SWAT Teams Surround Stockton Home
STOCKTON, Calif. -- Police on Saturday were massed outside a Stockton home where it was believed the suspect in a Hells Angels funeral shooting was inside.
SWAT officers surrounded the house on McDougald Boulevard between Ishimoto and William Moss boulevards where it was thought Steve Ruiz was holed-up inside.
The West Stockton neighborhood was clear as of 8:30 p.m. after officers were unable to locate Ruiz in the home.
San Jose police said Ruiz, 38, is actively evading law enforcement.
Investigators had originally speculated that Ruiz, also a member of the Hells Angels, might have been killed by members of the motorcycle gang during or after the Oct. 15 funeral service where he allegedly fatally shot 52-year-old Steve Tausan.
Ruiz and Tausan apparently fought before the shooting.
San Jose Police Sgt. Jason Dwyer said on Friday that investigators now have proof that Ruiz is alive. He is believed to have black eyes and other facial injuries and be traveling with his girlfriend, 42-year-old Christel Renee Trujillo.
Stockton police spokesman Pete Smith confirmed that San Jose police were serving a warrant, but would not say what the warrant was for, or provide any further details.
Firefighters on the scene told KCRA Saturday evening that they were being allowed to leave the scene, which meant there was no longer any danger of a fire.
Tausan was one of 4,000 people at the funeral of Jeffrey "Jethro" Pettigrew, the president of the Hells Angels San Jose chapter who authorities say was slain during a brawl with a rival biker gang in a Nevada casino on Sept. 23.
Tausan was a former member of the Hell's Angels San Jose chapter. His sister Karen Tausan said he was the current sergeant at arms of the Santa Cruz chapter, which enforces club rules.
Tausan was slain despite a heavy police presence at last week's funeral at San Jose's Oak Hill Memorial Park.
San Jose police were monitoring the funeral because of rising tensions among motorcycle gangs.
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