Man Repeatedly Run Over, Dies

A Newport Beach woman was arrested Wednesday on suspicion of killing her estranged husband by repeatedly running over him in the car they had been arguing about, authorities said.

Witnesses told investigators they saw Kenneth Jerome Van Houten get thrown off his bike after he was hit by a faded red Geo Storm about 8 a.m. Wednesday, Newport Beach Police Sgt. Mike McDermott said.

Horrified, they watched as the car backed toward the 52-year-old man as he lay motionless on the ground, McDermott said. The car hit Van Houten three times before the driver fled the scene at the intersection of Flagship and Patrice roads.

Paramedics treated Van Houten at the scene, and he was transported to Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian with injuries to his head and upper body. He died at the hospital.

A few hours later, officers arrested Leslie Van Houten, 40, at a Newport Beach home where she worked as a housekeeper. (Police said the woman is no relation to the Leslie Van Houten serving a prison sentence for a 1969 murder orchestrated by Charles Manson.)

McDermott said the couple, who still lived together with their three children, had argued about whether the wife could use the car.

“She wanted to hide the car, but her husband found out about it,” McDermott said. “He wanted to put a Club on the car to prevent her from using it, [but] she found him.”

McDermott said the woman may also have been distraught over the couple’s pending divorce.

The hit-and-run shocked many residents on Flagship Road, a quiet area of well-kept houses surrounded by white picket fences.

One resident said she was getting ready for work when she heard the sound of the impact early Wednesday. Looking out of her window, Karina Levinson said she saw a motionless body, a crumpled brown sports bike and debris strewn across the intersection. Then, she said, she saw a car backing toward the body at high speed.

“I thought she was coming back to help him,” Levinson said. “But she came back to kill him.”

A neighbor of the couple described them as energetic and hard-working. The husband took pride in the lime green house with the brown thatched roof, often fixing it up or working in the small garden, the neighbor said.

Others said the husband had been looking for the car since Tuesday.

“He said someone stole his car,” the neighbor said. “The last time I saw him, he was asking me about it.”

The couple’s children--ages 12 to 17--were taken to Orangewood Children’s Home, the county’s home for abandoned or abused children, McDermott said.

Van Houten was being held Wednesday at Newport Beach City Jail on bail of $250,000. Her arraignment is scheduled for Friday.