Police

A Black surfer in Florida says several of his white counterparts stole his board and nailed it to a tree in a racist act ... and the allegations are so disturbing, cops tell TMZ Sports they're now investigating the matter.

The surfer's name is Andrew Sherlock Mills ... and on Tuesday, he explained in a social media post that the incident went down last weekend in Jupiter.

He claimed that when he turned his back after riding in the ocean waters, his board was nabbed and then pinned high up on a nearby palm tree.

"This is how real the racism and hate is in Jupiter, Florida," Mills wrote in an Instagram post. "They can't stand to see a Black man in their waters. I was told I'm not welcome. Stole my board when I turned my back and they did this. Said it was a message. They nailed it to the tree like a lynching."

Mills said he did not call cops ... and instead, "took the board down, stayed and surfed the whole day with a small board to show face."

"A few locals that were there were apologizing and agreed it was wrong," Mills added. "They did said, after what happened, I'm welcome to surf their waters freely and no one will bother me. I'm just going to leave it in God's hands."

We reached out to the Jupiter Police Dept. for comment on the situation ... and a spokesperson told us officers were made aware of the claims through social media and have since launched a probe.

Nick Carter is pushing back against a woman who claims he sexually assaulted her on his yacht when she was 15 years old ... he says her lawsuit is full of false allegations.

The Backstreet Boys singer is being sued by a woman who says Nick sexually assaulted her multiple times back in 2003, when she was 15 and he was 23 -- she claims Nick forced himself on her aboard a yacht, and on a bus after plying her with alcohol.

But Nick is vehemently denying it happened, claiming the lawsuit is full of BS.

This accuser has filed her lawsuit anonymously, and she's now the third woman suing Carter for sexual assault.

Carter's lawyer, Dale Hayes Jr., tells TMZ ... when the woman made her allegations against Nick 2 decades ago, authorities investigated her claims and found no merit to move forward with charges.

Nick's lawyer says the accuser is simply "repeating the same false allegations in a new legal complaint" but he says that "doesn’t make them any more true."

As we first reported, Nick is also being sued by a woman named Shannon Ruth, who filed a lawsuit in December claiming he sexually assaulted her after a concert in 2001, when she was underage ... but he says he has witnesses who will testify Ruth is lying.

Singer Melissa Schuman is also suing Nick over an alleged 2002 sexual assault. He denies her allegations, as well.

Nebraska football player Arik Gilbert was arrested early Tuesday morning after cops say he forced his way into a liquor store and burglarized the place for over $1,600 worth of merchandise, before being caught red-handed ... and the entire crime appears to have been captured on video.

21-year-old Gilbert, a former 5-star recruit who previously played for LSU and Georgia, was arrested outside SJ’s Liquor & Vape in Lincoln, NE around 2 AM this morning ... before being booked into the county jail on a burglary charge.

Gilbert was allegedly carrying various vape materials, lighters, and other stolen merch totaling $1,672, according to law enforcement.

TMZ Sports has obtained a photo of the alleged stolen items … showing an array of vapes and other materials.

Surveillance video captured the crime ... and a man said to be the 6'5", 275 lb. football star was seen throwing a chunk of cement through a door to gain access to the building. Once inside, he kicked a second door down, gaining access to SJ's shop.

The shirtless man, who covered his face, was then seen rummaging through the shop for several minutes.

While inside, police received a call for a possible break-in, and they rushed to the scene.

To his surprise, at least 8 police officers were waiting outside when he began exiting the shop. Gilbert threw down his bags, and jumped back with his hands up, startled, before being arrested without incident.

We spoke to the people at SJ's who tell us they've reopened the shop and are operating business as usual.

Jenelle Evans is dealing with every parent's nightmare -- her son Jace has gone missing twice in the last two weeks -- getting cops involved to help track him down.

Jenelle's manager, August Keen, tells us 14-year-old Jace left Jenelle's North Carolina home Monday to roam around their extensive property. After several hours without contact, Jenelle became worried and couldn't find her son ... forcing her to get the police involved.

