Chef at Santa Fe restaurant accused of shooting homeless man with pepperballs

Aug. 23—The owner and chef at a high-end Santa Fe restaurant has been charged with multiple felonies after allegedly using a pepperball gun to shoot a homeless man in the face on Thursday.

Steven Lemon, 60, is charged with aggravated battery with a deadly weapon and tampering with evidence in the incident. Lemon has been booked into the Santa Fe County Adult Detention Center.

Lemon told police the man he shot was "going through his trash again," according to court records. A neighbor told police he had seen Lemon shoot at homeless people before and that he is always yelling at them.

Santa Fe Deputy Chief Ben Valdez said officers found a Byrna SD Launcher, a self-defense weapon, and Tippman 98 paintball gun from the scene.

Both weapons have the ability to shoot pepperballs, projectiles that contain a powdered chemical that irritates the eyes and nose similar to pepper spray. Pepperballs have been used by law enforcement for crowd control, but are also available to the public.

"Projectiles for both platforms were also located and recovered," Valdez said. "Their investigation is ongoing to identify which launcher was utilized in this incident."

An employee at Lemon's restaurant, Pranzo Italian Grill, declined to comment to the Journal. Lemon's attorney could not be reached Friday.

Lemon bought the restaurant from the previous owner in 2014 after having worked there as the executive chef between 1989 and 1995, returning to the position in 2013.

In 2022, a food critic at the Santa Fe Reporter called Pranzo "a must-visit culinary destination" and said Lemon was "at the height of his powers."

Rattling off a list of appetizing dishes they had tried, the reporter ended the review: "Get there soon."

On Thursday, Santa Fe Police responded around 7:30 a.m. to a shooting in the area of 226 North Guadalupe, south of Paseo De Peralta, according to a criminal complaint filed in Magistrate Court. Officers found a 61-year-old man bleeding from his face.

Police said the man told them he had been "digging in the trash getting cardboard" in the alley when he heard "what sounded like a bunch of shooting." The man told police he fell to the ground and felt like he had been shot in the face.

As officers shut down the area to collect evidence, Lemon emerged from the alleyway hosing off the ground, according to the complaint. Police told Lemon they were working on a case and he was interfering.

Police said Lemon told them he couldn't stop "because he was washing human feces and urine from the homeless."

"(Lemon) was very angry and yelling everything he said," according to the complaint. Officers saw a blood trail leading from the alleyway.

Police said they asked Lemon to get "his boss" and he told them he owned Pranzo before walking away. Officers followed Lemon to the back of the restaurant and told him to drop the hose and turn off the water.

Lemon, who was "very irritated," tried to walk away from police, and they handcuffed him, according to the complaint. Then a neighbor "popped his head over the back wall" to get the attention of officers.

Police said the neighbor told them Lemon was always yelling at homeless people, and he had seen him shoot at them with a BB gun in the past. Officers sealed the restaurant to be searched for evidence.

Lemon told police the man was rifling through the dumpster and "was pepperballed" by Lemon, according to the complaint. Lemon said he had two guns that shot pepperballs, one in his truck and another in his office in the restaurant.