Police on Saturday massed outside a Stockton suburban home where San Jose police thought a Hells Angels shooting suspect was believed to hiding out.
The suspect, 38-year-old Steven Ruiz, was on the run after allegedly shooting a fellow member of the Hells Angels at a San Jose funeral on Oct. 15 at Oak Hill cemetery, where his Harley-Davidson was left behind.San Jose police spokesman Jason Dwyer said police were unable to locate Ruiz. Dwyer said Ruiz remained at large and is still considered armed and is extremely dangerous.
Heavily armed San Jose police officers and armored police vehicles were outside the home much of the day, while yellow police tape kept residents in the suburban neighborhood off the property.
According to Stockton Record police reporter Jordan Guinn, San Jose police and a SWAT team went to the two-story home about 2:30 p.m. At about 8:30 p.m., San Jose police left the scene, he said. Guinn tried to interview the home's occupants, but he said they declined to comment.
The Mercury News on Saturday reported that investigators believe Ruiz -- who may have two black eyes and other facial injuries -- is with his girlfriend, 42-year-old Christel Renee Trujillo, who also goes by the last name Ferguson. Investigators said they believe her life is in danger, but they declined to elaborate.
Police issued an arrest warrant alleging Ruiz killed Steve Tausan of Santa Cruz, who was a 52-year-old Hells Angels enforcer. The homicide occurred at the packed funeral for Jeffrey "Jethro'' Pettigrew, the president of the San Jose chapter of the motorcycle club, who was killed outside a Nevada casino last month.
Earlier in the funeral service, another club member punched and kicked Ruiz in the head. Then Tausan knocked down Ruiz again.
After that, Ruiz pulled out a handgun and shot Tausan, who died at a nearby hospital, marking the 37th homicide in the city this year.
The funeral was a mob scene after that, with more than 1,000 bikers packed into the area. Ruiz escaped, even though there were officers stationed at the funeral. Police later said they let hundreds of attendees leave without searching or interviewing them.
Meanwhile, earlier Saturday afternoon, a paratransit bus driver got into an altercation with a Hells Angel motorcyclist while driving on a San Leandro freeway when he intentionally rammed the biker, dragging him about one mile and killing him, a CHP spokesman said.
The biker, who has not been identified, was traveling eastbound on Interstate 580 near 150th Avenue with a small group of fellow Hells Angels shortly before 4 p.m. when the incident began, said CHP Sgt. Trent Cross. After being hit, the motorcyclist and his bike were dragged for about a mile, said San Leandro police Lt. Greg Lemmon. Eventually, the biker was released from under the bus, but the driver kept dragging the motorcycle which was wedged underneath the front grill.
The Hells Angel biker was flown to Eden Medical Center in Castro Valley where he was pronounced dead, Lemmon said.
The bus driver has been arrested, Lemmon said at a command center at Kindred Hospital near the crash site.
Police are interviewing four witnesses who saw the ramming, he said.
"The preliminary information they are providing was that it wasn't an accident, it was an intentional ramming," Lemmon said.
Contact Tracy Seipel at 408 275-0140.
