Steve Tausan was a former Marine known in the Hells Angels as "Mr. 187." (the California penal code for murder.) Tausan had five proffesional boxing matches from 1983-1985 as a middle weight in San Jose, Los Angeles and Visalia, winning 3 and losing 2. In 1990, he was sent to jail for punching a man in the face at the Caravan Lounge in San Jose. The case was thrown out of court after the victim refused to testify against him. Steve Tausan and James Elrite, former president of the San Jose Chapter of the Hells Angels sued the Saddle Rack for discrimination after refusing to let them in while wearing their gang colors in June 1993. That case was later thrown out of court.
He was called to the Pink Poodle Strip Club in San Jose by David Kuzinich, the owner, on August 29, 1997, to hurt a drunken 38 year old man named Kevin Sullivan. Sullivan previously had words with Kuzinich at a bar across the street named Alex's 49er Inn. Prosecuters believe Kuzinich then lured Sullivan to his club by offering him free lap dances and coffee, then calling his Hells Angel bouncer to come to the club to beat the drunk and helpless Kevin Sullivan. Tausan left him propped in a chair with his lower lip nearly detached, a badly broken nose and two big cuts on his face. Sullivan died that night at the hospital. Tausan was arrested and sent to the Santa Clara County Main Jail. But he beat the case by claming self-defense and was released 14 months later. He resigned from the Hells Angels two months after being released from jail.
Steve Tausan opened a bail bonds business in February 2001. For seven years, he worked very hard at living a regular life. But rejoined the Hells Angels after getting a divorce from his second wife and losing a good friend to cancer. He transforred to the Santa Cruz Chapter in December 2010. Tausan was shot and killed at the funeral of San Jose Chapter president Jeffrey "Jethro" Pettigrew in October 2011. Pettigrew was killed by a member of the Vagos MC in a casino in Sparks, Nevada. Steve "The Mexican" Ruiz, who was also a Hells Angel member, is suspected of killing Tausan. It was over Tausan punching Ruiz twice in the face in public for not protecting Pettigrew while he was murdered.
