After 520 local arrests and a documentary about his battle with the bottle, Mark David Allen, 50, 'lived and died so that others could live and learn.'By Joseph Serna
The numbers are mind-boggling.
About 520 arrests in Newport Beach. At least 277 cases filed against him by prosecutors in Orange County. Plus an unknown amount in Hawaii, Los Angeles or any of the other places he landed after a stint in jail or rehab.
But the number that's most important to those who knew Mark David Allen, or felt they knew him, is somewhere in the thousands.
That's how many lives Allen touched through his documented story of a decades-long battle with alcoholism.
He died Wednesday at 50 years old. He was found lying face down in the street near 43rd Street and Seashore Drive about 5 a.m. His cause of death was inconclusive following an autopsy, so the county coroner will perform a toxicology screening. Results are expected in six to eight weeks.
His death was expected but surprising at the same time, said Newport Beach Police Custody Officer David J. Sperling. For more than 10 years, Sperling has recorded Allen's frequent -- sometimes twice-daily -- visits into the city jail. He recorded Allen's 500th arrest last summer.
Sperling got Allen's permission to film him and create a movie out of it years ago, and has kept in touch with Allen ever since. "Drunk in Public" has won awards at film festivals across the country.
Allen's death spread like wildfire across the recovery community, particularly those who were moved by his struggles shown in "Drunk in Public."
Continue Reading: dailypilot.com
Leave a comment