Memorial Pays Tribute to Two Fallen Deputies

Lake Forest has been a city for only nine years but already has a grim distinction: Two Orange County sheriff’s deputies have died while on duty there.

To honor those men and other fallen officers, the city dedicated a memorial to them Wednesday, the first anniversary of Deputy Brad Riches’ death. Riches was fatally shot outside a convenience store. Maurice Gerald Steskal, an unemployed laborer, was arrested and charged with Riches’ slaying. He is awaiting trial.

On Christmas Day 1993, Deputy Darryn L. Robins was fatally shot by his partner during an informal training exercise. That tragedy and Riches’ death both happened only a few blocks from the memorial.

About 300 law enforcement officers, city officials, residents and friends of the two fallen deputies gathered for Wednesday’s solemn ceremony at Village Pond Park on Ridge Route Drive. The memorial--a young oak tree with a low granite bench on each side and a plaque inscribed with the names of Riches and Robins--is beside the pond.

Among those attending was Deputy Mark Northart, who worked with both deputies. “You know, Brad and Darryn were a lot alike,” he said. “They would both do about anything for you.”

The deputies’ deaths stunned residents of Lake Forest, a placid city with a low crime rate.

Robins’ death “had a deep impact for the community,” said Mayor Richard T. Dixon, a Lake Forest founder and a member of the City Council at the time. “When something of this nature happens to an innocent, then it’s even more shocking.”

Julie Strickland, who moved to Lake Forest because of its reputation as a safe place to live, was at home on Costa Bella Drive when Riches was gunned down at the strip mall across the street. She heard shots and watched in shock as police cars swarmed the street while helicopters circled overhead.

“Lake Forest is a really quiet city,” she said this week. “Things like this don’t happen here.”

Moved by the tragedy, Strickland planned a candlelight vigil for Riches that drew 1,800 people, including Riches’ best friend, Jim Henery, a Santa Ana firefighter who lives in an unincorporated area near Lake Forest.

He remembers Riches as a gentle man who loved his job. When Henery was working late on a shift, Riches would sometimes patrol his neighborhood. It made him feel safer, he said Wednesday.

“I used to always tell him, ‘You be careful,’ ” Henery said. “Brad would say, ‘Are you kidding? I work in Lake Forest.’ I think he was more afraid of me getting killed than him.”

His friend’s death, he said, “tells you things happen everywhere.”