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8 | May 17, 2018 | Malibu surfside news news<br />
malibusurfsidenews.com<br />
Man living in RV in Malibu led police on two-day, multi-county hunt<br />
Lauren Coughlin, Editor<br />
vintage<br />
summer<br />
bbq<br />
kickoff<br />
WITH THE ROMAN HELMETS<br />
Stephen Merle Houk, 47,<br />
a sex offender on parole<br />
who reportedly fled from<br />
police in his motorhome<br />
after threatening his wife<br />
with a .357 Magnum revolver<br />
and kidnapping his<br />
two young children, is expected<br />
to be arraigned on<br />
May 30.<br />
The latest charges<br />
against Houk followed a<br />
May 1 incident in the family’s<br />
RV, which was then<br />
parked in Malibu, according<br />
to a May 7 press release<br />
from the Los Angeles<br />
County District Attorney’s<br />
Office.<br />
“The defendant is accused<br />
of pointing a loaded<br />
firearm at [his wife] and<br />
threatening to kill her,” the<br />
press release states. “The<br />
two children, ages 3 and<br />
1, were awakened by the<br />
commotion, the prosecutor<br />
said.”<br />
Houk later fled the RV<br />
on foot near Bakersfield,<br />
and reportedly ran for<br />
about three hours, avoiding<br />
the highway, according<br />
to a May 4 press<br />
conference statement by<br />
Capt. Eddie Hernandez, of<br />
the Major Crimes Bureau.<br />
Police found a family dog<br />
and the children safe inside<br />
the abandoned RV.<br />
Alerts sent out by the<br />
Los Angeles County Sheriff’s<br />
Office identified Houk<br />
as being armed and dangerous.<br />
Houk, who reportedly<br />
shaved his beard and spent<br />
the evening in a homeless<br />
shelter in Bakersfield,<br />
was arrested around 4:30<br />
p.m. on May 3 in Barstow,<br />
where he was found hiding<br />
in an empty rail car. He<br />
was believed to be trying<br />
to head toward Arizona.<br />
The handgun was missing<br />
as of May 4.<br />
Members of the LA<br />
County Sheriff’s Department<br />
Major Crimes Bureau<br />
Fugitive Task Force,<br />
the US Marshals Services,<br />
the Kern County Sheriff’s<br />
Department, San<br />
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Bernardino County Sheriff’s<br />
Department, Barstow<br />
Police Department and<br />
the Burlington Northern<br />
Santa Fe Railroad Police<br />
were involved in the<br />
arrest.<br />
Houk faces two counts<br />
each of kidnapping, child<br />
abuse, injuring a spouse<br />
and child detention, and<br />
one count each of assault<br />
with a firearm, criminal<br />
threats, fleeing a pursuing<br />
peace officer’s motor<br />
vehicle, possession of a<br />
firearm by a felon, fugitive<br />
from justice, and transient’s<br />
violation of registration<br />
(a misdemeanor),<br />
according to the DA’s<br />
Office.<br />
The children are in<br />
protective custody, and<br />
the mother is being assisted<br />
by the Department<br />
of Children and Family<br />
Services, Hernandez<br />
said during a May 2 press<br />
conference.<br />
In March 2002 in Oregon’s<br />
Marion County,<br />
Houk was convicted of<br />
sodomy in the first degree,<br />
a felony, the case file details.<br />
Hernandez noted that<br />
Houk had not checked in<br />
with his parole officer in<br />
Oregon for two years.<br />
Houk’s bail is set at $1<br />
million. Investigation by<br />
the Los Angeles County<br />
Sheriff’s Department Major<br />
Crimes Bureau is ongoing.<br />
Deputy District Attorney<br />
Tal Kahana, of<br />
the Child Abduction<br />
Section, is prosecuting<br />
the case.<br />
Electrical fire on Las Flores<br />
Heights Road extinguished<br />
Lauren Coughlin, Editor<br />
Los Angeles County Fire<br />
Department units were<br />
dispatched but ultimately<br />
unneeded for a Thursday,<br />
May 10 fire in the 20800<br />
First responders called to beach for medical incident<br />
Lauren Coughlin, Editor<br />
An individual was transported<br />
to the hospital Thursday,<br />
May 10, following a<br />
medical emergency at Dan<br />
Blocker Beach in Malibu.<br />
Stephen Merle Houk, who reportedly threatened his wife<br />
and kidnapped their children on May 1 while in Malibu,<br />
was arrested May 3 in Barstow.<br />
Poster Courtesy of the LA County Sheriff’s Department<br />
block of Las Flores Heights<br />
Road.<br />
The call came in to Los<br />
Angeles County Fire Department<br />
officials around<br />
10:33 a.m., but by the<br />
time officials arrived at<br />
10:49 a.m., the caller was<br />
able to put it out, Fire<br />
Inspector Joey Marron<br />
said.<br />
Officials verified that it<br />
was an electrical fire. No<br />
injuries were reported.<br />
LA County Fire officials<br />
received a call regarding a<br />
male who was reportedly<br />
harming himself around<br />
1:30 p.m., according to<br />
Fire Inspector Joey Marron.<br />
By 2:30 p.m., the individual<br />
had been transported.<br />
The individual’s<br />
condition was not being<br />
released.<br />
Police confirmed there<br />
was no danger to the public.
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