Some celebrity couples make a big fuss about their sex tapes falling into the wrong hands. For Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt, it's their baby shower photos.
Police and the FBI raided a home in Westfield, Massachusetts, Tuesday night and seized photos of the couple's Namibian baby shower that had been stolen from a digital memory card. The investigation was confirmed by the Los Angeles District Attorney's Office and Westfield police.
Officials searched the home of camera shop employee Bill Keyes, who along with his coworker, Adam Beckwith, allegedly discovered the images on a camera belonging to Jolie's brother, James Haven.
Haven had visited his sister and her family in Namibia, where he apparently took hundreds of pictures, but upon his return, discovered that his camera was broken. He returned it to Best Buy, where it was under warranty, and the chain store outsourced it to Precision Camera and Video Repair in Enfield, Connecticut, to be fixed.
Enter Precision Camera employees Keyes and Beckwith, who happened upon the shots on Haven's memory card and allegedly downloaded them for their own purposes.
Word of the stolen photos broke last week after several shots purportedly showing Jolie and Pitt at a pre-Shiloh celebration were leaked onto the Internet, prompting a flurry of threatening letters to various media outlets from the couple's legal team.
The images were sent out to a number of celebrity publications on June 22 by an individual using the email address "lowrdr27@comcast.net"--presumably either Keyes or Beckwith.
"Dear Sir or Madam," the email, which is available on TMZ.com, begins.
"I am contacting you because I have recently acquired some digital photos (450 pictures). On this memory stick are personal photos of Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt and their children. These photos are in thier [sic] home and on vacation, are good quality and are close up. I am contacting you...to see what these photos may be worth."
A Westfield Police Department spokesperson confirmed to TMZ.com that Keyes' home was searched and that his computer was seized. Police also obtained a search warrant for Precision Camera and Video Repair and reportedly seized Haven's camera.
Because neither Keyes nor Beckwith broke any Massachusetts laws, neither one was arrested. The case was turned over to the Los Angeles District Attorney's office, and the investigation was ongoing.
It's not the only photo flap for Jolie-Pitt clan in recent days. On Thursday, a man was arrested in Dubai for trying to use a fake ID with Pitt's picture on it in an attempted embezzlement scam. (The man said he had no idea whose picture was on the ID--he had simply downloaded it from the Internet.)
Last week, a paparazzo was arrested for trespassing after he allegedly hid in the bushes outside Maddox Jolie-Pitt's Malibu day-care center in an attempt to snap a shot of the four-year-old.
Apparently, being incredibly photogenic can have its downsides.