Man Jailed in Orange Killing Freed Pending Investigation

The manager of a title insurance company arrested in a fatal shooting in Orange was released Friday pending investigation of what authorities called “some unusual circumstances.”

Steven Allen Steeps, 34, was freed on his own recognizance from Orange County Jail, where he had been booked Thursday night following the shooting outside the Pump Room bar.

Police said Steeps had called them that night on his cellular phone to report that a man was fighting with a woman in front of the bar in the 1500 block of West Chapman Avenue.

Police said Steeps told a police dispatcher he was going to shoot the man and was told not to. As police were on their way, police said, Steeps fired, killing Russell Alan Graham, 39, of Whittier.

Tapes of the telephone call are among evidence that the district attorney is investigating to decide whether to file charges, Orange Police Department spokesman Lt. Timm Browne said Friday.

“They are evaluating witness statements, evidence from the scene and all the tape because there are some unusual circumstances they want to closely evaluate,” Browne said.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Lew Rosenblum declined to discuss what those circumstances might be or whether Steeps had acted in self-defense. But Rosenblum said that after he spoke with police Friday, “There is a question in my mind what, if any, crime was committed.”

Rosenblum said the three had been drinking in the Pump Room bar, but it wasn’t known if the men knew each other.

Browne said Graham was a glass cutter. According to the California Department of Corrections, Graham had served prison sentences for burglary, receiving stolen property, vehicular manslaughter, voluntary manslaughter and robbery.

Harold Yamanuha, owner of the Pump Room, said over the last two months Graham had become “somewhat of a regular” and was well-liked.

“He was just a good-natured guy, joking and laughing,” Yamanuha said.

Less than an hour and a half before the shooting, Yamanuha recalled, he had seen Graham in the bar.

“I gave away a free Las Vegas vacation and I asked him to pick the winning ticket from the jar,” he said.