Newport Beach man arrested after chase and standoff has history of criminal convictions across the country, court records say

A Newport Beach man arrested after a police chase and standoff ended in a Newport parking lot Wednesday has a history of fraud, grand theft, larceny and other convictions in cases across the country, according to court records.

Richard Scott Bloustine, 53, was taken into custody after a two-hour drama in which police initially tried to stop him in Laguna Beach on a no-bail warrant, Laguna Beach police Sgt. Jim Cota said.

Police had been notified that Bloustine was seen in the downtown area, Cota said.

An officer identified Bloustine’s Mercedes-Benz and tried to stop it at the corner of Broadway Street and North Coast Highway, Cota said, but the driver did not comply.

The Mercedes continued at normal speeds and eventually entered the 73 Toll Road before winding through streets in Irvine, Costa Mesa and Newport Beach, finally stopping in the parking lot of a medical center on Avocado Avenue in the Newport Center area.

The car was surrounded by police officers with guns drawn as the driver sat inside.

At about 4:55 p.m., after an armored police vehicle pulled up behind the Mercedes, Bloustine exited the car, got on the ground and surrendered.

Crisis negotiators had been speaking with him by phone, police said.

Cota said Bloustine had told authorities in a phone call that he was armed. After the arrest, authorities determined there was no weapon in the car, Cota said.

The Daily Pilot reported in February 2016 that Bloustine was sentenced to seven years in prison after pleading guilty to intentionally writing more than $200,000 worth of bad checks.

Newport man sentenced to 7 years for writing more than $200,000 in bad checks »

He also was ordered to pay restitution to his victims and a $444,000 fine as part of his sentence, according to the Orange County district attorney’s office.

He pleaded guilty to five felony counts of grand theft, 10 felony counts of writing a check for insufficient funds, one felony count of unlawful taking of a vehicle and a variety of sentencing enhancements.

According to court records, he was released in March 2018 and ordered to comply with a post-release supervision program until March 15, 2021.

Bloustine’s other criminal convictions include grand theft, burglary and using force with a deadly weapon in California; defrauding an innkeeper and larceny in Florida; theft in Maryland; criminal use of a financial card in Kansas; larceny, theft of services and fraud in Texas; fraud, larceny and fraudulent schemes in Arizona; and theft and credit card fraud in Hawaii, according to a report earlier this year by an Orange County probation officer.

According to the report, a probation officer found Bloustine in violation of his post-release supervision terms in connection with an alleged grand theft incident June 26.

Other violations alleged in the report included failing to report to the probation department, failing to comply with a drug test and violating a domestic violence restraining order that was in place since 2014.

Bloustine pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor count of disobeying the restraining order and was sentenced Feb. 2 to 60 days in jail and three years’ informal probation, court records show.

On Feb. 21, Bloustine was ordered to serve 90 days in jail for violating terms of his parole. He was released March 2 but did not report to probation authorities within 24 hours, court documents said. This month, according to the petition for the arrest warrant, Bloustine told a probation officer that he had signed himself into treatment at two different Malibu-based programs, but after contacting the facilities, the officer determined that Bloustine wasn’t in their care. On April 9, the probationer told Bloustine that the court would be informed that he was not in compliance with the terms of his parole, court documents said.

The arrest warrant was issued April 18, court records show.

Bloustine is being held at Orange County Jail and is scheduled to appear in court Friday, according to jail records.

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