Shooting at Funeral for City-Employed Biker

UPDATED 7:18 PM For the second time in a month, a local Hells Angels member was shot to death in public. Steve Tausan, 52, was attending a funeral Saturday for the late president of the motorcycle club’s San Jose chapter, Jeffrey Pettigrew, who was killed in a casino shooting in September. Pettigrew also worked as a city of San Jose employee.

Tausan was shot while police stood not far from the funeral gathering, which had an estimated 4,000 people in attendance. He died from his injuries later in the day at a hospital. Police say the crime scene was tampered with and motives for the shooting are still unconfirmed.

Tausan, a former San Jose Hells Angel member who later became part of the Santa Cruz chapter, had a history of violence and was nicknamed “Mr. 187.” In 1997, Tausan was accused of beating a Pink Poodle strip club patron to death. A jury acquitted him and a manager for the strip club of all charges.

Police are continuing to investigate Saturday’s shooting, which occurred at the Oak Hill Cemetery on Curtner Avenue. Funeral attendees called police to report the shooting around 12:50 pm.

Officers arrived at the cemetery and made their way through the crowd, but once they got to the crime scene, they found it had been “tampered with,” Officer Jose Garcia said. He did not explain further. Someone at the funeral took Tausan to a hospital by the time officers arrived.

No arrests have been made, but the Mercury News is reporting that Steve Joseph Ruiz, a 38-year-old San Jose Hells Angels member, is the prime suspect in Tausan’s death.

Bay City News contributed to this report.

18 Comments

  1. Wait a second.  Didn’t Webby just write an article in the Merc about how Outlaw motorcycle gangs are being targeted by police, and how they are not a violent group.  His article stated they get a bad wrap, but are law abiding citizens.  Really? Would you like to make an addendum to your article???

    Murder at a funeral…Evidence tampering… Oh, I forgot…Those are not crimes according to the Merc.  But god help us all if a police officer arrests a drunk person who happens to be a minority, or uses force on them.  That would require a full spread front page article about how police are breaking the law and causing these issues.

    You almost fooled me Merc.  I was convinced after reading Webby’s motorcycle “Club” article, that all bikers were law abiding.  What do you think now Sean?  Two brazen shootings in two very public locations.  Yeah, they get a bad wrap.  You were dead on.

    What a joke of a newspaper and alleged “reporter.”

    • Webby is so biased that he is beyond irrelevant.

      Those of us who blog here can be as biased as we please.  But for a newspaper writer to be so biased is journalistcally inexucsable.

      Webby’s columns are fit only to line the bottom of the bird cage.  To wrap fish in them would ruin perfectly good fish.

    • Believe me , There is no doubt in my mind that the city Manager & Mayor are ecstatic that its one less pension to payout. I m sure in “Reed/Figone world” all city employees would work like mules for 30-35 years and then drop dead,that way the City wouldnt have to payout a pension. But Im sure those to Old Farts are going to live along time and collect the whole time as Double and Triple Dippers! Mom used to say if you got nothing nice to say, then dont say anything. so here it goes as far as Mayor Reed,City Manager,City Council……………………………………………………………………………………

  2. Rest In Peace Steve, Your the star in the sky looking over your children now, with a big heart and always a helping hand We all have 100% respect 4 you.  Take care o business in HEAVEN   Lynn Zig Zag Bail Bonds

    • Rest in peace???  By all accounts, he was not a peaceful guy in this life.

      “We all have 100% respect 4 you.”

      Not ALL of us, Lynn.  Must have been some kinda problem even among HAs if he left SJ chapter and moved to Santa Cruz chapter. But I guess you felt compelled to say that, since you lost a client.

  3. One violent motorcycle gang loser kills another violent motorcycle gang loser in Reno = 1 less gang loser

    Then at funeral of dead motorcycle gang loser, another violent gang loser kills second loser in San Jose = 2 less gang losers

    More violent motorcycle gang losers will be killed to avenge deaths of 2 losers

    Soon More dead violent motorcycle losers – News at 7, 6 and 11

  4. ” Didn’t Webby just write an article in the Merc about how Outlaw motorcycle gangs are being targeted by police, and how they are not a violent group.  His article stated they get a bad wrap, but are law abiding citizens. “

    Professional journalists think Webby and Media News’s Mercury biased opinion news stories written to support their political agenda is a disgrace to journalism not believed by anyone anymore

    Good Journalism in San Jose died when Knight Ridder sold Mercury News and Media News combined Bay Area newspapers into Bay Area News Glop

  5. Funny how all this plays out like an episode from “Sons of Anarchy.”  What’s strange is the guy was a 5 day a week city worker and an outlaw biker on the evening and weekends. 

    So the motorcycle gang says they operate outside the law but also use the courts to complain about being picked on by police.  Seems like the technicality is that unless someone is actually convicted of a crime, its not a crime so as long as everything is kept under wraps, its okay?  Weird, mixed messages.

    Does this make street gangs okay too?  Can you be a Norteno/Sureno/Crip/Blood/Bulldog/etc and a city worker at the same time?  What about a member of an old italian/sicilian social organization?

    I’m waiting for a “Breaking Bad” science teacher to emerge from SJ public schools with his meth lab in the old auto shop.

    • The show “Sons of Anarchy” emulate from real life.  The real life bikers are just like the show-exactly the way the show portrayed them.

  6. My guess is that they hurried the gunman out of the site and immediately cracked his head open with an object and extinguish him from the face of the earth and finally cremate the body to get rid of the evidence.  That’s the Hell’s Angel way.  2 murders in the same scene.  Sad for San Jose.

  7. I know that there is a video from someone’s phone that caught the killing……. Of Mr 187 and everything that happens to a point and I can’t say more right now. and if you want call it a bluff if the HA want this video they know what to do.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *