Roll of Honor
Incident
Sergeant John Steel was killed when his motorcycle was struck by a driver who had fallen asleep at the wheel on Irvine Boulevard east of Sand Canyon Road, in Irvine. The suspect was an illegal alien and was deported to Mexico. The man returned to the United States shortly after being deported and was subsequently sent to jail for eight months. Sergeant Steel had served with the California Highway Patrol for 21 years.
Survivors
He was survived by his wife and two sons.
In Our Keeping
- Permanent identifier
BO-US-CA-2603C2C3- Stewardship
- Maintained by NeuraWeb Global Inc.
- Added to badge.nw
- April 2, 2026
- Last updated
- July 23, 2026
Honored here by 1 sentinel - 1 tribute.
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Tributes
21 years. You could have gone home.
Sergeant Steel gave the California Highway Patrol 21 years. Still answering calls at the end.
Thank you for your service to the people of California. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, Sergeant Steel.
— S. Vincent Anthony, U.S. Army 1985-1993
Agency
Service Record
Incident Details
Sergeant John Lee Steel is one of 10,088 officers lost to accidents in the line of duty across the full record of this memorial — 31% of all 32,508 officers honored here.
In CA, 719 of 1,837 officers were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 39.1% of this state's fallen. That is 8.1 percentage points above the national rate of 31%.
At California Highway Patrol, 151 of 233 officers on record were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 64.8% of this agency's fallen.
National Cause Distribution
How Accident compares to all causes of officer death in the memorial record. John Lee Steel's cause is highlighted.
How John Lee Steel Compares
When Accident Deaths Occur
Monthly distribution of Accident deaths across the full memorial record. John Lee Steel is highlighted in Apr.
Incident Location
Others Who Wore This Badge
232 officers from California Highway Patrol are honored on badge.nw. Showing the 16 most recent.
