TUCSON, Ariz. (Associated Press) — Dramatic dash-cam video released Tuesday shows a police officer in a Tucson suburb using his cruiser to ram an armed suspect, sending him flying in the air before the car smashes into a wall.
The man survived the Feb. 19 crash, and prosecutors cleared the officer of any wrongdoing.
The video, now getting attention across the U.S., comes at a time of heightened tension over the use of force by police across the country.
The man who was hit, Mario Valencia, 36, faces several felony charges, including assault on a police officer. His attorney, Michelle Cohen-Metzger, has not responded to a request for comment from The Associated Press.
Mario Valencia
Marana police Sgt. Chris Warren said Valencia robbed a convenience store in Tucson, broke into a church, invaded a home and stole a car. Valencia drove the stolen car to Marana, just north of Tucson, where he stole a rifle from a Wal-Mart.
Video from two different police cruisers shows Valencia walking down a busy business corridor with a rifle in his hands. At one point, Valencia points the rifle at himself and threatens to kill himself.
One of the dash cam videos shows an officer slowly driving behind Valencia as he shoots the rifle in the air. That officer tells others to stay back because the suspect is armed.
But within seconds, a different officer drives his patrol car at high speed and rams into Valencia, sending him flying into the air. Officers with guns drawn quickly swarm the scene.
Officer Michael Rapiejko
The officer has been identified as Michael Rapiejko. Warren said Rapiejko was put on a standard administrative leave because the incident was considered use of force. The Pima County Attorney's Office cleared Rapiejko of any wrongdoing and he is back on the force, Warren said.
LOS ANGELES (Associated Press) — The billionaire wife of former Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling got her revenge against a woman he secretly showered with gifts and whose recording of his racially offensive rant cost him ownership of the team.
Shelly Sterling's victory Tuesday in Los Angeles Superior Court will force V. Stiviano to surrender a $1.8 million duplex and return $800,000 lavished on her in cash handouts and several luxury cars, including a Ferrari, during a shadowy relationship.
Shelly Sterling claimed that Stiviano seduced her 80-year-old husband and manipulated him to give up community property the couple amassed through a real estate rental empire built over six decades of marriage.
"Shelly is thrilled with the decision," attorney Pierce O'Donnell said.
The award is a trifle for Sterling, but represents a triumph over a younger woman who cuddled up to her husband in public, told others she was the "next Mrs. Sterling" and caused them shame when the recordings surfaced.
Stiviano's recordings toppled her husband and "took us both down," Shelly Sterling testified at trial last month. "We lost the team. They were like another child."
Stiviano was partly undone by those same phone recordings.
"Everything that I have you've given me from your heart without me begging or asking or throwing myself all over you," Stiviano could be heard telling the billionaire in a clip played at trial to show they plotted to shield gifts from his wife.
Judge Richard Fruin Jr. rejected arguments by Stiviano's lawyer that the gifts were made when Donald and Shelly Sterling were separated and that Shelly Sterling couldn't seek them from a third party.
Attorney Mac Nehoray said he and his client were disappointed and would appeal the ruling, which is tentative and will become final in 15 days if there are no objections.
"Judges are supposed to interpret the law not make them," he said in an email.
The ruling comes nearly a year after the recording of Sterling telling Stiviano not to associate with black people caused an uproar and led the NBA to ban him for life and fine him $2.5 million.
With the NBA threatening to seize the team, Shelly Sterling got hold of a family trust by showing her husband had signs of Alzheimer's disease and negotiated a record $2 billion sale to ex-Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer.
Her husband failed to block the sale in court and has sued his wife and the NBA in federal court.
The couple presented a united front at the Stiviano trial, discussing their enduring love for each other.
Testimony shed little light on the nature of the unusual three-way relationship that lasted about 2½ years.
Shelly Sterling said she assumed Stiviano was her husband's mistress.
Stiviano and Donald Sterling denied having sex. She referred to him as a father figure and lover.
Donald Sterling, who was incredulous that his wife had described them at one point as being estranged, referred to the 32-year-old Stiviano as an "ex-friend."
Shelly Sterling and Stiviano didn't hide their disdain for each other.
Shelly Sterling said Stiviano had been nasty to her and taken advantage of her husband and didn't deserve millions in gifts. Stiviano called Sterling the "Wicked Witch of the West" and said she hated her.
Sterling initially sought about $3.6 million from Stiviano, a figure an accountant said was a conservative estimate of the gifts that included the $240,000 Ferrari, a Bentley, a Range Rover, extravagant spending sprees and world travel.
