Dudes! Surfers 'Beat' Photog Snapping McConaughey

3 Chicago high school students busted for hate crime, assault

(NEWSER) - Three Chicago teenagers have been arrested after placing a noose around a black student's neck at knifepoint because of his relationship with a white girl, according to law enforcement authorities. “I feel they were serious, and that if I didn’t get out of the house when I did, I might not even be here. I might be dead,” Joshua Merritt, 17, told the Chicago Tribune . The three students, ages 16 to 18, have been hit with a variety of charges, including hate crimes, unlawful restraint, assault, and battery. The girl at the center of the confrontation is the cousin of one of the teens. The assault occurred at his house, and his mother is an administrative worker in the Cook County state attorney's office, said police. More»

Michael West, 41, has been ordered to stay sober

(NEWSER) - A Wisconsin husband busted for beating his wife in a domestic dispute over finances offered a unique defense: "A ghost did it." Fond du Lac cops arrived at Michael West's home to find his wife, Rebecca, "crying very hard and bleeding from her nose," according to a police report discovered by the Smoking Gun . She said her husband struck her, and tried to strangle her. West told officers his wife had fallen repeatedly to the floor and was strangled by a "ghost." He's been charged with attempted strangulation, battery, disorderly conduct, and resisting arrest—and has been ordered to stay sober, notes the Daily Mail . More»

Yogurt tycoon accused of attacking panhandler over tattoo

(NEWSER) - The co-founder of the Pinkberry frozen yogurt chain has been arrested for a savage attack on a homeless panhandler in Los Angeles, according to law enforcement authorities. Prosecutors say Young Lee and an unidentified second suspect—believing the homeless man had disrespected them by displaying a sexually explicit tattoo—beat him with a tire iron, leaving him with a broken arm and cuts to his head. More»

Man allegedly cut women with razor or box cutter

(NEWSER) - Police in Peru have arrested a man suspected of cutting women's buttocks in Virginia shopping malls. Johnny D. Guillen Pimentel, 40, is in custody as northern Virginia police work with federal and international authorities to return him back to the US, the Washington Post reports. Police issued a warrant in September charging Pimentel with one of nine assaults on young women using a box cutter or razor. He reportedly fled to Peru last month, sparking local news stories about the “cortela nalgas,” or “buttock slasher.” More»

Justin Timberlake also rumored to have popped the question

(NEWSER) - Wedding bells are ringing for what seems like all of Hollywood. The latest:

• Drew Barrymore got engaged over the holidays to art consultant Will Kopelman, whom she has been linked to for almost a year, People and E! report. The couple was on vacation in Sun Valley, Idaho, when Kopelman popped the question with a nearly-4-carat Graff diamond ring. This will be the third marriage for Barrymore; her rep has not yet officially confirmed the engagement, but Us has what it calls an official engagement photo.