Newport Beach City Atty. David R. Hunt will go on voluntary administrative leave a little more than one week after he was arrested on suspicion of felony spousal abuse.
Hunt, 52, was arguing with his son at his Santa Ana home on March 14 when his wife intervened and Hunt struck her, causing her to hit a table and then the floor, police said. The 49-year-old woman had a cut on her arm and a large bump on the back of her head, police said. She was taken to a hospital for treatment.
In a recording of the 911 call, one of Hunt’s sons can be heard telling a dispatcher “my dad just went crazy, he pushed my mom down and started going after my brother.”
On Tuesday, City Council members met in closed session with Hunt and separately with his wife, said Mayor Keith D. Curry. During the meeting Hunt asked to be placed on administrative leave.
Assistant City Atty. Leonie Mulvihill was appointed acting city attorney in his absence.
The City Council has hired independent counsel to guide the board as members continue to examine how to proceed in the case, Curry said.
Hunt was booked at Orange County Jail and released the next day. He has been city attorney in Newport Beach since 2008.
— Paloma Esquivel in Orange County