After Fruin said he was having difficulty connecting all the money to Stiviano, lawyers for Sterling reduced their claim to $2.8 million, based on evidence and Stiviano's own admissions.
Fruin awarded all of that but $200,000, saying he had no credible evidence to support Stiviano's guess that she rang up hundreds of thousands of dollars on Donald Sterling's credit card.
Nueliphe World emcees Nyce Da Future, Kay1er and Pretty Boi Green link up to remix Nipsey Hussle's"U See Us." This is off of their forthcoming mixtape entitled "Nueliphe City."
Directed by UnLEASH (filmed and edited), Lot A Nerv (co-filmed), and Fes Taylor (lighting).
Crunchy BlackofDa Mafia 6ix, formerlyThree Six Mafia, was just popped in Las Vegas for drug possession.
The 40-year old, real name Darnell Carlton, was stopped by police in Sin City on Tuesday, April 15, when he was stopped for walking into an intersection when the "do not cross" light was flashing.
During a search police found meth on the rapper. He didn't deny that the drugs were his, but said, "Oh damn. I was trying to buy that powder, not meth."
Cops also found out Black had two warrants out for his arrest. He was booked for possession and for providing a phony name. He's still in custody, according to TMZ.
**UPDATE** April 30
Crunchy Black pleaded guilty to misdemeanor drug possession on Wednesday, April 29. The judge in the case sentenced him to 30 days in jail.
TMZ reports that the rapper was also sentenced to 6 months for a previous domestic violence case he previously bailed on. As a result he'll spend the next 7 months behind bars.
FRED B. IS THE HOTTEST UNSIGNED ARTIST COMING OUT OF FORT WORTH TX. HIS NEWEST HIT SINGLE "VICTORIA SECRETE" IS MAKING MAJOR NOISE ON THE INTERNET ALONG WITH HIS LATEST MIXTAPE "FINAL RUFF DRAFT" CLICK IMAGE ABOVE TO LISTEN AND DOWNLOAD THE MIXTAPE AND WATCH HIS LATEST VIDEO BELOW. IF YOU LIKE AND ENJOY HIS MUSIC MAKE SURE TO KEEP UP WITH HIM ON ALL HIS NETWORKS
Acclaimed battle rapper Big T is always locked and loaded with bars ready to fire in all directions. In part one of his "Shut Up and Rap" vlog series, Big T sets thing off with a freestyle over Drake's"6 P.M. in NY."
Hailing from the east side of Chicago, Bubble Eye is a lyricist, artist and street poet that makes you feel like you’re back in school studying the Anthology. His love for rap is more than evident as he paints both vivid imagery and captures precise emotions from past experiences through his lyrics.
On Monday April 20th, at 420pm Bubbs will be releasing a FREE downloadable mixtape titled
‘Mubu Kush God’ to honour his love for the heavenly plant, as well as the love for fun and energetic music. With assistance from Stack Or Starve Approved, Dj Shon & Dj 3 Stripes will handle hosting duties on this spring favorite release. – “I spoke with a few people who's opinions i respect in the game, and collectively we thought it would be polite to drop this project with a special theme of sort". #MubuKushGod is Bubb's personal music project, which he has spent the last 8 months in the studio working on. A project which he claims has been the hardest to write and record, but the most fulfilling.
“I wanted to ensure "Mubu Kush God" was perfect, so i just stayed in the studio mixing, restructuring songs and polishing it off to present a strong product…" - Bubble Eye
"Mubu Kush God" will be available to download Via Live Mixtapes, Spinrilla, DatPiff, Orange Mixtapes, My Mixtapez & All Other outlets!
Miami (CNN) Inside a plane at Miami International Airport, baggage handlers are going on a shopping spree with passengers' bags.
What they don't know is that they are being recorded on a hidden camera. The Miami-Dade Police Department set up the camera as part of an ongoing police investigation into luggage thefts by the very airport workers who are supposed to get bags safely onto planes.
"It's a problem we all face," said police Lt. Pete Estis. "We will continue to be proactive until we can see that the claims of pilfering through luggage will actually decrease."
And these insider thefts just don't happen in Miami. A CNN analysis of passenger property loss claims filed with the TSA from 2010 to 2014 shows 30,621 claims of missing valuables, mostly packed in checked luggage. The rest occurred at security checkpoints. Total property loss claimed: $2.5 million.
John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York topped the list of airports with the most claims of thefts from luggage, followed by Los Angeles International, Orlando International and Miami International, according to the data.
