Police

Gene Hackman's daughter told the sheriffs who found her father dead in his home to cremate his dead dog and bury its remains with that of his wife Betsy Arakawa ... according to newly released police body cam video .

The footage -- released Friday by the Santa Fe County Sheriff's Office -- features a phone call between a deputy and Gene's daughter Elizabeth.

She tells police to cremate the dog at the county's animal shelter and bury the remains with Betsy. Elizabeth also tells police to kindly save the dog's collar.

A Wisconsin teen has an unusual defense for allegedly stabbing his mom to death ... he claims he was inspired to commit the savage crime by the notorious Menendez brothers, who killed their own parents with shotguns.

Racine County prosecutors charged 15-year-old Reed Gelinskey with intentional homicide after the March 4 attack on his mother, Suzanne, in their home in the village of Caledonia, about 20 miles south of Milwaukee. Prosecutors say Reed bashed Suzanne with a dumbbell and stabbed her three times in the chest and twice in the neck, killing her.

According to a criminal complaint, obtained by TMZ, Reed allegedly planned the gruesome murder while watching the shotgun scene in the Menendez brothers' Netflix documentary, "The Menendez Brothers." Reed reportedly referenced the scene that shows the murder of their parents, José and Mary Louise "Kitty" Menendez, when talking to cops.

As you know, Erik and Lyle Menendez wielded shotguns and fatally shot their parents in their Beverly Hills mansion in 1989. After two trials, they were convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison without parole. The brothers are now making a bid to try to get out of prison through resentencing, a commutation or potential parole. They are expected to appear in court for a parole board hearing on June 13.

Sean Lowe found himself in a tough spot -- literally -- pinning down his dog after it bit him for the third time, just to keep it under control while cops worked to free him from danger.

In the tense body cam footage obtained by TMZ, the "Bachelor" alum was on the ground for a few minutes holding down his snarling rescue dog, Moose -- telling cops that if he let go, the animal would lunge at him again.

It’s a nail-biting standoff -- Moose thrashes in resistance for a while before the scrambling officers finally get control ... after dodging a few close calls themselves, tasing the animal as Sean manages to escape the chaos.

A woman in Indiana was arrested after she and her two kids allegedly beat up a student ... and, the fight was seemingly caught on shocking video.

Latea Hentz -- a 36-year-old mother -- and her teenage son and daughter are accused of hopping on a school bus to throw hands with an 8th-grade student they claim was bullying the son.

Watch the clip ... the three people in the vid -- identified by local outlets as Hentz, her 17-year-old daughter and her 13-year-old son -- throw punch after punch at this other student. One person in the fray screams at this kid to never touch her son again.

Joshua Riibe -- the college student who was declared a person of interest in the disappearance of University of Pittsburgh student Sudiksha Konanki -- was detained in Puerto Rico after he was cleared to leave the Dominican Republic.

Riibe -- who has not been charged in Konanki's suspected drowning -- got held up at the airport in Puerto Rico Wednesday because his brand new U.S. passport wasn't properly stamped, NotiCentro reports.

The 22-year-old was issued a replacement passport from the U.S. consulate in the D.R. after local law enforcement reportedly refused to give his original passport back -- despite a Dominican judge ruling he was allowed to go free after being subject to police surveillance due to his connection to Konanki.

An 18-year-old spring breaker landed himself in the slammer after allegedly biting off another young man's ear during a St. Patty's Day brawl that went down on Fort Myers Beach in Florida.

Jack Turner was arrested by the Lee County Sheriff's Office just after midnight on Tuesday after they obtained video that captured the fight -- and the gruesome act that left the victim with his ear detatched from his head.

A police report obtained by TMZ paints the horrific scene ... video reportedly shows the victim -- identified as Juwan Black -- lying face-down in the sand as Turner mounts his back. Turner allegedly strikes Black in the back of the head multiple times with clenched fists before grabbing his hair and pressing his head into the sand, per the report.

3/20/25 10:05 AM PT -- A spokesperson for the Bernalillo County prosecutor's office tells TMZ ... the third suspect wanted for murder in the hit-and-run death of a New Mexico man has been arrested. We're also told a pre-teen child will be charged with murder.

Bernalillo County D.A. Communications Director Nancy Laflin tells TMZ ... 11-year-old Messiah Hayes will face a murder charge. New Mexico law prevents a child under 12 years old from being detained in a juvenile facility ... but a child of that age can be charged with murder.

And the third suspect, 16-year-old William Garcia, who police were searching for, was arrested Wednesday night.

Laflin confirmed the three suspects were laughing as they hit the victim on his bicycle, after the video above cuts off.

Two minors have been arrested for murder in a fatal hit-and-run collision caught on camera from inside the car in Albuquerque, N.M. ... and authorities claim these are the boys heard laughing on video before their vehicle mowed down 63-year-old Scott Dwight Habermehl in May 2024.

TMZ obtained the disturbing footage, which authorities believe shows the moments before Johnathan Overbay, William Garcia, and Messiah Hayes decided to strike Habermehl with a stolen car. You can hear someone in the car instructing the driver to "just bump him, brah" and "go like, 15, 20."

The car audibly accelerates and giggles are heard, then the video ends just before the fatal moment. Police say Habermehl was riding his bike to work at about 4:40 AM when he was struck in the dedicated bike lane of the roadway.

