Receipts for fixing leaky pipes and installing lights are at the heart of the Santa Barbara County District Attorney’s investigation into Lompoc Councilmember Steve Bridge’s invoices.
In late 2025, Bridge was arraigned in Santa Maria Superior Court for eight felony counts, including forgery, identity theft, grand theft, and fraudulent use of a contractor’s license.
A total of 15 criminal counts—including both felony and misdemeanor charges—made it into an amended March 11 complaint.
It was updated amid ongoing preliminary hearings in Santa Barbara County Superior Court’s Lompoc division to determine whether the case goes to trial.
April 2 will mark the fourth day, starting at 10 a.m., of the preliminary hearings, which began on March 19.
The District Attorney’s preliminary hearing brief, filed on March 17, outlines its investigation into three separate city of Lompoc rebate applications that Bridge filed for contract work completed by “Turner Construction.”
“No such business exists, and any work performed—if performed at all—was done by Bridge and his son, Scott Turner, neither of whom is a licensed contractor,” Senior Deputy District Attorney Brian Cota wrote in the brief. “The use of ‘Turner Construction’ was designed to create the false impression that a licensed contractor had been involved.”
To qualify for the city rebate programs, the paperwork needs to include a licensed contractor’s license number.
According to court documents, when county District Attorney Investigator Ronald Murillo interviewed Bridge about the rebate applications he filed for work completed by him and his son Turner, Bridge admitted that he found “a contractor’s license number on the internet that had ‘Turner’ in the name” to create false invoices.
“Bridge knew that the work needed to be performed by a licensed contractor, and he knew that had not occurred,” Cota wrote.
Another summarized takeaway from Murillo’s interview with Bridge included the direct quote: “They needed a receipt to document the work that was done, so I ginned that thing up.”
The license number Bridge used belonged to Turner & Associate in Escondido. That license expired in 1994.
“He further acknowledged that ‘maybe that’s fraud’ and that it was ‘probably a little shady,’” Cota wrote about Murillo’s interview with Bridge.
“Whatever disputes may exist regarding the facts or the law in this matter, one point is beyond debate: Those statements—made about the manner in which Bridge obtained public funds—are words no sitting member of the Lompoc City Council should ever utter,” Cota wrote.
According to court documents, Bridge received about $5,000 each for two city lighting rebate program applications and about $900 from a city leak repair rebate program.
The work tied to each application, spanning across different dates and Lompoc locations in 2024 and 2025, was recorded as completed by “Turner Construction,” as Bridge listed with the expired Turner & Associate license number.
One of the Lompoc locations with recorded repair work was Certain Sparks Music, a music studio and storefront co-owned by one of Bridge’s sons, Brandon Bridge. He currently serves as a Lompoc Planning Commissioner.
On March 23, the court granted both of Bridge’s sons on the witness list “use immunity,” according to court documents. This order “does not grant immunity for the crime of perjury.”
“Bridge’s position as a council member placed him squarely within the class of officials ‘charged with’ responsibility over the public monies he misappropriated,” Cota wrote in court documents. “Bridge was not merely a public officer—he was a member of the legislative body that created, funded, and exercised ultimate authority over the rebate program from which he stole.”
This article appears in April 2 – April 9, 2026.