The problem has been so serious at JFK that in 2013, El Al Airlines set up a hidden camera in a baggage hold. The camera showed baggage handlers stealing items on flights bound for Israel, including a $5,000 Seiko watch, iPhones, an iPad, cameras, gold rings and cash. Six of those arrested pleaded guilty to possession of stolen property or petty larceny and the seventh suspect's case was sealed, according to the Queens District Attorney's Office.
The high-profile case, though, didn't stop the thefts. Two more baggage handlers at JFK were arrested in 2014 after authorities said they stole two designer handbags from a suitcase, and then tried to sell them on eBay.
Then, in December, seven more JFK baggage handlers were charged with stealing valuables from checked luggage. The items were stolen from suitcases of passengers traveling to or from Hawaii, Japan, Johannesburg, London, Bangkok, Dubai, Milan and various U.S. cities.
In Miami, which aggressively goes after luggage thieves, police have arrested 31 baggage handlers and ramp workers since 2012, including six so far this year.
Police set up a hidden camera inside the belly of a plane last year and caught baggage handlers rifling through luggage and stealing various items.
Another hidden camera caught a baggage handler rummaging through bags in a secure luggage room inside the airport while a security guard looked the other way.
"Insider threat is very scary for us in law enforcement, and certainly someone taking somebody's cell phone, iPad, computer -- what's next?" Estis said.
A CNN investigation earlier this year found that Miami and Orlando are the only two major airports in the country that require employees to be screened through metal detectors. Miami even checks employees when they leave work to go into the main terminal. But that apparently hasn't stopped the luggage thieves.
"As far as being able to get the property off the airfield, that's a great question," Estis said. "We have theories."
In Los Angeles, police last year executed search warrants on 25 locations after getting complaints about thefts in two terminals. Among the valuables found were computers, watches, jewelry and cameras and designer bags. Sixteen airport workers were fired.
"We cut theft in those two terminals by 60% because of doing that aggressive investigative work," said Patrick Gannon, police chief of Los Angeles International Airport.
Luggage theft could definitely lead to more serious problems, he said.
"I absolutely think that if we don't pay attention to the small things that happen around here, that it could lead to much larger things. So there is, I believe, a connection between baggage theft and terrorism," Gannon said.
Even the TSA has had problem employees. Since 2002, the agency has fired 513 officers for theft. It employs about 50,000 officers today, and last year screened more than 443 million checked bags and nearly 1.7 billion carry-ons.
Luggage theft isn't confined to airport workers. Outsiders have been caught on surveillance cameras stealing luggage from carousels. CNN contacted airports around the country and found while the total thefts from carousels are relatively low, it continues to be a problem.
For example, Seattle reported 214 luggage thefts from carousels and other airport locations last year, 200 in Las Vegas, 36 in Atlanta, 35 in Phoenix, 15 at Ronald Reagan Washington National, 14 at Dulles International and 10 at Chicago's O'Hare Airport.
Singer Ciara recently sat down with The Breakfast Club for a conversation about everything she's currently involved in.
She talked about her single "I Bet," past relationship with Future, her son, touring, dating, next album "Jackie," Jermaine Dupri, Tamar Braxton throwing shade and more.
01 Icy Duck - FTO Freestyle 02 Bo Deal checks in / Leoski D ft Bo Deal x Bosstop x Fat trell - Action 03 Blackgate Domino feat S.dot - Top 04 Cap 1 ft. MJG - Mercy 05 JB Bin laden - No Hook [prod by smokescreen] 06 Young Famous checks in/ Edai Ft Young Famous - Ion Know What 07 Walt Wheat ft Solid4Hustler - Get Yo Money Right 08 @1Fivestar - Shootas 09 Tre Killa ft. Rich The Kid - Benjimans 10 BossG x FastMoney x BD Bands - Computers 11 Lil Durk X Lil Reese - Blessings Freestyle 12 Boobee Skillz ft Tay 600 - Them Glocks 13 Lil Chief Dinero Checks in/ GMEBE (Allo X Lil Chief Dinero) - Easy Kill 14 Cokilla Ft Tymb Moneyman & Tymb Face - Gang Members 15 Rozay5ive ft Cha$e Banks - No Beginners 16 King Snow ft Taytana - Way It Go prt2 17 JusBlow Checks in/ JusBlow - T'd / Illinois jones speaks 18 OTF NuNu Checks in/ x Bigg T x Cmoore Dollaz - Shit Be Crazy 19 OBlock Ocho - Thots 20 Gino Marley - Wat If 21 Chief Wuk X Rondo Numba 9 - Action 22 Chief Keef ft. Lil Bibby, Lil Herb, King Louie & Lil Durk - Faneto (Remix)
Even though he was one of two men run over by Suge Knight's truck, Cle "Bone" Sloane took the stand on Monday, April 13, and said he wouldn't testify against Knight.