Fortunately, we're told, Jace was located at a gas station about 10 minutes from Jenelle's home. However, we're told it's unclear if Jace was with friends or just wandered solo.

TMZ broke the story, cops were on the hunt for Jace earlier this month after he left school and couldn't be found. He was later located safely ... and Jenelle said the whole thing happened because she took Jace's phone away after he acted up in school.

A youth soccer coach in Virginia claims he was savagely beaten by an out-of-control parent who attacked him with a metal water bottle ... causing serious damage, including a broken eye socket.

The shocking incident happened Saturday afternoon about an hour west of Washington D.C. in Manassas, VA, where a boys' team scrimmage was going down. Coach Vince Villanueva was manning the sideline ... and told FOX 5 D.C. he attempted to make a substitution in the game.

"The father went over to talk to the son and then when I went to get him and put him back in the game, I said 'Are you okay?' And he said, 'No he’s not,' and he said, 'Coach can I talk to you?'" Villanueva explained.

"Then everything went downhill from there."

Villanueva -- who was filling in for his friend at the Northern VA soccer club -- said the father started hitting him with a metal water bottle multiple times, leaving him with injuries on his face, including two swollen, black eyes and a fractured orbital.

Prince William County Police say they actually located the aggressor after he fled the scene ... and arrested a 45-year-old man, identified as Bletand Hoxha. He was charged with malicious wounding and is being held without bond.

Coach Villanueva was treated at the scene for his injuries ... and has a message for parents who lose their cool on coaches at kids' sporting events.

"Allow them to do their job and just, you know, just make a fun environment," Villanueva said.

"Kids have enough stress in life with everything else in the world. Allow them to have that moment, someplace to escape from it."

The woman who went viral for freaking out on a plane is hitting the skies again, hoping for a different outcome -- but still doing her damnedest to keep people wondering what, if anything, she "saw" that day.

We got Tiffany Gomas Monday at LAX, where she'd just landed after flying in -- thankfully, incident-free -- from Dallas, but we had to ask her about the now infamous incident ... and where things stand now.

Check it out, our guy asks how she feels being back in a terminal again, and she says she's a little nervous considering her recent history.

She also admits she's just a bit more mindful about her actions while in the cabin of a plane and expects to keep her cool. In fact, she says she wishes she woulda done that to begin with.

Then we get to the million-dollar question Tiffany has yet to answer: What the hell did you see???

Even in her initial apology remarks to us a few weeks ago, she avoided the topic -- and sadly for people dying to know ... she continues to play coy, refusing to elaborate on the source of her meltdown.

Take a look to see why she's opting to remain tight-lipped. Gotta say ... her not-so-clever tease reeks of shameless self-promotion. Welcome to Hollywood, we guess!

Even cops couldn't get a clear response out of her -- caught on bodycam -- when they interviewed her the day she declared, "That motherf***** is not real!!!"

Students at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill resorted to climbing out of windows and jumping out of buildings after bullets started flying on campus.

In new video from Monday's deadly school shooting, you see college students fleeing a building through an open window ... dropping their book bags to the ground and then jumping to safety.

Amid spreading reports of an active shooter on campus, the students are left to climb out a window and onto a ledge, where they take a few steps to find a soft spot to land ... jumping down into some bushes.

The university shots were fired inside a chemistry lab Monday afternoon around 1 PM and the suspect, Tailei Qi, a UNC doctoral student, was taken into custody around 2:30 PM after a faculty member was shot dead.

A suspect is behind bars after attempting to knock down the door of Dana White's home in Maine ... and now, the UFC honcho is thanking fans for helping track down the guy.

White, 54, posted the footage of the incident to Instagram on Monday ... showing a man violently kicking his front door repeatedly.

In the clip, you can see the guy almost fall on his ass after losing his balance during the kicks (let's say he's no Israel Adesanya) ... and he ran off once he realized there was a security camera right in front of his face.

"This f***face just tried to kick my front door in Levant, Maine," White said in a photo of the alleged suspect.

