shot of the suspect Wednesday and say Johnson is wanted for a slew of charges, including first-degree murder.

According to his social media page, Johnson appears to be a local rapper who goes by the name StraightDrop. His page is flooded with pics of himself flaunting clothes, money and expensive cars.

Law enforcement says Johnson is on the TBI Most Wanted list, has ties to organized crime and should be considered armed and dangerous ... and there's a combined reward of up to $15,000 for information leading to his capture.

As we reported ... Young Dolph was gunned down in November while he was inside a cookie shop in Memphis, and 2 masked gunmen were caught on surveillance footage before fleeing in a getaway car.

The feds allege Johnson shot Young Dolph to death ... and they say he also has an outstanding warrant for violating his federal supervised release from a separate weapons offense.

A youth basketball player's father has been charged with felony assault ... after video captured him barreling over a ref during his son's game last month.

Prosecutors in King County, WA. tell TMZ Sports ... 31-year-old Mark McLaughlin has been hit with one count of assault in the second degree after they say he violently knocked over a referee in a Dec. 16 altercation, causing serious injuries to the official.

According to court documents, authorities say McLaughlin became so enraged after refs touched his son following an on-court incident at a middle school basketball game ... he ran onto the floor and forcefully shoved one of the officials to the ground.

Video of the alleged incident, filmed by a fan in the stands, showed how the scene played out ... and it's disturbing.

The footage allegedly shows McLaughlin, who prosecutors say is 6 feet 6, 215 pounds, racing in from the bleachers and walloping one of the refs.

In the video, you can see the ref hit the floor hard -- and needed help getting up while the suspect stormed out of the venue.

In the court docs, officials say it took nearly an hour and a half for the ref's face to stop bleeding ... and say he was ultimately diagnosed with a broken nose and a broken cheekbone after he was checked out at the hospital.

McLaughlin was booked into jail on Dec. 17 and posted bail on Dec. 18, according to prosecutors. He pled not guilty to the charge at a court hearing on Monday morning.

The Chicago Blackhawks game against the Jets was postponed last Wednesday, so players Caleb Jones and Connor Murphy attempted to have a nice dinner ... but while in the restaurant, thieves allegedly stuck up the valet and jacked both players cars, TMZ Sports has learned.

Law enforcement sources tell us 24-year-old Jones and 28-year-old Murphy were having dinner just blocks from the United Center on December 29 around 8 PM. We're told while the men were inside, thieves approached the valet and stuck an unknown object in their back, demanding the car keys.

Murphy's 2017 Porsche Panamera and Jones' 2021 Jeep Trackhawk were both taken. When new, the Panamera runs about $100K+ ... and the Trackhawk, $90K+.

Chicago police are currently investigating the alleged crimes.

It's unclear if Jones and Murphy were targeted ... or if the theft was random.

As for the player's careers ... Caleb, a defenseman, was the 117th overall pick (Edmonton Oilers) in the 2015 NHL Draft. He's played in 11 games for the Blackhawks this season ... his first with the organization.

Caleb comes from an athletic family. His brother Seth Jones is also a member of the Blackhawks ... and his dad is former NBA player, "Popeye" Jones.

Connor, also a defenseman, was the 20th overall pick of the Coyotes in 2011. He's played in 29 games for the team this season.

We reached out to the Blackhawks ... but so far, no word back.

Jana Duggar's child endangerment case is settled after the reality star fessed up to her crime.

The "19 Kids and Counting" star has pled guilty to a third-degree count of endangering the welfare of a minor in Arkansas -- this according to court docs obtained by TMZ. The paperwork shows Jana entered her plea on Dec. 15 ... closing the book on her case.

As a result, she had to pay fines and fees -- totaling $880 ... with $100 of that going toward what the court describes as a Child Victim Crime Fee.

Jana, who'd initially pled not guilty, explained what this was all about last month -- when news about her criminal case broke. She said she was babysitting, and one of the kids slipped out through the front door unnoticed by accident.

Somebody saw the child outside and called cops, which resulted in Jana getting ticketed. She said it was a mistake that could've happened to anybody ... and denied doing anything to purposely put any of the children at risk. Her family backed her up in supporting statements.

The timing of her charge coincided with her brother, Josh Duggar, getting convicted in his child porn case ... which made some folks believe she herself might've been wrapped up in something more dubious than just a babysitting slip-up.

A group of rowdy Canadians are gonna have to find another way home after partying their faces off aboard a flight from the Great White North to Mexico ... which got out of control.

Check out this video ... it's a bunch of what appear to be 20-somethings throwing down in the cabin of a Sunwing Airlines plane as they jet down to Cancun for New Year's Eve. This was shot a day before NYE, BTW, so they've been there almost a full week now.

As you can see, it's pure mayhem in the aisles ... with folks smoking vapes, drinking booze and hoisting each other up for a little crowd surfing in the tightly packed area. Of course, nobody seems to be wearing masks ... or abiding by any sort of protocol whatsoever.

