busted (490 posts)
Hollywood Burglars Begin to Turn on Each Other
Astrid Stawiarz/Getty Images; Jason Merritt/Getty Images; Andrew H. Walker/Getty Images; Dominique Charriau/Getty Images; Michael Williams/startraksphoto.com
The Hollywood Burglary Bunch apparently has no problems eating its own.
As we previously reported, investigators believe that the ringmaster was one Rachel Lee, and now search warrants obtained Friday by E! News offer yet more details into the case against her.
Lee was seemingly sold out by her alleged partner-in-crime, Nicholas Prugo, who is quoted in the documents saying she orchestrated hits on such stars as Orlando Bloom, Audrina Patridge and Brian Austin Green.
Prugo told detectives that Lee chose their celebrity targets, while he would gather information and pictures on the Internet. He also told investigators she was primarily after the designer wardrobes of celebs she “admired.”
Prugo also gave investigators detailed desriptions of their methods and loot. For example, he said that he and Lee bagged between $200,000 and $300,00 of Chanel loot from Rachel Bilson’s home and entered Paris Hilton’s home three teams, taking cash, narcotics and personal effects.
Prugo said he was nervous about commiting the last burglary, at Lindsay Lohan's home, because they had already been captured on surveillance footage.
“You’re already here,” she allegedly told Prugo. “You might as well come inside and get something for yourself.”
Randy & Evi Quaid Post Bond, Preempt Extradition Embarrassment
Well look what the cat might not have to drag in after all.
Randy and Evi Quaid have posted bond and there is no longer an outstanding warrant for their arrest on charges of bailing on a $10,000 hotel bill, according to the Santa Barbara District Attorney's Office.
"If they don't show up to court, a bounty hunter will go and get them," Deputy D.A. Lee Carter joked to People.
The couple had posted bail of $20,000 apiece after being arrested in Marfa, Texas, but they were required to pay the same amount in California, where the alleged defrauding of an innkeeper took place.
In total, they've skipped four opportunities to appear before a judge.
Carter started extradition proceedings after the Quaids failed to show up for court a second time and the judge refused to put their case back on the schedule until they had posted bond—which was going to happen one way or another, voluntarily or not.
The Kingpin star and his wife are due to be arraigned Dec. 15 on misdemeanor charges of burglary, conspiracy and the ever-quaint defrauding an innkeeper.
________
Silly wabbits, tricks are for kids—like the ones in our Famous Families gallery.
Sixth Hollywood Burglary Suspect in Custody
Astrid Stawiarz/Getty Images; Jason Merritt/Getty Images; Andrew H. Walker/Getty Images; Dominique Charriau/Getty Images; Michael Williams/startraksphoto.com
Another suspect is down for the count.
Los Angeles police confirmed to E! News Wednesday that Jonathan Ajar, 27, another suspected member of a burglary ring that hit up the houses of Hollywood's rich, young and famous is in custody after turning himself in today.
The cops had no further comment, but the L.A. District Attorney's Office says that charges had already been filed against Ajar in absentia, none of them having to do with the actual act of burglary, but rather related to the guns and drugs found when authorities searched his home on Oct. 22.
"We didn't file any charges against him related to the actual burglary," D.A. spokeswoman Jane Robison said. "We charged him with multiple counts of possession, for sale of a controlled substance and possession of a firearm."
Officials warned last week, when Ajar was nowhere to be found, that he should be considered armed and dangerous.
So far, alleged ringleader Nicholas Prugo, 18, has been charged with seven counts of residential burglary; Diana Tamayo, 19, is charged with two; and Alexis Neiers, 18, Roy Lopez Jr., 27, and Courtney Leigh Ames, 18, are each facing one count.
Prugo is accused of participating in the break-ins at the homes of Lindsay Lohan, Audrina Patridge, Orlando Bloom, Megan Fox and Paris Hilton, and the gang also allegedly invaded Ashley Tisdale's space.
—Reporting by Ashley Fultz and Lindsay Miller
________
If only the celebs had employed a Kardashian as a security guard. Check out the damage wrought when Kim & Co. sparred for charity.