"I will [give] 2500 dollars to the first person to let the police know who he is."

It must've worked ... 'cause the Penobscot Sheriff's Office told us a suspect is in custody and that "everybody is safe."

White -- who bought the UFC in 2001 -- thanked law enforcement for their fast response after the arrest was made.

WWE superstar Bray Wyatt experienced a series of heart complications in the months leading up to his death, and a doctor-recommended heart defibrillator was not with him when they found his body ... TMZ has learned.

According to law enforcement records, obtained by TMZ, Wyatt -- real name Windham Rotunda -- told his girlfriend he was going to take a nap Thursday, and she became concerned when she heard his alarm going off about an hour later without stopping.

The report says Windham was discovered in his bed, not breathing, and was turning blue. Windham's girlfriend called 911, as her mother attempted CPR ... but he was later pronounced dead at the hospital.

Cops spoke with Windham's immediate family members who said he had COVID in March 2023 and developed heart complications -- causing him to have a "weak lower part of his heart."

In fact, just a week before he died, Windham was hospitalized for a heart issue. He had a follow-up appointment with doctors the morning he died and was advised to continue to wear an external heart defibrillator -- a device designed to treat people experiencing sudden cardiac arrest.

Though it's not known if the device would have saved his life, investigators determined Windham was not wearing the defib at the time of his death ... they later located it inside his vehicle parked in the driveway.

Some of 'Love & Hip Hop's stars got busted in Atlanta last night -- and based on this video of the brawl ... they should consider a name change, 'cause there was no love here at all.

Erica Mena and Bambi Richardson -- of 'L&HH: Atlanta' fame -- were taken to jail alongside 'L&HH: Hollywood's' Zellswag ... where they all posed for mug shots and got booked on a slew of charges, ranging from obstruction of law enforcement to battery on a police officer.

Mena is the only one being charged with attacking a cop, BTW ... Zellswag is facing a simple battery and obstruction charge, while Bambi was just charged with obstruction.

As for what the hell happened here, Atlanta PD says they got a call to respond to the Lucca Lounge Friday over a dispute between some patrons and the security guards ... and when they arrived, the officers claim all hell broke loose as they tried deescalating the situation.

APD claims the patrons -- who ended up being Mena, Bambi and Zell, plus a male pal of theirs -- became combative ... and that much seems to be clear in the clip TMZ obtained.

You can see officers trying to rip people off each other ... as others in the lounge rush over to get involved. It looks like some black-shirted security guards were in the mix as well -- all this while Usher's "Nice & Slow" plays loudly. Nothing nice or slow about this, though.

Nicki Minaj fans are on the hunt for "Stephanie Bell," who has a warrant for arrest after allegedly swatting the rapper, but lots of folks with the same name are getting caught in the crossfire.

Here's the deal, Stephanie Bell just isn't the most unique name, and ever since Nicki name-dropped her alleged harasser ... everyone with that name is taking it on the chin, at least on social media.

Some of the Stephanies are coming forward to air their grievances.

One wrote, "I've never been so angry at another Stephanie Bell. You're f***ing it up for all of us.." and another said, "Why y'all still in my inbox."

For what it's worth, some Stephanie Bells online know all about Nicki, but not about her swatting issue ... so, they're pretty confused about why the Barbz are swarming.

BTW, it doesn't sound like anyone getting dragged is the real Stephanie in question ... at least, not yet.

As we reported, law enforcement sources told us Bell, who Nicki put on blast Wednesday, is facing 2 charges of deliberately reporting a false emergency.

We also confirmed there is, indeed, a warrant out for her arrest, as Nicki claimed.

TMZ broke the story, cops told us the attempted swatting occurred in June, with an anonymous caller claiming child abuse was going down at Nicki's L.A.-area home.

Sherri Papini, the mother sentenced for lying to authorities when she staged her disappearance, is now out of prison and in community confinement ... ahead of her projected release date.

A rep for the Bureau of Prisons tells TMZ ... Sherri transferred out of the satellite camp adjacent to FCI Victorville Medium I last week, and is now in a facility overseen by the BOP's Sacramento Residential Reentry Management Office.

