OFF THE WIRE
Lisa Fernandez
sgvtribune.com
Steve Ruiz and Steve Tausan
An ex-Hells Angels member charged with homicide was allegedly beaten several times and was bleeding from his head before he pulled out a gun and allegedly shot another biker, who died shortly afterward at the hospital.
In a court filing regarding the homicide charge against Steve Ruiz, 38, San Jose police document that two people, including Hells Angel Steve Tausan, punched and kicked Ruiz on Oct. 15 at Oak Hill Cemetery in San Jose.Wednesday, Ruiz was charged with killing Tausan. He did not enter a plea. His attorney, John Fuery, of Oakland, said he hadn't seen the police report and didn't have much to say, other than to acknowledge his client, a former NUMMI worker, had been shunned by the outlaw motorcycle club.
The fight confirms what sources previously had told this newspaper. But a police report lays out a few more specific details, though the mystery of why Ruiz and Tausan were angry with each other has never been revealed.
Ruiz and Tausan both were attending the funeral of slain San Jose chapter Hells Angels president Jeff "Jethro" Pettigrew. He was killed in September at a Nevada casino, reportedly by a member of the rival Vagos gang.
In the police report, San Jose Sgt. David Gutierrez uses the testimony of two unnamed witnesses and video surveillance from the cemetery. All three sources reveal that Ruiz, dressed in a Hells Angels vest, was fighting with an unidentified man in a red shirt at the cemetery. The man punched Ruiz, knocking him to the ground. Then the man kicked Ruiz as he lay there, the report states.
Soon after, Tausan, also wearing a Hells Angels vest, punched Ruiz twice and stood over him. The report states at that point Ruiz "made a movement on the ground and appeared to be reaching into his vest." Suddenly, the crowd dispersed, and Tausan was seen doubled over, the report states.
The crowd seemed to break into two camps. Some went to help Tausan, who was seen bleeding in a silver Ford Focus leaving the cemetery on his way to the hospital, where he died. Others rushed to aid Ruiz, the report states.
Ruiz managed to flee, though, despite the crowd of up to 5,000 people, which Gutierrez notes in his report. This newspaper had previously reported about 3,000 attended Pettigrew's funeral. Ruiz had been on the run since the funeral, but he was arrested Saturday evening at the Days Inn Motel on Warm Springs Boulevard in Fremont after police tracked him there. His next court date is scheduled for March 15.
Contact Lisa Fernandez at 408-920-5002. Follow her at Twitter.com/ljfernandez.
http://www.docstoc.com/docs/114963997/Ruiz-statementhttp://www.docstoc.com/docs/document-preview.aspx?doc_id=114963997
