Women held in attack on husband of actress

A dental assistant obsessed with actress Sandra Bullock repeatedly tried to run over the actress’ husband, motorcycle mogul Jesse James, at the couple’s Sunset Beach home Sunday morning, authorities said.

Bullock, along with James’ 10-year-old child, witnessed Marcia D. Valentine of Huntington Beach driving back and forth “three or four times” trying to hit James with her silver Mercedes, narrowly missing him, said Orange County sheriff’s spokesman Jim Amormino.

The incident began when James noticed Valentine lying on the driveway of the couple’s home. When he asked her to leave, she shouted expletives at him, Amormino said.

When Valentine, 45, saw James pull out a cellphone, she got into her car and tried to hit him before making a high-speed escape on Pacific Coast Highway, Amormino said.

“He was lucky to get out of the way,” Amormino said.

The dental assistant was pulled over Monday when a deputy noticed that she fit the description of a blond white woman in her 40s driving a silver 2004 Mercedes C230. James identified her as his assailant in a lineup, Amormino said.

She was arrested on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon and held overnight at Central Women’s Jail in Santa Ana before posting her $25,000 bail.

Valentine is scheduled to make her first court appearance May 22, but formal charges are pending, said Farrah Emami, spokeswoman for the Orange County district attorney’s office.

Valentine has had contact with Bullock and “definitely is obsessed with her,” Amormino said. Valentine could not be reached for comment Thursday.

A spokeswoman for the celebrity couple said James was unharmed.

James is co-producer and host of the Discovery Channel’s “Monster Garage” and “Motorcycle Mania” and is chief executive of West Coast Choppers, which sells customized motorcycles.

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garrett.therolf@latimes.com