LOS ANGELES _ A sex offender who led police on a wild pursuit from Los Angeles to Kern County this week was arrested Thursday afternoon, authorities said.
Stephen Houk was arrested in Barstow around 4:30 p.m., according to Nicole Nishida, a spokeswoman for the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department.
Additional details were not immediately available.
He was wanted on suspicion of evading, child abduction, child endangerment and weapons violations after a dispute with his wife in Santa Clarita sparked the bizarre series of encounters with police on Tuesday morning.
Houk, 46, was sought by sheriff's deputies in Santa Clarita, and chased by Los Angeles police when his motor home was spotted in Hollywood around 3 p.m. Tuesday. Police soon learned his two children, a 3-year-old son and 11-month old daughter, were in the vehicle.
Houk then led police on a chase north to Kern County and through Bakersfield, before he drove into an almond orchard, forcing officers to hang back when dust from the road and heavy brush obscured their vision.
Eventually, the motor home got stuck on soggy ground. Police found both children unharmed, but Houk ran away and was feared to be armed.
Sheriff's officials said Houk is wanted in Oregon, where he is registered as a sex offender. In 2002, Houk was convicted of sodomy and sexual abuse, according to records from the Oregon Judicial Department.
He had been on the run for almost two years before Tuesday's chase and had been living in the motor home with his wife and two children as they left Oregon, police said.
Houk's wife told investigators Tuesday that he had pointed a revolver at her face.