A man wielding a chainsaw in an assisted-living facility was shot after a tense standoff with police .. and, the whole showdown was caught on dramatic body cam footage.

Video of the incident -- which happened back in December -- captures Daniel H. Escalera, an Indiana man, who was at River Glen of St. Charles assisted living facility in Illinois, revving the chainsaw as officers arrive on the scene.

The responding officer repeatedly tells the man to drop the chainsaw, as Escalera says he just wants to see his wife ... while trying hard to get it started. Eventually, he's able to get the tool going -- which is when the officer tases him.

8:51 AM PT -- Lily Stewart's attorney Stephen Morris tells TMZ ... he just got the speeding charge against Lily dropped. Morris says he informed the prosecutor that Lily was being targeted by online trolls who made a slew of vile comments after her mug shot went viral.

As a result, the prosecutor dismissed the case out of concern for Stewart's safety. Morris says he's now calling media outlets and asking them to take down Lily's booking photo since the case is no longer active. Still, Morris says Lily is facing some punishment for driving 84 miles per hour in a 55 MPH zone. She has to do community service and take a defensive driving class.

A Georgia sorority girl's not letting her recent arrest get her down ... 'cause she was grinning from ear-to-ear in her mug shot -- and, her smile's got social media users in a tizzy.

Lily Stewart -- a 20-year-old university student from the University of Georgia -- was arrested earlier this month and booked on a speeding in excess of maximum limits charge, a misdemeanor in the state.

Unlike President Donald Trump's scowl in his mug shot, Lily decided to go with the Miss America look, like she just won the lottery -- instead of a one-way ticket to a holding cell.

The person of interest in the case of missing University of Pittsburgh student Sudiksha Konanki is free to leave the Dominican Republic and return home.

A judge ruled Tuesday that Joshua Riibe, the last person to see Konanki alive, has the green light to go back to the United States.

The decision came down after an hours long court hearing which saw Riibe tell the judge, "I really want to be able to go home, talk to my family, give them hugs, tell them I miss them" ... according to Noticias SIN -- a TV news station in the DR.

Donald Trump's push to revoke Hunter and Ashley Biden's Secret Service protection has found some support from an ex-Secret Service agent.

Richard Staropoli, a former special agent with 25 years in the Secret Service, joined us Tuesday to talk about backing Trump’s decision, arguing it’s an extremely costly measure and there’s no real threat justifying their need for protection.

Staropoli -- who was appointed by Trump as the Chief Information Officer for the Department of Homeland Security in 2017 -- broke down the details of Secret Service protection, explaining it’s funded by U.S. taxpayers -- and he dives deep into the costs of providing protection for Hunter and Ashley.

Gene Hackman’s wife, Betsy Arakawa, made phone calls to a medical center on the morning after the day officials first identified she was believed to have died -- throwing a wrench into the timeline of both their deaths.

Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Denise Womack-Avila stated the department obtained phone records confirming Betsy made three phone calls to a Santa Fe medical center on the morning of February 12 -- the day after New Mexico officials concluded she likely had died ... from hantavirus, a rare and potentially fatal disease.

Womack-Avila told TMZ Tuesday ... "We can now confirm that Mrs. Hackman’s phone was utilized on the morning of February 12 to call a medical center in Santa Fe, Cloudberry Health. A total of three calls were made that morning, all to the medical center."

Cops in Florida say a man stole an ambulance and led law enforcement on a wild car chase through the streets of Tampa ... finishing a can of beer before being dragged out of the driver's seat and thrown in handcuffs ... and it's all on video.

TMZ obtained dashcam footage from Saturday's police pursuit ... and it shows Florida Highway Patrol Troopers pursuing the ambulance as the emergency vehicle runs stop signs, swerves through traffic, drives on the wrong side of the road and nearly crashes into motorists.

When the driver finally pulls over, you see him down a canned drink -- cops say it was a beer -- before officers open the door and throw him to the ground.

Luigi Mangione says the cops who arrested him at a Pennsylvania McDonald's got a DNA sample with a little trickery ... by offering him a snack.

The accused murderer's legal team is now arguing police violated Luigi's rights when they arrested and questioned him ... and he wants the evidence they collected thrown out ... according to new court documents.

In the docs, obtained by TMZ, Luigi says cops pulled a fast one on him after arresting him at McDonald's in Altoona, PA ...  giving him some food and soda at the police station as a means of getting a sample of his DNA.

Wendy Williams is clearly happy to be out and about in the Big Apple ... flashing a big grin for cameras as she went out to dinner amid her guardianship fight.

The former talk show host grabbed a bite to eat at Tucci -- an Italian restaurant in New York City's trendy NoHo neighborhood -- Saturday, arriving in her mobility scooter.

Williams wore a fashionable jacket with blue faux fur trim ... and cherry red lipstick, too.

A police officer in Texas begged and pleaded with a man to drop a knife ... saying she didn't want to shoot him -- and, the moment was captured on harrowing body cam footage.

The video -- released Saturday -- captured the officer-involved shooting from February ... when a San Antonio police officer arrived at a park where a man was climbing out of a car that crashed into the lake.

It's unclear exactly how the car ended up in the lake ... but, the man -- later identified as 30-year-old Chase Deckard-Thomas -- hops out of the car with little issues.