Warrants Show Hollywood's Burglar Bunch Made Out Like Bandits
Astrid Stawiarz/Getty Images; Jason Merritt/Getty Images; Andrew H. Walker/Getty Images; Dominique Charriau/Getty Images; Michael Williams/startraksphoto.com
Crime may not pay, but it sure can comp you some priceless merchandise. Until you're caught, that is.
According to newly released documents detailing the spoils of the search warrants targeting the celeb-obsessed pals who allegedly ripped off Lindsay Lohan, Paris Hilton, Orlando Bloom, Megan Fox, Rachel Bilson, Audrina Patridge, Ashley Tisdale and Brian Austin Green, the so-called Hollywood Burglar Bunch certainly knew how to get the most out of their home invasions.
Police managed to recover all manner of jewelry, designer goods and, as no ill-thought-out crime ring is complete without them, drugs and guns. The goods were retrieved in raids carried out Oct. 22.
Now get a load of this haul:
Terminator Dude Charged With DUIs
He'll be back, all right—for his arraignment.
E! News has learned that Thomas Dekker, the former star of Fox's Terminator spinoff, The Sarah Connor Chronicles, has been rung up on two misdemeanor drunk-driving charges stemming from his Oct. 14 run-in with a teenager biker in the San Fernando Valley.
"He was charged with our standard DUI counts—driving under the influence and driving with a blood-alcohol level of 0.08 or above," said Los Angeles city attorney spokesman Frank Mateljan.
Talk about your bad Judgment Day.
Breaking News
Stalking Charges Filed Against Ryan Seacrest's E! Invader
Don't mess with the Seacrest.
That's the Los Angeles District Attorney's message to Chidi Uzomah Jr., who is now facing a felony stalking charge for last week's drop-in at E! HQ for a unwanted meet-and-great with Ryan Seacrest.
The 25-year-old Uzomah is scheduled to be arraigned Tuesday on the stalking count, as well as two misdemeanors for disobeying a court order to stay away from Seacrest, according to Deputy District Attorney Wendy Segall with the Stalking and Threat Assessment Team.
Uzomah pleaded guilty in September to attacking Seacrest's securty guard at a charity event in Orange, Calif., and was ordered to keep his distance from the American Idol host.
The hits could keep on coming. Orange County prosecutors are trying to determine if he's in violation of his probation from the earlier incident by turning up at a radio station looking for Seacrest on Oct. 2 and then, on Friday, walking into the E! building armed with a knife.
If convicted of the three new counts, Uzomah could face up to four years in state prison.
Army Apologizes for Armed Seacrest Obsessive
Really, the Army sloganeers should have been a bit clearer. Be all that you can be, sure. Just as long as that doesn't entail obsessively traipsing after one of television's biggest talents.
Fresh off the news that Ryan Seacrest's knife-wielding alleged stalker Chidi Uzomah Jr. is, in fact, a current member of the U.S. Army Reserve, a spokesman has offered an apology to the E! News host for behavior most unbecoming a would-be soldier.
"It is disappointing to have a soldier act in that form or fashion, however we will allow the local police to do their initial investigation and we will chime in afterwards," Lt. Col. Nathan Banks told E! News.
Banks added that Uzomah is a member of the Civil Affairs Unit, "who goes into places like Afghanistan and Iraq"—and, uh, Los Angeles radio studios?—"and bring stability into the city, brings normalcy back."
Pretty soon, however, Uzomah's only affiliation may be as an army of one. Though right now he seems to have plenty of company...a whole cell's worth, to be precise.
Breaking News
E! Invader Facing Felony Stalking Charge; Ryan Secures Restraining Order
Ryan Seacrest is wasting no time shoring up his defenses.
The TV and radio host has secured a temporary restraining order against the man who was arrested in the Comcast Entertainment Group lobby this morning after saying he had business with Seacrest.
Chidi Uzomah, who is being held on suspicion of felony stalking, must stay at least 100 yards away from Seacrest's home, car and place of business.
The suspect will likely remain in custody over the weekend. Seacrest's legal camp acted quickly so that Uzomah could be served with the TRO while being interrogated by LAPD Threat Management officers.
Exclusive
Ryan Seacrest on Stalker Scare: "An Interesting Day Here at E!"
