10 Crazy Celebrity Crimes that you probably never knew about!

Believe it or not but sometimes celebrities can be just like us, they even commit crimes like we do! Just because they’re famous doesn’t necessarily mean they’re not infamous. Here are 10 crazy celebrity crimes that you probably never knew about. From drunk driving to horrific assaults and even murder, many of our household celebrity names have surprising criminal records. Just because someone is famous, doesn’t mean they don’t get charged with a crime. Or do they? While some celebs (actually quite a few) have gotten away with murder, not all have been able to get off so scot-free. Timing is everything and some of the celebs committed crimes as their stars were rising and others when they were shining brightly, but several happened after their stars had tragically fallen, tragically being the operative word.

1) OJ SIMPSON- ROBBERY, KIDNAPPING AND ALLEGED MURDER 

O.J. Simpson almost got away with the double murder of his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend, Ron Goldman. He was acquitted of that crime (but only in the criminal trial, in a separate civil trial, he was found responsible for both of their deaths), but he wasn’t completely invincible from the legal system. In 2008, Simpson was charged with armed robbery and kidnapping, after attacking two sports memorabilia dealers and holding them at gunpoint in a Las Vegas hotel room, in 2007. He may serve up to 33 years in a Nevada prison, but will be eligible for parole in 2017. Needless to say, the family of Ron Goldman feels that although it’s bittersweet, justice was finally served. At the end of the day, the juice finally got squeezed.

2) MARK WAHLBERG- ATTEMPTED MURDER AND ASSAULT

Before Mark Wahlberg was a famous actor, even before he was Markey Mark, he qualified as a criminal. In his youth, Wahlberg was in trouble over 20 times with the Boston Police Department for various crimes, including a racially motivated incident involving throwing rocks at black school children. When he was 16, he beat a middle aged Vietnamese man, knocking him unconscious in the middle of the street, using a wooden stick. He also attacked a different Vietnamese man on the same day and blinded him in one eye. Wahlberg was charged with attempted murder, but ended up pleading guilty to assault. Mark was sentenced to two years in the Suffolk County Deer Island House of Correction, but only served 45 days of his sentence.

3) LAURA BUSH- VEHICULAR MANSLAUGHTER  

In November 1963, former first Lady, Laura Bush ran a stop sign and collided with another car, killing 17 year old, Michael Dutton Douglas, who was coincidentally a friend of hers. There were even rumors that Dutton was at one time, her boyfriend. Bush was treated for minor injuries, as was the passenger in her car, Judy Dykes. Surprisingly, Bush was never charged with a crime. In her book, Spoken From The Heart she reflected on the incident, saying, “It was a very tragic accident that deeply affected the families and was very painful for all involved, including the community at large.”

4) JAY Z- ATTEMPTED MURDER AND ASSAULT  

Before Jay-Z, whose real name is Sean Corey Carter, became one of the biggest and most important musicians in the world, as well as Beyoncé Knowles’ husband and father to Blue Ivy, he was a criminal. When he was 12, he shot his older brother Eric in the shoulder. He raps about the incident in the song, You Must Love Me from his second album, In My Lifetime, Vol. 1: “Saw the devil in your eyes/High off more than weed, confused, I just closed my young eyes and squeezed.” He was never charged with a crime for the shooting. In 1999, Carter stabbed music producer, Lance “Un” Rivera outside of a nightclub, but ended up pleading guilty to a misdemeanor and was sentenced to just three years probation.

5) KHLOE KARDASHIAN- DRUNK DRIVING 

Even the Kardashians aren’t perfect. Khloe Kardashian was arrested on March 4th, 2007 for a DUI. But, she violated her probation by failing to enroll in an alcohol education class and complete roadside cleanup duty, as part of her community service. Kardashian faced 30 days in jail, but got lucky and only served a mere 3 hours, due to over crowding. Where did she serve those 3 hours? The infamous Lynwood jail, where Paris Hilton and Lindsay Lohan also did time.

