Following a large group fight Friday during a motorcycle
festival in Sparks, Nev. that left the Hells Angels’ San Jose boss
dead, a Gilroy man is sitting in a Nevada jail with felony charges
and a $500,000, cash-only bail.
Following a large group fight Friday during a motorcycle festival in Sparks, Nev. that left the Hells Angels’ San Jose boss dead, a Gilroy man is sitting in a Nevada jail with felony charges and a $500,000, cash-only bail.
In connection with the shooting, Gilroyan Hells Angels member Cesar Villagrana, 36, was booked at 7:49 a.m. Saturday into the Washoe County Sheriff’s Office on three felony counts including assault with a deadly weapon, carrying a concealed weapon and possession of a stolen firearm, according to WCS Deputy Armando Avina.
Villagrana is the sole suspect in the case so far; his offenses also include carrying a concealed weapon and aiming a firearm at another person, two charges Avina said are gross misdemeanors. An officer in the Sparks Police Department Booking Division confirmed Villagrana has not made bail.
Police say Villagrana was videotaped shooting into the crowd Friday. They have not released any footage, however, and have not verified if any of his rounds hit the three victims.
According to Detective Rob Begbie with the Sparks Police Department, Villagrana lives at 6870 Rosanna St. in Gilroy.
According to a Sparks Police Department press release, all hell broke loose around 11:26 p.m. Friday inside John Ascuaga’s Nugget in Sparks, a hotel/casino serving as one of several venues for the 18th annual Street Vibrations Motorcycle rally, “a celebration of music metal and motorcycles” according to the group’s website.
The SPD was notified of a large group fight between rival motorcycle gangs Vagos and Hells Angels – of at least 60 people, according to other media reports – involving men with firearms, and shortly after reported the firing of rounds that resulted in three individuals with gunshot wounds. Two victims are still at medical facilities with non-life threatening injuries, according to the SPD press release, while the Associated Press reports the third victim – Jeffrey “Jethro” Pettigrew, 51, a San Jose transportation employee and head of the Hells Angels San Jose chapter – died of his wounds.
The incident in Nevada isn’t Villagrana’s first run-in with the law. Following a March 17 collision in Aptos – for which Villagrana was found to be at fault – he made Santa Cruz headlines when the California Highway Patrol discovered the Gilroy Hells Angel was carrying an unregistered Beretta handgun, according to AP reports.
The discovery of the weapon came after Villagrana collided his 2002 Harley Davidson with a Honda and Toyota on Soquel Drive near State Park Drive in Aptos, according to CHP Spokeswoman Sarah Jackson.
The Associated Press reports state Villagrana has been out of custody, and pleaded not guilty in May to charges of carrying a loaded gun not registered to him and being an active Hells Angels gang member.
Villagrana’s lawyer, however, Michael Hingle of San Jose, declined to verify the accuracy of the above AP statement. Hingle said he would not issue any comments until a hearing for that case takes place Thursday morning in Santa Cruz.
As of Tuesday, the SPD reports no new information can be released without compromising the investigation. According to the most recent statement, the “Sparks Police Department personnel are continuing to conduct follow-up interviews with responding officers from local law enforcement agencies and additional witnesses from inside of John Ascuaga’s Nugget.”
The SPD said video footage from the Nugget will not be released at this time, as “personnel are still viewing additional camera angles to identify persons of interest and/or witnesses.”
