No charges filed in alleged gun threat involving Apple's Dr. Dre

On Tuesday, the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department confirmed that rapper, producer, and key Apple employee Dr. Dre was temporarily detained without charges while police investigated an alleged gun threat.

Dre — whose real name is Andre Young — was "searched, handcuffed, and briefly detained in a patrol car," the Sheriff's Department told Billboard. Officers arrived at his Malibu home sometime before midday on Monday, after a man called saying he'd stopped in front of the house and had a handgun pulled on him when Dre ordered him to leave.

The musician has denied brandishing a gun, and police ultimately released him, noting that they couldn't find a weapon on the scene. Officers reportedly described him as cooperative, and said he consented to being searched.

Dre has a history of run-ins with the law, including multiple battery charges and a high-speed pursuit. Such incidents date back to the 1990s however, and in recent years he has tried to not only make a break from his past but establish himself as a businessman, for instance helping to co-found Beats, which Apple acquired for $3 billion in 2014.

He is now working with Apple, though his exact role at the company is unclear. The New York Times has referred to him as a "top consultant," but apart from his hosting a show on Beats 1 radio, the company has never specified his involvement.

22 Comments

adrayven 460 comments · 12 Years

About 8 years ago

Interesting.. so if you want 15 min of fame.. just stop in front of a famous dudes house.. call cops saying they threatened you.. If this had been 5 years ago, I would have believed the guy, based on Dre's past.. but lately, not so much.

Soli 9981 comments · 9 Years

adrayven said:

Interesting.. so if you want 15 min of fame.. just stop in front of a famous dudes house.. call cops saying they threatened you.. If this had been 5 years ago, I would have believed the guy, based on Dre's past.. but lately, not so much.

Objectively, the plaintiff's story is very suspicious. I would like to see this video Dre apparently took with his phone.

mtbnut 199 comments · 8 Years

"...they couldn't find a weapon on the scene."

If this was Tim Cook or Eddy Cue, they would have never been handcuffed while the cops sorted things out.

So a gun was never found, but a (black) man is arrested and detained based on a potentially false story.

xixo 451 comments · 10 Years

mtbnut said:

"...they couldn't find a weapon on the scene."

If this was Tim Cook or Eddy Cue, they would have never been handcuffed while the cops sorted things out.

So a gun was never found, but a (black) man is arrested and detained based on a potentially false story.

apparently there's a history of people provoking 'incidents' with Dre so that they can initiate civil suits and extract money.

i do have to wonder, if someone called the cops and said that I threatened them with a gun on the sidewalk outside my house, what would happen?

would the police cuff me upon arrival?

would they ask to search my house?

good thing I have security cameras recording 24 hours a day all around the property. I wonder if Dre does as well...?

mtbnut said:

"...they couldn't find a weapon on the scene."

If this was Tim Cook or Eddy Cue, they would have never been handcuffed while the cops sorted things out.

So a gun was never found, but a (black) man is arrested and detained based on a potentially false story.

Are you certain? I assume there are procedures to be followed, and would imagine that someone as wealthy and high-profile as Andre would get treated by-the-books outside his own home.

It's been a very long time, but I seem to recall on the long-running series Cops people detained in cuffs of all "races" and then let go once the police determine they are not a threat to themselves or someone else.

If temporarily detaining someone while you look for an alleged weapon isn't procedure in Malibu unless you're "black," I'd be curious to know what the proper procedure is.