A fight in January between Sloane and Knight led to the former Death Row Records boss running over Sloane twice. In in the process he also hit and killed Terry Carter.
Terry Carter (left) was killed in a hit and run by Suge Knight
Sloane testified that he couldn't remember key elements of the prosecutor's case.
“I’ve been trying to forget the whole incident,” Sloan said, according to The New York Daily News. “I just know I screwed up, and Terry’s dead. I’m not a snitch. “I will not be forced to tell on anybody. I don’t want it to get misconstrued that I sent this man to prison. …I will not be used to send Suge Knight to prison.”
NEW YORK (Associated Press) — The high-octane thriller "Furious 7" maintained speed in its second week, racing away with $60.6 million at North American theaters and bringing its box-office total to a robust $252.5 million, according to studio estimates Sunday.
Universal's "Furious 7" more than lapped the competition. The only new wide release of the weekend, the rodeo romance "The Longest Ride," opened with $13.5 million.
That was good enough for third place for the Fox release, which stars Clint Eastwood's son, Scott Eastwood. In second was the DreamWorks animated alien adventure "Home," which pulled in $19 million in its third week of release.
But "Furious 7" continued to dominate the marketplace, dropping only 59 percent from its remarkable $147.2 million debut last weekend. Globally, it has already crossed $800 million in its first two weeks of release, according to Universal.
The weekend international total — an eye-popping $195 million — was boosted by the film premiering in China on Sunday, where it earned an estimated $68.6 million in just one day.
Over 10 days, "Furious 7," which prominently features a tribute to the late actor Paul Walker, has already out-grossed all previous installments of the 14-year-old franchise.
At its current pace, "Furious 7" will likely become the highest grossing film in Universal's history. The studio's "Jurassic Park," from 1993, holds Universal's mark with $1.02 billion worldwide.
It's a summer blockbuster-sized result for "Furious 7," but by opening in April, it has little competition in its way. On a much smaller scale, the critically acclaimed sci-fi film "Ex Machina" drew the year's largest theater average of $62,489 in four theaters.
Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Rentrak. Where available, the latest international numbers for Friday through Sunday are also included. Final domestic figures will be released Monday.
1. "Furious 7," $60.6 million ($195 million international).
2. "Home," $19 million ($15.2 million international).
3. "The Longest Ride," $13.5 million ($3 million international).
4. "Get Hard," $8.6 million ($1.4 million international).
5. "Cinderella," $7.2 million ($12.6 million international).
6. "The Divergent Series: Insurgent," $6.9 million ($7.9 million international).
7. "Woman in Gold," $5.9 million.
8. "It Follows," $2 million.
9. "Danny Collins," $1.6 million.
10. "While We're Young," $1.4 million.
___
Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at international theaters (excluding the U.S. and Canada), according to Rentrak:
1. "Furious 7," $195 million.
2. "Wolf Warriors," $18 million.
3. "Home," $15.2 million
4. "Cinderella," $12.6 million.
5. "Kingsman: The Secret Service," $9 million.
6. "Let's Get Married," $8.5 million.
7. "The Divergent Series: Insurgent," $7.9 million.
8. "Pourquoi j'ai (pas) mange mon pere," $3.5 million.
9. "The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water," $3.2 million.
10. "The Longest Ride," $3 million.
___
Universal and Focus are owned by NBC Universal, a unit of Comcast Corp.; Sony, Columbia, Sony Screen Gems and Sony Pictures Classics are units of Sony Corp.; Paramount is owned by Viacom Inc.; Disney, Pixar and Marvel are owned by The Walt Disney Co.; Miramax is owned by Filmyard Holdings LLC; 20th Century Fox and Fox Searchlight are owned by 21st Century Fox; Warner Bros. and New Line are units of Time Warner Inc.; MGM is owned by a group of former creditors including Highland Capital, Anchorage Advisors and Carl Icahn; Lionsgate is owned by Lions Gate Entertainment Corp.; IFC is owned by AMC Networks Inc.; Rogue is owned by Relativity Media LLC.
Super producerMike Will Made-Itand frequent collaboratorFuturehave linked up once again for a new project entitledApe Shit. Check out the artwork up top and keep it locked here for more details.
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