Popular Oakland rapper charged in illegal fireworks case

OAKLAND — Popular East Bay rapper Mistah F.A.B. was charged Friday with three misdemeanors after Oakland police say he had thousands of dollars’ worth of illegal fireworks in his home, according to authorities and court records.

The 44-year-old rapper, whose real name is Stanley Cox, faces two misdemeanor counts of possession of dangerous fireworks and one misdemeanor count of receiving stolen property, according to court records. The last count appears related to when Oakland police found a stolen gun while serving a search warrant at his home, the records show.

Oakland police arrested him Wednesday, and he bailed out of jail that same day. A court appearance date for him was not immediately available.

In an Instagram post Friday morning that quickly garnered thousands of likes, Cox thanked his supporters while recalling “a crazy 48 hours.”

“If I am guilty of anything, it is of serving my community, being a neighborhood hero,” said Cox, adding he was helping the community celebrate the Fourth of July and “continuing to put community first and creating safe environments for the children and for the community to come together, organize and galvanize.”

A July 4 post on Cox’s Instagram page shows him in front of a table loaded with boxed fireworks, as people set off other devices in the street a few yards away. Cox tells the camera that he’s got “about … $10,000 worth of fireworks for the kids.”

A statement from the Oakland Police Department said the investigation was part of an effort to “track illegal fireworks activity citywide to minimize impacts on residents.” It said officers on July 4 prevented an initial fireworks display, but an individual relocated the show and set off fireworks at another location. The release did not say where the fireworks were set off, nor did it specifically name Cox.

The statement said “to ensure officer safety, personnel monitored the location from a safe distance” and followed up later. That led to Cox’s arrest this week and the serving of search warrants, court records show.

Besides being a popular rapper and songwriter and entrepreneur, Mistah F.A.B. is also well known for his work in the Oakland community, having organized numerous food and toy giveaways over the years as well as school supply drives.

Beyond his business endeavors and community work, F.A.B. is also known for “showing up — announced and unannounced — at hundreds of different events and vigils” around town, said Leon “DNas” Sykes, a former local radio personality who now runs the city’s aquatics programs.

“The community is what draws him,” explained Sykes, who first befriended Cox in the early 2000s. “To have that presence in the neighborhood he grew up in, for the people who raised him — that’s what he’s all about.”