YORBA LINDA : Murder Warrant Issued for Ex-Deputy

Authorities issued an arrest warrant Tuesday for a former Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputy in connection with the fatal shooting of an Alpha Beta manager during a robbery last month.

Police are seeking Stephen Moreland Redd, 49, in connection with the Yorba Linda slaying and two crimes in Orange this year at the same shopping center. A security guard was shot in one of those.

“Mr. Redd is considered armed and dangerous,” said Brea Detective Jerry Brakebill, whose department patrols Yorba Linda. “He is a killer and has attempted to kill three people, as well as the robberies.”

Redd was released from state prison last year after serving 11 years of an 18-year sentence for wounding a police officer during a La Habra bank robbery in 1982.

Redd, whose last known address was in Fullerton, is believed to be in Southern California, where he has relatives and friends, Brakebill said. Redd is 6 feet tall and has a shaved head, but he often changes his appearance by growing a beard, wearing wigs and rapidly altering his weight. Redd is a surfer and roller skater and was seen two weekends ago near Santa Monica Pier, Brakebill said.

The Alpha Beta night manager, Timothy Eugene McVeigh, 34, of Santa Ana, was shot to death when he approached the check stand where a gunman wearing a wig was holding up a clerk for $156, Brakebill said.

Redd also is suspected of wounding a uniformed security guard near a Vons market on Lincoln Avenue in May. That attacker wore a long, brown wig. He also is suspected of a holdup at a Sav-On store in March at the same shopping center.

Brakebill said police linked Redd to all three crimes through evidence left at the scenes. He declined to say what that evidence was.

Redd served as a Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputy from 1967 to 1973, when he resigned for personal reasons.

After robbing Security Pacific Bank in 1982, he led police on a chase over three counties, firing an automatic rifle with one hand and driving at speeds topping 100 m.p.h.

The wounded officer, John Reese, retired two years ago after years of surgery and rehabilitation, said La Habra Police Sgt. Phil Stufflebean.

Brea police asked anyone with information to contact authorities at (714) 671-4473 or (714) 990-7911. Alpha Beta’s parent company has offered a $10,000 reward for information leading to a conviction in the murder case.