Zora owner arrested again after allegedly allowing minor in Des Moines bar
Edwin Allen III, the controversial owner of Zora Bar & Rooftop on Ingersoll Avenue in Des Moines, was charged this week with allowing a minor into his drinking establishment in February.
Allen was arrested March 25 and has a court hearing on the misdemeanor charge April 23, according to a criminal complaint filed Wednesday. A Des Moines police report on the case was not immediately available.
Allen has not commented to the Des Moines Register on any of several recent criminal charges against him.
He pleaded not guilty in Polk County District Court to a January stalking charge after police alleged he conspired with friend and fellow bar owner Steve McFadden to track McFadden’s ex-girlfriend using a GPS device planted in her car. A judge denied Allen's motion to dismiss the case. Representing himself, he's also asked to see the cell phone records of the alleged victim in the case, which a Polk County prosecutor said would subject her to "court-sanctioned harassment," court documents show.
A pretrial conference in the case is set for April 5.
More: Des Moines bar Zora up for sale as embattled owner faces stalking charge
Allen, 45, recently agreed to plead guilty to disorderly conduct to resolve harassment charges against him. A residential landlord in addition to owning Zora, he was accused last year of terrifying a tenant's children, ages 12 and 8, by banging on their door when the woman wasn’t home and yelling at them to let him in. Allen was ordered to undergo a substance abuse evaluation and is scheduled to be sentenced May 25.
The plea deal also resolved another case that was set to go to trial at the end of February. Allen was accused of second-degree harassment for reportedly yelling racial slurs and other derogatory comments over the phone at the daughter of another of his tenants.
And last month, a former tenant of one of Allen's residential properties, Cyndi Collins, sued him under Iowa's Civil Rights Act, alleging he demanded sex from her in exchange for a break on her rent.
Allen earlier this month put Zora up for sale, asking $4 million for the 5,500-square-foot building at 2120 Ingersoll Ave., which is assessed at $1.5 million. County records show he has fallen more than $16,700 behind on its property taxes, which were due in September and in March. He also has twice increased the amount of a $2.9 million, 20-year loan from Community First Credit Union in Ottumwa on the Zora building, county records show.
The custom-built bar, which opened in 2021, appeared to be doing sparse business amid a lengthy streetscaping project last year along Ingersoll. And it received heavy social media criticism after the Nov. 26 shooting death in its parking lot of 29-year-old Alonzo Lee Kearney after a fight broke out. Police described the scene as chaotic, and though there were more than 20 witnesses, no one was arrested.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Edwin Allen, Zora owner, charged with allowing minor in bar
