Pitcher’s hearing rescheduled

The arrest of former Oakland A’s All-Star pitcher and reality television star Matt Keough at a Newport Beach hotel bar earlier this week has Balboa Peninsula residents talking about problems with crime they say are caused by recovering drug and alcohol addicts in their neighborhood.

Residents claim the peninsula is overrun by rehabilitation homes. Keough attended treatment for five months at the Balboa Peninsula-based recovery center Sober Living by the Sea and continued to attend daily meetings there as recently as 2006.

“Everybody is calling everyone else about it,” said peninsula resident Ken Kuhlmann. “It’s just another one of those things that happens. If they put him back down here he’ll probably go out and party at night again.”

Keough’s hearing Friday for an alcohol-related probation violation was rescheduled for Jan. 14.

“He’s committed to getting treatment,” said Joseph McGinley, one of Keough’s attorneys. Keough’s wife, Jeana Keough, former Playboy Playmate and star of the reality television show “The Real Housewives of Orange County,” sat in the back row of the courtroom talking with an attorney before the hearing was rescheduled. She declined to speak with reporters. Jeana Keough announced in the third season of the hit television series the couple had separated.

Keough was in a courtroom holding cell with disheveled hair and wearing an orange jail jumpsuit. Jail records show he is ineligible for bail. The former ballplayer, whose family life in an upscale South County gated community is detailed on “The Real Housewives,” was arrested at a hotel bar Tuesday for violating the terms of his probation for a 2005 conviction for driving under the influence.

Newport Beach police officers found Keough, 52, drinking Tuesday evening at the Marriott Hotel, 900 Newport Center Drive, after concerned hotel staff called authorities, Newport Beach police Sgt. Evan Sailor said.

Balboa Peninsula residents claim rehabilitation centers bring people with criminal records into their neighborhood. Sober Living by the Sea officials told the Daily Pilot earlier this month that about 6% of their clientele are on probation, typically for drug or alcohol-related charges.

Sober Living by the Sea is one of about 26 state-licensed rehabilitation facilities in Newport Beach, according to data collected by the City of Newport Beach.

“This is the revolving door and no one wants to answer for it,” said Balboa Peninsula resident Lori Morris, who believes rehabilitation centers near her home bring a criminal element into Newport Beach. “Whatever Sober Living did for him obviously wasn’t good enough, and they’ll probably send him to treatment again here.”

Keough had just finished a seven-week stint at the Newport Beach jail as a trustee for another alcohol-related probation violation before his most recent arrest, Sailor said. During his stay, Keough performed routine maintenance tasks such as washing patrol cars, Sailor said. Keough finished his term as a trustee Dec. 12, Sailor said.

Keough said publicly in 2006 he voluntarily checked himself into treatment at the Betty Ford Clinic for about a month and later attended an outpatient treatment program at Sober Living by the Sea.

Keough is not supposed to drink any alcohol under the terms of his probation. In 2005, he pleaded guilty in Orange County Superior Court to driving under the influence with a blood alcohol content of .08% or more causing injury.

Orange County Sheriff’s deputies arrested Keough in April 2005 after he slammed his sport utility vehicle into another vehicle at a red light in Rancho Santa Margarita.

The impact caused the other vehicle to hit a man walking his bicycle across the intersection. The man was hospitalized. Keough left the scene and was found to have blood alcohol content more than 2 1/2 times the legal limit.

Orange County Sheriff’s Dept. Spokesman Jim Amormino said Oakland Athletics officials are seeking treatment for Keough.

“I think the best thing to do is try to treat them first,” Amormino said. “It’s a sickness. I think the Oakland A’s are going in the right direction.”

BRIANNA BAILEY may be reached at (714) 966-4625 or at [email protected].