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In Denmark, a man is suspected of 86 counts of reckless driving. He filmed it himself.

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In Denmark, a man is suspected of 86 counts of reckless driving. He filmed it himself.
News

News

In Denmark, a man is suspected of 86 counts of reckless driving. He filmed it himself.

2024-09-13 20:46 Last Updated At:20:50

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — A 29-year-old man in Denmark faced a whopping 86 preliminary charges Friday for driving at high speed on motorcycles, riding on the rear wheel — also at high speed — and endangering others, police said, adding that the man had mounted a camera on his motorcycle helmet which provided investigators with several hours of footage of how he drove.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything like it,” Amrik Singh Chadha of the police in eastern Denmark said in a statement. “There is no doubt that it has been a big and unconventional case for us to investigate."

When detained in May for riding a motorcycle with no license plates and without having a valid permit, police found a video camera had been mounted on the man's helmet which had recorded how he drove on the rear wheel at high speed. Police said that it led to the man facing 25 cases of preliminary charges for that alone. He has not been identified.

The incriminating videos also led to an additional 38 preliminary charges of reckless driving for speeding over 100% above the limit. On top of that, the footage led to a series of other charges related to the man's driving which the police considered likely to endanger the life and safety of others.

After months of watching the incriminating footage, police on Friday went public. The preliminary charges are one step short of formal charges.

In Denmark, reckless driving includes driving more than 100% above the speed limit, driving at a speed of 200 kilometers per hour (124 miles per hour) or above and driving with a blood alcohol level above 2.0.

A 2021 law allows police to confiscate vehicles for reckless driving besides giving hefty fines and suspending a driving permit. Under Danish law, a driver is considered to be driving under the influence of alcohol if the blood-alcohol level is equal to or exceeds 0.5g per thousand.

Police said several of the man’s video recordings had been posted on social media and shared with a larger group of people. They also were able to identify two others on the footage and seized their vehicles, the statement said.

The man likely faces a prison sentence.

FILE - A police officer stands guard in Copenhagen, Denmark, on July 4, 2022. (AP Photo/Sergei Grits, File)

FILE - A police officer stands guard in Copenhagen, Denmark, on July 4, 2022. (AP Photo/Sergei Grits, File)

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Sean 'Diddy' Combs has been indicted on sex trafficking and racketeering charges

2024-09-17 23:25 Last Updated At:23:30

NEW YORK (AP) — Sean “Diddy” Combs presided over a sordid empire of sexual crimes, coercing and abusing women for years, threatening them to keep them in line and enlisting a cast of aides to cover it up, according to an indictment unsealed Tuesday.

The music mogul “engaged in a persistent and pervasive pattern of abuse toward women and other individuals," including physical violence, in order "to fulfill his sexual desires, protect his reputation, and conceal his conduct, the indictment said.

It describes him inducing female victims and male sex workers into drugged-up, sometimes dayslong sexual performances dubbed “Freak Offs.” It also refers obliquely to an attack on his former girlfriend, the R&B singer Cassie, that was captured on video.

Combs was arrested late Monday in Manhattan, roughly six months after federal authorities conducting a sex trafficking investigation raided his luxurious homes in Los Angeles and Miami. He was due in court Tuesday.

Over the past year, the hip-hop impresario has been sued by people who say he subjected them to physical or sexual abuse. He has denied many of those allegations, and his lawyer, Marc Agnifilo, said outside the courthouse Tuesday morning that Combs is innocent and would plead not guilty.

“His spirits are good. He’s confident," said the attorney, who said Combs came to New York voluntarily to "engage the court system and start the case.”

The indictment describes Combs, the 54-year-old founder of Bad Boy Records, as the head of a criminal enterprise that engaged or attempted to engage in sex trafficking, forced labor, interstate transportation for purposes of prostitution, drug offenses, kidnapping, arson, bribery and obstruction of justice. He's accused of striking, punching and dragging women on numerous occasions, throwing objects and kicking them — and enlisting his personal assistants, security and household staff to help him hide it all.

