Police Find Missing Witness in Puffy Case

By
ABC News
January 6, 2006, 3:47 AM ET
2 min read

February 21, 2001 -- Prosecutors rested their case today in the gun possession and bribery trial of Sean "Puff Daddy" Combs — but they might not be finished yet: Police have located a key witness who had been on the run.

Matthew "Scar" Allen — who allegedly argued with Combs before the December 1999 shooting that led to the charges against the rapper — was tracked down in Maryland on Tuesday night after being missing since an interview with prosecutors on Jan. 3, said a detective who testified today.

Manhattan, N.Y., Supreme Court Judge Charles Solomon reserved judgment on whether or not to allow Allen to testify.

Attorneys for Combs and two other defendants have yet to present their cases.

Combs, 31, is accused of illegal gun possession and bribery stemming from the Dec. 27, 1999, incident at Club New York in Times Square. Four prosecution witnesses have testified they saw a gun in Combs' hand that night, and the hip-hop mogul's driver also described how Combs allegedly tried to bribe him with $50,000 to say the gun was his.

Combs' bodyguard, Anthony "Wolf" Jones, 34, is also charged with gun possession and bribery. A third defendant, Jamal "Shyne" Barrow, 21, is accused of attempted murder.

Detective Arthur Caddigan testified today that he had chased Allen all over the country in the past few weeks and found him in Maryland. Allen, 29, who failed to appear in a Brooklyn court on an unrelated gun charge last month, would have to be extradited from Maryland to testify in New York.

Eyewitnesses have testified that Allen screamed at Combs, "I'm going to kill you!" before someone in Allen's group hurled money as an insult at Combs, a top record producer whose empire includes Bad Boy Records and the Sean Jean clothing line.

According to the testimony, shooting then erupted in the chaos, and three bystanders suffered gunshot wounds. Combs and his entourage, including his then-girlfriend, pop star-actress Jennifer Lopez, fled the scene and were chased down by police.

Reuters contributed to this report.