6) MATTHEW BRODERICK- VEHICULAR MANSLAUGHTER 

In August 1987, when Matthew Broderick was vacationing in Ireland with his then girlfriend, Dirty Dancing star Jennifer Grey (the couple started dating when filming Ferris Bueller’s Day Off), when something awful happened. Driving a rented BMW, Broderick accidentally drove into the wrong lane (in Ireland, they drive on the left side of the road, with the steering wheel on the right side) and collided head on with a Volvo, killing Anna Gallagher, 28 and her mother Margaret Dorothy, 63 instantly. Broderick fractured his ribs and one leg, and had a concussion as well as a collapsed lung. Grey suffered severe whiplash and some other minor injuries. Broderick was charged with causing death by dangerous driving and faced up to five years in prison, but the charges were reduced to carless driving, with a fine of $175. The victim’s family called it a travesty of justice.

7) TIM ALLEN – DRUG TRAFFICKING AND DUI 

Ah, Tim Allen. The warm, jovial guy who made a name for himself on the hit show Home Improvement and by voicing Buzz Lightyear in the Toy Story series. He’s spent decades entertaining children all over the world; what could he possibly have done?

In October 1978, at the age of 25, Allen was arrested for possessing over 650 grams of cocaine, and after turning informant against the other dealers, took a relatively light sentence of 3-7 years, eventually being paroled less than 2 and a half years after his incarceration.

In 1997, Allen was arrested for a DUI, and sentenced to a year’s probation along with a course of alcohol rehab. Given how sensitive family-friendly corporations such as Disney are about protecting their image, it’s surprising they allowed the actor to put his past behind him and voice Buzz, but of course, we couldn’t imagine the character sounding any different.

8) DANNY TREJO – DRUGS, MURDER AND ROBBERY 

Danny Trejo has made a career out of playing scary badasses, most prominently in Robert Rodriguez’s Machete, and then very occasionally as opposite characters that attempt to subvert the stereotype (A Very Harold and Kumar Christmas and…an Old El Paso advert).

However, did you know that Trejo is the real deal? Trejo is a straight-up, legit, genuine thug, which led to him being sentenced to 11 years jail time for an assortment of drug, murder and robbery charges.

Trejo was released in 1972 at the age of 28 having kicked his drug addiction, and over a decade later, he eventually found work on the Oscar-nominated movie Runaway Train, training Eric Roberts for a boxing scene.

His presence was so strong that he ended up winning a small role in the film, and the rest is history. To the actor’s credit, he has, unlike many on this list, kept his nose clean since his incarceration, and the rather ambiguous nature of his crimes only adds to the mystique and the menace of the man.

9) ROBERT DOWNEY JUNIOR – DRUG POSSESSION 

Though many of us do remember Robert Downey Jr.’s legal difficulties throughout the 1990s, it’s worth dredging up again given how he has endeared himself to a whole new generation of people with his outstanding portrayal of Tony Stark in the Iron Man franchise.

Downey was arrested countless times in the late 90s for cocaine, heroin, marijuana and weapon offences, at which point he explained that his father had caused him to become first addicted to drugs at the age of eight.

Downey eventually served a year’s custodial sentence in the California Substance Abuse Treatment Facility and State Prison, before seeming to get back on top with a highly-praised role in TV show Ally McBeal. However, more drug-related arrests followed, and he was suddenly fired from the show, while his high-risk nature meant that Woody Allen later wouldn’t be able to get him insured for Melinda and Melinda, and had to recast the part.

Downey slowly but surely clawed his way back to the top – with the help of Mel Gibson, who helped pay his insurance on The Singing Detective – and when Iron Man hit it big, his resurrection as Hollywood star extraordinaire was complete.

10) WILL SMITH – AGGRAVATED ASSAULT 

Will Smith may seem like a pretty straight-edged guy. He’s married with children, working hard, and having plenty of success. However, he wasn’t always Mr. Perfect. In fact, he was involved in a brutal attack in his hometown of Philadelphia that left one man nearly blind back in 1989 and now, nearly twenty-five years later, new details are being revealed.

According to police, Will (aka Fresh Prince at the time) got into a verbal dispute with record promoter William Hendricks which led to Will allegedly requesting that his bodyguard, Charles “Charlie Mack” Alston take care of him, so to speak. Well, he did just that, and Hendricks was left with a fracture of his left eye orbit. He was hospitalized and received six stitches.

Will, who had won his first Grammy Award just days prior, was later arrested and charged with aggravated assault, recklessly endangering another person, simple assault, and criminal conspiracy. Fortunately for Will, the charges were later dropped