Combs and his associates wielded his “power and prestige” to “intimidate, threaten, and lure” women into his orbit, “often under the pretense of a romantic relationship,” the indictment says. It says he then would use force, threats and coercion to get the women to engage with male sex workers in the “Freak Offs” — “elaborate and produced sex performances” that Combs arranged, directed, masturbated during and often recorded.

He sometimes arranged to fly the women in and ensured their participation by procuring and providing drugs, controlling their careers, leveraging his financial support, and using intimidation and violence, according to the indictment.

The events could last for days, and Combs and victims would often receive IV fluids “to recover from the physical exertion and drug use” from “Freak Offs,” the indictment said. It said his employees facilitated “Freak Offs” by arranging travel, booking hotel rooms where they would take place and stocking those rooms with supplies, including drugs, baby oil, lubricants, extra linens and lighting, scheduling the delivery of IV fluids, and then cleaning the rooms afterward.

During a search of Combs’ homes in Miami and Los Angeles this year, law enforcement seized narcotics and more than a thousand bottles of baby oil and lubricant, according to the indictment. Agents also seized firearms and ammunition, including three AR-15s with defaced serial numbers, the indictment said.

The document portrays Combs as a violent man who choked and shoved people, hit and kicked victims and sometimes dragged them by their hair, causing injuries that often took days or weeks to heal. His employees and associates sometimes witnessed his violence and kept victims from leaving or tracked down those who tried, the indictment said.

It alleges that Combs sometimes kept videos of victims engaging in sex acts and used the recordings as “collateral" to ensure the women's continued obedience and silence. He also exerted control over victims by promising career opportunities, providing and threatening to withhold financial support, dictating how they looked, monitoring their health records and controlling where they lived, according to the indictment.

As the threat of criminal charges loomed, Combs and his associates pressured witnesses and victims to stay silent, offering bribes and supplying false narratives of what happened, the indictment says.

All of this, prosecutors allege, was happening behind the facade of Combs’ global music, lifestyle and clothing empire.

Combs was recognized as one of the most influential figures in hip-hop before a flood of allegations that emerged over the past year turned him into an industry pariah.

In November, Cassie, whose legal name is Casandra Ventura, filed a lawsuit saying he had beaten and raped her for years. She accused Combs of coercing her, and others, into unwanted sex in drug-fueled settings.

The suit was settled in one day, but months later, CNN aired hotel security footage showing Combs punching and kicking Ventura and throwing her on a floor. After the video aired, Combs apologized, saying, “I was disgusted when I did it.”

The indictment refers to the attack, without naming Ventura, and says Combs tried to bribe a hotel security staffer to stay mum about it.

Douglas Wigdor, a lawyer for Ventura, declined to comment Tuesday.

Combs and his attorneys denied similar allegations made by others in a string of lawsuits.

A woman said Combs raped her two decades ago when she was 17. A music producer sued, saying Combs forced him to have sex with prostitutes. Another woman, April Lampros, said Combs subjected her to “terrifying sexual encounters,” starting when she was a college student in 1994.

The AP does not typically name people who say they have been sexually abused unless they come forward publicly, as Ventura and Lampros did.

Combs has gotten out of legal trouble before.

In 2001, he was acquitted of weapons charges related to a Manhattan nightclub shooting two years earlier that injured three people.

This story has been corrected to show that Combs is 54, not 58.

Associated Press writers Jennifer Peltz in New York and Andrew Dalton in Los Angeles contributed to this report.