Indeed, it looks like a college frat party -- and if you're wondering where the flight crew was and how they could let things get this out of hand ... word is, the attendants actually gave up trying to establish order with this raucous bunch, and hid away toward the front and/or back, letting the passengers have their way -- this per local reports, citing a union rep.

There's also this ... a lot of these airplane partiers are apparently somewhat famous, as some of them have been described as social media influencers or reality TV stars in their homeland -- although, no specific names have surfaced just yet.

The bad behavior didn't go unnoticed in the end ... in fact, it's actually being thoroughly investigated by the Canadian federal government, with its own Minister of Transport explicitly calling for accountability against these folks -- calling their actions "unacceptable."

Sunwing itself has also launched an investigation ... and took further steps to punish 'em all, by canceling their flight back to Montreal which was scheduled for Wednesday.

In addition to being left stranded south of the border, the unruly crowd also faces potential hefty fines -- up to $5,000 for each violation -- and if they do this again on a returning flight home ... they could even get jail time, as Canada is super strict on COVID rules these days.

As you might imagine, cases are sky-high up there right now ... just like elsewhere across the world -- and the government has advised people to avoid international travel if they can.

Not saying this would solve the problem here, since the mob clearly overtook the situation. But ... maybe the Canadians can take some pointers from American flight attendants, who've been getting resourceful, of late, to restrain disorderly dissenters in the skies.

Renee Graziano allegedly smashed her vehicle into a parked SUV, and now she's been arrested for driving while impaired ... TMZ has confirmed.

The "Mob Wives" star was driving her Nissan Tuesday night in Staten Island when she struck a parked Jeep Wrangler and then rolled over to the other side of the road ... according to our law enforcement sources.

We're told officers actually witnessed Renee getting out of the driver's seat of her car ... and they say she was incoherent with dilated eyes and slurred speech.

Our sources say Renee copped to having taken an Adderall earlier in the day and was promptly taken into custody for DWI. Daily Mail first reported her arrest.

No one was in the parked Jeep she allegedly hit, and we're told Renee was taken to a hospital for a blood test.

A bunch of counterfeit Milwaukee Bucks title rings have been seized by the feds ... who say if the bogus bling had made it past them, it could have cost U.S. residents a small fortune.

According to U.S. Customs and Border Protection, over the past few months, 56 shipments of 1,382 fake sports championship rings and trophies were intercepted by officers in Cincinnati.

The feds say in addition to the fraud Bucks memorabilia, there were also rings with Dodgers, Red Sox, Univ. of Kentucky and NASCAR images on them.

Authorities say the shipments also included fake Lombardi Trophies and more ... and add that it would have all been worth around $1 million if it had been the real deal materials.

"The money profited from selling fake merchandise such as championship rings, is used to damage the United States economy and fund criminal enterprises," Cincinnati port director Richard Gillespie said in a statement Tuesday.

"I am proud of the officers in Cincinnati, they work hard to protect our domestic businesses and stop illegal shipments."

Titans defensive end Bud Dupree grabbed a man and then wrestled with him for several seconds inside of a Walgreens in Nashville on Sunday night ... new video, obtained by TMZ Sports, shows.

In the footage, you can see the NFL player walk through the doors of the drug store and immediately get in the face of a man near the cash register.

It's unclear what prompted the verbal altercation -- but sources close to Dupree allege he was being heckled with nasty comments ... claiming the man threatened to spit on the women and kick Bud in the knee.

After exchanging words with the guy, Dupree appeared to try to grab the man's cell phone.

The 6-foot-4, 269-pound pass rusher then forcefully put the man in a bear hug, and all hell broke loose.

Video shows nearly everyone inside the store got involved in a wrestling match between the two ... before Dupree was ultimately separated from the group.

Dupree then seemed to try to leave the store, but as others stayed inside, the 28-year-old Tennessee defender went back, appearing to try to get others out of the fracas.

A separate video of the incident filmed from inside of the Walgreens, and obtained by Broadway Sports, appears to show Dupree ordered one of the people he was with to take a person's phone in the middle of the altercation.

As we reported, after conducting an investigation into the incident, cops cited Dupree for misdemeanor assault. They say the football player is due for booking on the citation in three weeks.

George Floyd's young niece is on the mend after what seems like a targeted attack on family members in his hometown of Houston.

Four-year-old Arianna was struck with a bullet in her torso Saturday while she slept in her bed at home. The bullet was fired by an unidentified suspect, or suspects, who opened fire into her family's house ... according to Houston's ABC13.

She was taken to a hospital where she underwent surgery and was stabilized. Arianna's father says she suffered a punctured lung and liver, as well as 3 broken ribs, but she's recovering.

As for who might've done this ... no arrests yet, and cops aren't saying anything about possible culprits -- however, Arianna's family tells ABC13 they know the shooter ... but, for some reason, they believe the incident was "just a coincidence."

Apparently, Arianna had attended some protests last year to honor her slain uncle. She's technically his great-niece ... being the daughter of his niece, Bianca, whose mother is George's sister, LaTonya.