‘It Could Have Been Anyone’

Sgt. Ron Acuna and Deputy Brad Riches left the Orange County sheriff’s station in Lake Forest about the same time early Saturday, Acuna to pick up a cup of coffee and Riches to patrol the quiet city streets.

Both men’s paths took them to the 7-Eleven at Muirlands Boulevard and Ridge Route Drive, a spot frequented by deputies because of its convenient location and their concern for the well-being of the overnight clerks.

Acuna got there first, bought his coffee and was back in the station when Riches’ voice crackled over the radio: “Emergency traffic.”

Within minutes, Riches was dead.

“It could have been me,” Acuna said later. “It could have been anyone who happened to be here.”

It was a familiar refrain among Orange County sheriff’s deputies struggling Monday to find some reason behind the seemingly senseless ambush of Riches, the first Orange County deputy killed on patrol in 41 years.

The instinct, deputies said, is to learn from mistakes, to devise a protocol that might keep a similar killing from happening.

But the problem, said Sgt. Wayne Quint, is that there didn’t appear to be any lessons to learn.

“We don’t like to think about how vulnerable we are, so you look for red flags,” said Quint, president of the Assn. of Orange County Sheriff’s Deputies.

“But there was nothing here. He was sitting in his patrol car and he’s suddenly taking fire. He could do nothing. That’s what really rips cops. . . . Everyone I’ve talked to, the first thing out of their mouths is, ‘It could have been me.’ ”

The suspect, Maurice Gerald Steskal, 39, of Lake Forest, was charged Monday with murder with the special circumstance of killing an on-duty police officer, which would make him eligible for the death penalty, said David Brent, an Orange County deputy district attorney.

Steskal was to be arraigned today at South County Municipal Court. He was being held without bail in Orange County Jail.

At Steskal’s apartment Monday, his wife, Nenita Steskal, dealt with a stream of journalists seeking details of the accused man’s life.

The couple married six years ago in the Philippines, she said, declining to detail the relationship.

She said she remained unaware of much of his personal background. He was born in Massachusetts and raised in Orange County, but she didn’t know what high school he attended.

His family moved around a lot, she said, and his parents now are in Saudi Arabia on business, though she didn’t know what that business involved. Neighbors of the parents said Steskal’s father works for Aramco, the oil production consortium. Attempts to reach him through the firm were not successful.

The wife said Steskal worked as a mail clerk and in in printing and silk screening, getting jobs through temporary agencies.

She said he sometimes complained about being pressured by bosses and other employees, but didn’t seem particularly angry over the incidents.