By Lisa Fernandez
A man arrested at a Fremont motel Saturday in connection with the shooting death of a Hells Angel member is expected to be charged with homicide Wednesday at Santa Clara County Superior Court.
Steven Ruiz, 38, is expected to face charges that he killed Steve Tausan on Oct. 15 while both were attending the Oak Hill Cemetery service of San Jose Hells Angel chapter president Jeff "Jethro" Pettigrew. Pettigrew was fatally shot in a Nevada casino a month earlier, allegedly by a member of the rival Vagos gang.Pettigrew and Tausan were close friends.
A Hells Angel named Boston Ron called this newspaper Monday to say that Ruiz is now considered an ex-Hells Angel, stemming from Tausan's shooting death.
No motive has been revealed in Tausan's killing. Sources have previously said a fist fight erupted between Tausan and Ruiz at the funeral, where Ruiz allegedly drew a hangun, shot Tausan and fled.
San Jose police have been looking for Ruiz since the funeral, which was attended by about 3,000 Hells Angels supporters and was being watched closely by police. Ruiz evaded capture until Saturday about 7:30 p.m. at the Days Inn Motel on Warms Springs Boulevard in Fremont.
A manager there who asked that his name not be used said a man who identified himself as "John Ruiz of Livermore" checked into the motel at 4:37 p.m. on Saturday with a woman. When police arrived about three hours later and showed a picture of Ruiz, the manager confirmed a man that fit that description was in one of the rooms. "Mostly we are a business motel and don't have people from the Bay Area staying here," the manager said.
Ruiz came out and surrendered to police, the manager said. He is being held without bail at Santa Rita Jail.
Meanwhile, in Reno, the Associated Press reported Monday that lawyers for a Hells Angels member charged in connection with Pettigrew's killing say he should be tried separately from two members of the rival Vagos gang partly because the Vagos are a criminal gang and the Hells Angels a legitimate motorcycle club.
Cesar Villagrana, 36, of Gilroy, is accused with Gary Rudnick, the vice president of the Vagos Los Angeles chapter, of taunting of Pettigrew, instigating a fracas on Sept. 23.
Villagrana won't get a fair trial if the same jury decides his fate along with Rudnick and Ernesto Gonzalez, 53, the president of the Vagos chapter in Nicaragua who lives in San Francisco and is accused of shooting Pettigrew in the back, his lawyers said in court filings last week.
Attorney David Chesnoff of Las Vegas said testimony about Vagos would lead the jury to believe "all motorcylce clubs" operate as Vagos do. However, Deputy District Attorney Karl Hall said the Hells Angels do operate that way.
"Each gang has relatively equal gang history," he wrote in an opposition motion. "If anything, the Hells Angels criminality is more prolific."