Community confinement often means the inmate is either finishing their sentence at home or is at some sort of halfway house -- but the BOP official wouldn't provide any further details on Sherri's situation.

We've also learned Sherri's projected release date has been moved up to the end of October, after originally being due to get out in May 2024 -- so she's shaved a good 6 months off her sentence.

Remember, Sherri made national headlines after she was reported as missing in 2016, and then was found weeks later on Thanksgiving ... about 150 miles away from her home in Northern California.

She claimed, at the time, 2 Hispanic women had abducted her at gunpoint.

The plot thickened, as they say, when she was arrested and charged for lying to FBI agents about the whole thing -- the feds said she was actually living with an ex-boyfriend at the time of her "disappearance."

Paris Jackson's home became the landing spot for an unwelcome guest, causing some serious alarm and a response from cops.

Law enforcement sources tell TMZ ... police were called to Jackson's L.A.-area home Wednesday after an intruder was spotted hanging around her backyard. We're told Paris wasn't home at the time, but someone was staying at her home and spotted the trespasser.

We're told Paris' friend confronted the intruder in the backyard, but they took off.

Cops raced to the scene, but by the time they arrived, the intruder was well gone. Our sources say a report was taken, and officers plan to increase patrol in the area.

Nicki Minaj is declaring victory after falling victim to a swatting prank ... cops have an arrest warrant out for the suspect allegedly behind the calls

The rapper went on social media Wednesday and called out a woman named Stephanie Bell, who Nicki is accusing of making swatting calls to her San Fernando Valley home.

Nicki says ... "Stephanie Bell. A warrant is in the system. Great detective work. So grateful. The DA filed one count for the swatting call and one for the false report to DCFS. To God be the glory."

Law enforcement sources confirm to us Bell's facing two charges of deliberately reporting a false emergency ... and there's a warrant out for her arrest.

TMZ broke the story ... cops say Nicki was the victim of a swatting prank back in June when a caller falsely claimed Nicki's child was being abused and her house was up in flames, resulting in a police response.

A bizarre scene in Seattle as a burglary suspect decided to chug from a can of gasoline as cops moved in for his arrest.

The footage is wild, you see a guy sitting inside a truck parked in a garage as cops shout commands for him to get out of the vehicle. The guy takes a swig of the gasoline, as officers inform they're about to break a window, which doesn't really phase the alleged crook.

Once the glass is broken, the dude takes another gulp before officers wrestle the gasoline away from him, drag him out of the truck and into handcuffs.

Unclear what the alleged burglar thought he'd accomplish with the stunt, though at one point during his arrest it sounds like he says, "Shoot me" ... so it could've been an attempt at self-harm.

As for how the whole thing started -- a spokesperson from the Seattle, WA Police Department says they got a call from a 17-year-old girl Friday about a man trying to break into her parents' home.

In the body cam footage, you see officers force entry into the home, search for the girl and eventually find the suspect in the garage ... where the gasoline scene unfolds.

Polo G's house is currently swarmed by law enforcement, and the rapper's in handcuffs.

Officers from the Los Angeles Police Department hit Polo's L.A.-area home early Wednesday with a search warrant. In video from the scene -- obtained by TMZ Hip Hop -- you can see a ton of law enforcement vehicles lined up on Polo's street.

Cops ordered people -- including Polo G -- out of the house one by one, placing them in handcuffs while they conducted their search of the property.

Law enforcement sources tell us the search warrant was executed in relation to a robbery and 4 suspects have been taken into custody. They've not yet been booked.

A rep from Polo G's team tells TMZ the rapper's been detained as part of an active investigation ... however, they say he's not the focus of said investigation.

The rep says, "We are hopeful the LAPD will handle this matter with tact and transparency." We're told Polo will update his fans and supporters when the time is right.

As for the home being raided, TMZ broke the story when Polo bought it for just under $5 million in 2021 ... it comes complete with vaulted ceilings, a massive pool and tennis court.