Kilpatrick's press secretary arrested for domestic abuse

Kilpatrick's press secretary arrested Allen charged with domestic abuse, resisting arrest November 2, 2007 BY BEN SCHMITT AND ZACHARY GORCHOW FREE PRESS STAFF WRITERS The attorney for Matt Allen, the press secretary for Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, said he expects him to be arraigned today on domestic abuse charges. Allen’s attorney, Richard Steinberg, said police arrested Allen for domestic violence and resisting and obstructing arrest.Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy said in a statement that police responded at 2:35 a.m. to a 911 call in the 2000 block of Seminole. When police arrived, a woman identifying herself as Allen’s spouse said there had been an argument and that Allen became upset and shoved her into a wall.The domestic violence charge is a misdemeanor punishable by up to 93 days in jail. The resisting/obstruction charge is a felony punishable by up to two years in prison.Allen, a former military police officer, attended the Detroit Press Club Steak Out media event Thursday night that served free beer and wine at the Marriott Hotel inside the Renaissance Center. AdvertisementDetroit police spokeswoman Yvette Walker said this morning that Allen is in custody and the situation remains under investigation.She said she was unsure about the extent of injuries to Allen’s wife, who is the complainant.She declined to release further details.Steinberg called the incident “a petty quarrel that got blown out of proportion and escalated after the police got involved.” He said Allen’s wife, Tania Allen, called police, but declined to answer who he thought was blowing the incident out of proportion.“I expect Matt to be completely exonerated,” he said.Worthy said in her statement: “Domestic violence is a crime that doesn’t discriminate. It has no racial, ethnic or class boundaries. If you or someone you know is a victim of domestic violence please contact your local police department. In an emergency, call 911.”Stewart McMillin lives two doors down from the Allens. He called Matt Allen a great guy who moved into the neighborhood about four years and fixed up the red brick colonial he shares with his family. “He cares about this community,’’ McMillin said.McMillin recalls an incident this summer in which Allen’s wife came to his house one evening and was visibly upset. McMillin said Tania Allen told him that she and her husband had been fighting.“She was clearly upset and disappointed. She didn’t like the way that Matt was behaving,’’ McMillin said.When McMillin walked her home, he said, Matt Allen appeared upset. “He swore a little.’’It's not the first time Allen has been in the media spotlight for personal matters.Allen told the media in September that during the past four years he failed to live full time in the city of Detroit, or keep his automobile registration and insurance registered to his Detroit residence.Allen said he has owned a home in Detroit, but for personal reasons also has lived at his parents' home in Huntington Woods. Allen's automobile registration and insurance are now registered in Detroit.In an interview, Allen called the situation an oversight. He declined to elaborate on what the personal reasons were for living in Huntington Woods or how much time he spent there.A number of city residents register their automobiles to addresses of relatives outside the city to avoid paying higher insurance rates.Allen denied any effort to pay a lower insurance rate.In late 2005, Kilpatrick ordered all of his appointees to live in the city.Come back to freep.com for more on this story as it dev