SANTA ANA : Man Not Charged in Shooting Death

A Tustin man who fatally shot another man fighting with a woman outside a bar this month was acting in self-defense and will not be charged in the death, prosecutors said Friday.

Stephen Allen Steeps, 34, fired when Russell Alan Graham of Whittier charged him while Steeps was calling police on a cellular phone to report the fight outside the Pump Room Bar in Orange on Dec. 1.

Graham, 39, was shot in the head with a large-caliber handgun, police said.

Prosecutors decided not to file charges after listening to the tape of a 911 call Steeps made on his car phone as Graham fought with a girlfriend in the parking lot, Deputy Dist. Atty. Lewis R. Rosenblum said. Steeps told a police dispatcher he had a gun and would use it to stop the beating but was cautioned not to get involved, Rosenblum said.

When Graham saw Steeps talking on his cellular phone, he charged at him and ignored Steeps’ warnings to stop, which were heard on the tape, Rosenblum said. Steeps fired when Graham was within five feet, Rosenblum said.

“Mr. Steeps was acting in an honest . . . self-defense,” Rosenblum said. “He’s obviously concerned about the guy’s stability and the guy’s violent nature.”

But Rosenblum said Steeps was charged Friday with illegally carrying a concealed weapon in his car. The charge carries a maximum jail sentence of six months and $1,000 fine. Arraignment is scheduled for Dec. 28.

Rosenblum said initial accounts of the incident portrayed Steeps as a vigilante.

“This was no vigilante,” he said. “This was a young man placed in a frightening situation. He panicked and shot.”