From right, Justin Dior Combs, Quincy Brown and King Combs, arrive at Manhattan federal court, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

From right, Justin Dior Combs, Quincy Brown and King Combs, arrive at Manhattan federal court, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

Marc Agnifilo, attorney for Sean "Diddy" Combs, arrives at Manhattan federal court, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

Marc Agnifilo, attorney for Sean "Diddy" Combs, arrives at Manhattan federal court, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

Lawrence Stark, of the Bronx borough of New York, makes comments in support of Sean "Diddy" Combs, outside Manhattan federal court, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Eduardo Munoz Alvarez)

Lawrence Stark, of the Bronx borough of New York, makes comments in support of Sean "Diddy" Combs, outside Manhattan federal court, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Eduardo Munoz Alvarez)

Marc Agnifilo, attorney for Sean "Diddy" Combs, arrives at Manhattan federal court, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Pamela Smith)

Marc Agnifilo, attorney for Sean "Diddy" Combs, arrives at Manhattan federal court, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Pamela Smith)

Marc Agnifilo, attorney for Sean "Diddy" Combs, arrives at Manhattan federal court, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

Marc Agnifilo, attorney for Sean "Diddy" Combs, arrives at Manhattan federal court, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

FILE - Sean Combs arrives at the LA Premiere of "The Four: Battle For Stardom" at the CBS Radford Studio Center on Wednesday, May 30, 2018, in Los Angeles. (Photo by Willy Sanjuan/Invision/AP, file)

FILE - Sean Combs arrives at the LA Premiere of "The Four: Battle For Stardom" at the CBS Radford Studio Center on Wednesday, May 30, 2018, in Los Angeles. (Photo by Willy Sanjuan/Invision/AP, file)

Marc Agnifilo, attorney for Sean "Diddy" Combs, arrives at Manhattan federal court, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

Marc Agnifilo, attorney for Sean "Diddy" Combs, arrives at Manhattan federal court, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

Marc Agnifilo, attorney for Sean "Diddy" Combs, arrives at Manhattan federal court, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

Marc Agnifilo, attorney for Sean "Diddy" Combs, arrives at Manhattan federal court, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

Marc Agnifilo, attorney for Sean "Diddy" Combs, arrives at Manhattan federal court, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Eduardo Munoz Alvarez)

Marc Agnifilo, attorney for Sean "Diddy" Combs, arrives at Manhattan federal court, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Eduardo Munoz Alvarez)

Marc Agnifilo, attorney for Sean "Diddy" Combs, arrives at Manhattan federal court, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

Marc Agnifilo, attorney for Sean "Diddy" Combs, arrives at Manhattan federal court, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

FILE - Sean "Diddy" Combs appears at the premiere of "Can't Stop, Won't Stop: A Bad Boy Story" on June 21, 2017, in Beverly Hills, Calif. (AP Photo by Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP, File)

FILE - Sean "Diddy" Combs appears at the premiere of "Can't Stop, Won't Stop: A Bad Boy Story" on June 21, 2017, in Beverly Hills, Calif. (AP Photo by Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP, File)

FILE -Sean 'Diddy' Combs participates in "The Four" panel during the FOX Television Critics Association Winter Press Tour in Pasadena, Calif., Jan. 4, 2018. (Photo by Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP, File)

FILE -Sean 'Diddy' Combs participates in "The Four" panel during the FOX Television Critics Association Winter Press Tour in Pasadena, Calif., Jan. 4, 2018. (Photo by Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP, File)

FILE - Host Sean "Diddy" Combs presents the revolt black excellence award at the Billboard Music Awards, May 15, 2022, at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello, File)

FILE - Host Sean "Diddy" Combs presents the revolt black excellence award at the Billboard Music Awards, May 15, 2022, at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello, File)

Sean 'Diddy' Combs is expected in court after New York indictment

Sean 'Diddy' Combs is expected in court after New York indictment

Sean 'Diddy' Combs is expected in court after New York indictment

Sean 'Diddy' Combs is expected in court after New York indictment

FILE - Sean "Diddy" Combs arrives at the LA Premiere of "The Four: Battle For Stardom" at the CBS Radford Studio Center on May 30, 2018, in Los Angeles. (Photo by Willy Sanjuan/Invision/AP, File)

FILE - Sean "Diddy" Combs arrives at the LA Premiere of "The Four: Battle For Stardom" at the CBS Radford Studio Center on May 30, 2018, in Los Angeles. (Photo by Willy Sanjuan/Invision/AP, File)

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