http://www.mercurynews.com/top-stories/ci_19007328
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| Jeff "Jethro" Pettigrew. (Family photograph) ( Photo courtesy of the Pettigrew Family ) |
swebby@mercurynews.com
South Bay investigators who spoke on the condition of anonymity said Gonzalez was a longtime local Vago, a businessman who originally came from Hawaii and was a "mover and shaker" within the motorcycle club. He helped the Vagos start a chapter in Nicaragua.
As local Hells Angels prepare for Pettigrew's funeral next month, they declined to comment about the suspect.
But Summer Pettigrew, the victim's daughter, said the shooting was cowardly.
"My dad was a man's man, and he didn't deserve to be shot in the back," she said. "He will never know who murdered him and that breaks my heart.
"God will judge him," she said of the suspect. "And so will everyone else."
Michael Hingle, a San Jose attorney who has represented Hells Angels, including Pettigrew, said he was "close to shocked" that the suspect was a San Jose Vago.
"Historically, the San Jose Hells Angels and the Vagos have not had problems," Hingle said.
Motorcycle club investigators confirmed the local chapters have not suffered any major beefs.
But in January of last year, Hells Angels members reportedly attacked Vagos who were trying to establish a chapter in Santa Cruz.
Vagos are considered -- along with the Hells Angels and Mongols -- one of the major outlaw motorcycle clubs in California, experts say.
The Vagos often wear the color green and a patch with a picture of the Norse god of mischief, Loki. Criminal gang experts say the motorcycle club -- also known as the Green Nation -- was founded in San Bernardino in the 1960s. Authorities report that the Vagos have hundreds of members among dozens of chapters located in California, Hawaii, Nevada, Oregon and Mexico. Club members, they say, have been involved in the methamphetamine trade and have been implicated in assault, extortion, insurance fraud, money laundering and murder.
In Santa Clara County, three members of the Vagos were convicted of the 2009 gang rape of a woman in their North San Jose clubhouse.
In the Hells Angels homicide, which has law enforcement on high alert for a retaliatory motorcycle club war, Gonzalez is accused of shooting Pettigrew four times in the back before jamming the gun in his waistband and fleeing, police said in court records unsealed Thursday.
Washoe County District Attorney Richard Gammick said the missing suspect may not survive to stand trial if rival motorcycle club members find him before police do.
"Think about it," Gammick told The Associated Press. "You shoot the Hells Angels president four times in the back. ... What do you think is going to happen if the Hells Angels get their hands on him?"
Two other Vagos were wounded in the casino shootout and a third was shot in the stomach the next day by a gunman in a passing car a few blocks from the Nugget.
Cesar Villagrana, 36, of Gilroy, a Hells Angels member who was with Pettigrew when he was shot, is charged on three felony charges of assault with a deadly weapon, carrying a concealed weapon illegally and discharging a firearm within a structure.
He did not enter a plea at his arraignment Thursday in Sparks Justice Court.
By Sean Webby
As law enforcement officers hunt for the 53-year-old San Jose man who Nevada authorities suspect fatally shot the San Jose Hells Angels president in the back last weekend at a casino, a spotlight is falling on the fugitive and his outlaw motorcycle club.
Ernesto Manuel Gonzalez was named in a police affidavit as a member of the Vagos gang who killed 51-year-old Jeffery "Jethro" Pettigrew on Friday at John Ascuaga's Nugget in Sparks. Authorities say he fired four shots into Pettigrew's back. South Bay investigators who spoke on the condition of anonymity said Gonzalez was a longtime local Vago, a businessman who originally came from Hawaii and was a "mover and shaker" within the motorcycle club. He helped the Vagos start a chapter in Nicaragua.
As local Hells Angels prepare for Pettigrew's funeral next month, they declined to comment about the suspect.
But Summer Pettigrew, the victim's daughter, said the shooting was cowardly.
"My dad was a man's man, and he didn't deserve to be shot in the back," she said. "He will never know who murdered him and that breaks my heart.
"God will judge him," she said of the suspect. "And so will everyone else."
Michael Hingle, a San Jose attorney who has represented Hells Angels, including Pettigrew, said he was "close to shocked" that the suspect was a San Jose Vago.
"Historically, the San Jose Hells Angels and the Vagos have not had problems," Hingle said.
Motorcycle club investigators confirmed the local chapters have not suffered any major beefs.
But in January of last year, Hells Angels members reportedly attacked Vagos who were trying to establish a chapter in Santa Cruz.
Vagos are considered -- along with the Hells Angels and Mongols -- one of the major outlaw motorcycle clubs in California, experts say.
The Vagos often wear the color green and a patch with a picture of the Norse god of mischief, Loki. Criminal gang experts say the motorcycle club -- also known as the Green Nation -- was founded in San Bernardino in the 1960s. Authorities report that the Vagos have hundreds of members among dozens of chapters located in California, Hawaii, Nevada, Oregon and Mexico. Club members, they say, have been involved in the methamphetamine trade and have been implicated in assault, extortion, insurance fraud, money laundering and murder.
In Santa Clara County, three members of the Vagos were convicted of the 2009 gang rape of a woman in their North San Jose clubhouse.
In the Hells Angels homicide, which has law enforcement on high alert for a retaliatory motorcycle club war, Gonzalez is accused of shooting Pettigrew four times in the back before jamming the gun in his waistband and fleeing, police said in court records unsealed Thursday.
Washoe County District Attorney Richard Gammick said the missing suspect may not survive to stand trial if rival motorcycle club members find him before police do.
"Think about it," Gammick told The Associated Press. "You shoot the Hells Angels president four times in the back. ... What do you think is going to happen if the Hells Angels get their hands on him?"
Two other Vagos were wounded in the casino shootout and a third was shot in the stomach the next day by a gunman in a passing car a few blocks from the Nugget.
Cesar Villagrana, 36, of Gilroy, a Hells Angels member who was with Pettigrew when he was shot, is charged on three felony charges of assault with a deadly weapon, carrying a concealed weapon illegally and discharging a firearm within a structure.
He did not enter a plea at his arraignment Thursday in Sparks Justice Court.
