Devin Allen, seen here in a photo posted on a friend's Facebook wall, was a popular Oceanside resident...
By R. Stickney
A man stabbed near a Carlsbad pub was approached by two men and asked for a cigarette moments before the deadly attack.
Devin Allen, 27, of Oceanside, was leaving Hensley's Flying Elephant Pub & Grill on Tamarack Avenue around 10:40 p.m. Friday when he was approached by the men his friends said.
One asked Allen for a cigarette. Soon after, Allen was stabbed.
"It happened so fast," David Bernstein told our media partners the North County Times. "One minute we're laughing and taking pictures, the next second he's being flown to the hospital and then they are telling us he died."
Carlsbad police are investigating the attack that took place west of Interstate 5 near Harding Street and Carol Place.
The suspect fled the scene and the weapon used in the stabbing was not found, police said.
"Devin was the last person you would expect something like this to happen to," said longtime friend Joshua Donahue.
Allen grew up in Oceanside and his parents still live there. He loved to fish with his 6-year-old daughter and was a big supporter of local music, Donahue said.
In fact, he was at Hensley's that night to see his friend Donahue play with his band Oceanside SoundSystem.
When he left the bar with friends, that's when he was attacked.
"He was in the wrong place at the wrong time," Donahue said. "It could've happened to anyone and it happened to poor Devin."
Friends are planning a benefit Saturday, April 2 with proceeds to go to the Allen family. The location will be the Pier View Pub in Oceanside from 2:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. A lot of local bands are coming in to play throughout the benefit.
It's important to Donahue that he help support the family of the kid he said "broke the mold."
"He had that personality that you couldn’t be his enemy," Donahue said. "It was impossible to not like this guy."
Another memorial is planned for Wednesday, March 30 from 5 to 8 p.m. at Grubby's Diner on South Coast Highway.
Skate shop Grandeur O-side is planning on creating a very limited board in the memory of Allen, nicknamed "Devo" by friends.
"Big love to the whole family," the company posted on its Facebook page. "He was a great, genuine, real, just flat out good person."
Anyone with information relating to the crime is asked to call the Carlsbad Police Department at (760) 931-2197 or Crime Stoppers’ anonymous tip line at (888) 580-8477. Crime Stoppers can also be anonymously emailed or texted online.