COUNTYWIDE : Riverside Fugitive Flown From Sweden

After a drawn-out battle of appeals in a Swedish court, U.S. authorities extradited a Riverside man Friday who allegedly abducted his 3-year-old son, faked their deaths and fled the country to avoid prosecution on several criminal charges in Orange and Riverside counties.

The charge of unlawful flight to avoid prosecution was dropped against Scott Steele, 32, during his arraignment in a Los Angeles federal court Friday, officials said.

However, Steele was ordered to remain in custody in the federal Metropolitan Detention Center in Los Angeles, where he arrived by plane at 3:20 a.m. Friday, pending a decision about the other charges.

Orange County Deputy Dist. Atty. Burl Estes predicted that the federal prosecutor would drop the unlawful flight charges because they usually are pressed only in relation to extradition proceedings. Estes said the district attorney wants Steele to be released to Orange County, where he faces charges of grand theft, forgery and perjury.

In addition, Steele faces charges of child abduction and passing bad checks in Riverside County, according to Bruce Rouse, a senior investigator in the Riverside district attorney’s office.

Steele had been in a Swedish prison since April and had fought extradition in a number of hearings, officials said. But at the last hearing, a Swedish judge ordered him extradited, Rouse said.

Police in Uppsala, north of Stockholm, arrested Steele on April 28 at the home of his girlfriend, Susanne Pettersson, who was a nanny for the Steele family before Steele and his wife separated. Pettersson is suspected of aiding Steele in the abduction of his son, Schyler, who was living with them at the house in Sweden.

On March 11, during a weekend visit to Santa Catalina Island with his son and girlfriend, Steele allegedly fled with Schyler. Pettersson reported to authorities that Steele and Schyler had not returned from an outing in a small inflatable boat. The Coast Guard conducted a massive search, but later learned that the disappearance was a hoax and that the two already were on a plane headed for Sweden. Pettersson joined them later at her home in Sweden before U.S. authorities could arrest her.

Steele’s estranged wife, Marci Steele, regained custody of the child in a Swedish court in May and now lives in Tustin with Schyler and the Steeles’ other son, Garrett, 2.

Scott Steele faces charges of grand theft, perjury and forgery in connection with his operation of what state Department of Motor Vehicle officials called a “gray market” auto firm in Dana Point. Steele imported and registered European cars, forged tax forms and pocketed more than $44,000 that should have gone to the state, officials said.

Marci Steele said she is worried that officials have not kept her informed of Steele’s whereabouts. She said she learned of his extradition only because he called her from a portable phone in his jail cell. His girlfriend’s father had given him the phone, and he called almost every week, she said.

“Sometimes he was depressed and sometimes angry” when he called, she said. “I don’t trust him. (When he calls) I just listen to him because it is easier than trying to disagree or ask questions. He asked me if I would call the district attorney and tell him to ‘go easy on me.’ ”

Steele’s attorney, Kenneth Miller, could not be reached for comment.