Ryan Seacrest wants the world to know that he's doing find after this morning's scary visit from an obsessive, weapon-wielding fan.
"An interesting day here at E!" Seacrest says of his headline-making (and delivering) day. "My sincerest thanks to the LAPD, who helped us out here at the building today."
As for unwanted guest Chidi Uzomah, the 200-pound, 6-foot-four-inch man apparently just doesn't get the hint. He was arrested last month for brandishing a knife and bumrushing Seacrest's security guard at a charity event at a children's hospital in Orange, Calif.
And despite pleading guilty to two misdemeanors and sentenced to three years' probation for that dust-up, Uzomah still sought face time with Seacrest.
Uzomah turned up in vain at KIIS-FM's Burbank offices looking for the host (whose radio studio, as Uzomah clearly figured out, is actually located at E!'s HQ in Los Angeles).
"He asked somebody where Ryan was," a source said. "They said he didn't work here, he works at E! That was a few weeks ago."
Between that drop-in and today's incident, Uzomah may be facing jail time for a probation violation.
Roman Polanski Going Nowhere Fast
Looks like Roman Polanski won't be going trick-or-treating this Halloween.
Swiss authorities have turned down a second bid for freedom by the Rosemary's Baby helmer after his attorney to pay a higher bail deposit.
"We received a request for bail on Oct. 26, which we rejected today," Folco Galli, the spokesman for the Justice Ministry in Bern, told Bloomberg. "The risk of flight remains high."
The 76-year-old Polanski, who's said to be ailing in a Zurich jail, had his initial bid for bail rejected by the ministry earlier this month. That came a week after Swiss police took him into custody on an international warrant related to his 1977 conviction for illegal sex with a 13-year-old.
No word exactly what Polanski's legal team put on the table, but according to Galli, it wasn't just cash.
Last week, the U.S. Justice Department formally asked Switzerland to extradite the Oscar-winning director of such flicks as Chinatown and The Pianist to Los Angeles.
And on Monday, Polanski's now 46-year-old victim, Samantha Geimer, pleaded with a California appellate court to dismiss the case against him, arguing that all the unwanted media attention is not only negatively impacting her health, but harming her family.
Polanski has 10 days to appeal the ministry's bail decision to a Swiss Criminal Court. No word after that when they'll issue their ruling.
________
Where does Hollywood stand on the Polanski drama? Find out here.
Breaking News
Knife-Wielding Ryan Seacrest Seeker Busted—at E!
Debuting new music, hosting a radio show, manning the E! airwaves and outwitting an alleged stalker are all in a day's work for Ryan Seacrest.
An armed man was caught outside Seacrest HQ in the E! campus just after 10 a.m., and was quickly handcuffed and carted away.
While the man's identity has not yet been confirmed, he matches the description of Joel McHale Chidi Uzomah, who was sentenced to 15 days in jail and three years' probation after attacking an apparently member of Seacrest's security detail outside a charity event last month.
The man was carrying a knife at the time of his arrest this morning.
Stay safe, Ryan!
________
Catch up on what else has been happening with the host-of-all-trades.
Big Brother Champ Remains in Big House
Big Brother champ Adam Jasinski's used to confined spaces with round-the-clock surveillance so this shouldn't be a problem for him.
A federal judge in Boston has denied a motion to release the reality meathead, who's been locked up since his arrest two weeks ago on drug-peddling charges.
"He is detained," court clerk Maria Simeone told E! News, adding that U.S. District Judge Leo T. Sorokin "determined that the government had met its burden of proof based on the evidence and that the defendant posed a risk of flight."
The 31-year-old Florida native, who stirred up controversy by referring to autistic kids as "retards" during his run to the $500,000 grand prize in the ninth season of Big Brother last year, was busted in a sting operation on Oct. 17. He is accused of trying to sell two bags of the prescription painkiller oxycodone (aka hillbilly heroin) to an undercover g-man.
No word yet on the next court date. If convicted, Jasinski faces up to 20 years in prison and a $1 million fine.
________
The Big Brother champ isn't the only famous dude with legal issues. Check out our Mug-Shot Mania gallery for more stars behind bars.






