Man Linked To Deadly Hip-Hop Feud Arrested In SF
POSTED: 10:34 pm PST March 2, 2006
SAN FRANCISCO -- A local rapper was arrested Thursday night by San Francisco police and Federal Bureau of Investigation agents on suspicion of committing two murders in Las Vegas last year, according to the FBI. Andre Dow, 35, also known as rapper "Mac Minister" was taken into custody at a residence at 49 Townsend St. on a federal warrant for unlawful flight to avoid prosecution, FBI officials said. Dow will be charged with the murders of Kansas City rapper Anthony "Fat Tone" Watkins, 24, and Jermaine "Cowboy" Atkins, 21, according to the FBI. FBI officials say Atkins and Watkins were killed in Las Vegas on May 23, 2005. Dow was featured on America's Most Wanted on Feb. 6.There has been considerable speculation that Watkins and Akins were killed in retaliation for the murder of San Francisco rapper Andre "Mac Dre" Hicks, who was gunned down in Kansas City in 2004 reportely after a dispute over a payment for a concert.Rumors among Bay Area rappers say that Watkins was behind Andre Hicks' murder. Police in Kansas City have never found any evidence to support those rumors.In mid-July of last year, Dow was pulled over by California Highway Patrol near the Golden Gate Bridge for speeding. The rapper raced off as the trooper was writing the citation and Dow led authorities on a chase across the bridge and into Marin before abandoning his vehicle and escaping on foot.When the car was found, authorities discovered a video documentary that Dow had produced about himself as well as a printout of an Internet article about Watkins' murder in Las Vegas. San Francisco police Sgt. Neville Gittens said it was about 6:30 p.m. when a Police Department tactical unit and FBI agents launched the operation on Townsend Street. "It's part of an apartment complex," Gittens said of the home. "I don't know if (Dow) lives there, but that's where he was." He estimated that Dow was taken into custody at about 7:30 p.m. FBI officials said the operation went smoothly except for a brief "verbal standoff" with a female occupant of the home.
