Man Set Wife’s Car on Fire, Police Say
Police are looking for a Ventura man they say set ablaze his estranged wife’s Mercedes Benz early Monday morning.
Authorities said Darin Houser went to the home of his wife, Helen, in the 6000 block of Bridgeview Drive in Ventura just after midnight and doused the car, parked in a driveway, with a flammable liquid. Houser is then alleged to have thrown a flare into the car, which erupted into flames.
Houser allowed the fire to continue long enough to destroy the car before extinguishing the blaze, authorities said. He fled, but called his wife a short time later to tell her he had burned her car, police said.
The couple is currently going through a divorce, police said.
Anyone with information on the whereabouts of Houser is asked to contact the Ventura Police Department at 339-4400.
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