While other children were playing games and solving puzzles, David Wambaugh at age 5 began drinking alcohol. Within a few years he was drinking almost daily. By 11, he was an alcoholic and smoked marijuana and cocaine.
He skipped school, fought, stole, vandalized, was expelled from two schools and eventually sent to a lock-down reform school.
“I was in and out of trouble for the next three plus decades, in and out of institutions from the time I was 16, and lived a life of lawlessness and debauchery,” said Wambaugh, who also spent periods living on the streets.
His mother and father, former Los Angeles police sergeant and best-selling author Joseph Wambaugh, provided incentives for good behavior, such as cars, money and shelter, without success. They sent him to rehabilitation and mental health institutions without improvement.
“I was breaking their hearts,” he said. “They tried hard, but nothing they did ever worked.”
Having a son in 1996 did not change his ways. “I was a drunk and neglectful father,” he said.
He was convicted of various drug and alcohol-related offenses, including seven DUI’s, spending 23 continuous years on probation. He repeatedly violated conditions. “I almost always had warrants out for my arrest.”
Yet, police gave him breaks on new offenses and judges gave him slaps on the wrist for violations, one judge reinstating his probation 12 times. Wambaugh believes that was partly due to his “boyish charm” and his father’s popularity among law enforcement.
“I was always able to con my way back into my parents’ good graces and stay one step ahead of the law until one day my luck ran out,” he said.
Wambaugh was finally sent to state prison in 2007. It was tough, but he says it was good for him.
In a remarkable turnaround, Wambaugh’s attitude of entitlement and invincibility was replaced with reality, humility and thoughts about his son. “I wondered what kind of damage I’d done to the boy who I claimed to love more than life itself,” he said.
“I used to pray for things like a new girlfriend because the last one dumped me because I cheated on her. Or a new car because I totaled the last one in a high-speed car chase, or a new apartment because I got evicted from the last one for not paying rent.
“However, when I was incarcerated, I didn’t pray for anything like I used to pray for. I prayed that God would help me become the best dad, the best son, the best friend, and a law-abiding citizen. He answered those prayers I think because I was praying for the right things.
“When I was paroled from prison, having never grown up, with the maturity level of a 10 year-old, I made my grand entrance into life at the ripe old age of 41. I had to learn how to live like a normal person which was foreign to me.”
After his release in 2008, Wambaugh came to San Diego and worked hard to maintain sobriety.
He was hired to conduct “interventions,” efforts aimed at persuading troubled individuals to accept treatment. After dozens of such interventions, Wambaugh noticed he had a lot in common with patients diagnosed as bi-polar and with ADHD. He was, likewise, dual diagnosed and treated.
Today, Wambaugh, 58, is a California licensed drug and alcohol counselor in San Diego with thousands of clinical hours and hundreds of successful interventions.
He often relates to patients his personal experiences to show understanding and hope. “I try not to get emotional during interventions,” Wambaugh said, “but I couldn’t help thinking about what I’d put my parents through.”
He has reconciled with his parents and connected with his son, Jake, relationships that he says mean everything to him.
Wambaugh regularly speaks to groups about mental health and addiction and wrote an autobiography in 2012, The Last Call. “My story,” he wrote, “is proof that miracles do happen, and the power of God is awesome.”
About this series
Jan Goldsmith is an Emeritus member of the U-T’s Community Advisory Board. He is an attorney and former law partner, judge, state legislator, San Diego city attorney and Poway mayor.
Someone San Diego Should Know is a column written by of the U-T’s Community Advisory Board about local people who are interesting and noteworthy because of their experiences, achievements, creativity or credentials.
