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Hells Angels Wins $990K for Dead Dogs

Thursday, February 09, 2006

The Hells Angels Motorcycle Club won a lawsuit against the County of Santa Clara awarding them with a $990,000.00 settlement.

The dispute is over three guard dogs belonging to the club that were shot and killed by San Jose Police officers. The officers killed the dogs after invading the homes of club members in an attempt to find evidence against Steve Tausan, a fellow Hells Angel member, suspected of murder.

Tausan was actually acquitted on grounds that the shooting was in self-defense.

The case went before the U.S. Supreme Court, with the County arguing that its law enforcement officers are immune to accountability when gathering evidence. The court threw out that arugment, and the Hells Angels was able to force the County into a settlement.

My take: One might feel less than sympathetic when the Hells Angels are on the short end of the stick. However, the issue here are three dead dogs. The Supreme Court also found that the officers did nothing to avoid shooting the dogs, meaning they non-chalantly killed them without provocation. Since this was merely evidence gathering, and not a life-or-death situation, or foot-pursuit, the dogs should not have been killed.

It seems like the police assumed the dogs would be dangerous, and killed them out of convenience. Imagine, if you will, the police barged into your home with a warrant, and the first thing they did was shoot your dog, just to be on the safe side? Even if you were innocent, which was the case in the above situation, cops have no business killing your dogs out of mere convenience.

13 Comments:

  • I agree. This was outrageous.

    By Blogger Sam Basso, at 6:48 AM, February 09, 2006  

  • what shooting???? it was a fist fight... get your facts straight...

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 9:05 PM, February 11, 2006  

  • so 'anonymous', you're saying the cops had a fist fight w/ the dogs and that's how they died? i think you need to get your facts straight. if there were a fist fight,fine, but i'm pretty sure the three dead dogs with bullets lodged in them proves they were shot.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 8:20 AM, February 16, 2006  

  • The "second anonymous" again....and by the way, yes, it was outrageous to shoot the dogs.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 8:22 AM, February 16, 2006  

  • The first Anon wasn't talking about the dogs being shot. The reason why the "warrant" was put through was because the member of the Hell's Angels was involved in a fist fight that killed the man, not a shooting as Steve posted.

    I'm glad that the member received an "apology" for his dogs being shot. It was wrong for the dogs to be shot for the police were "breaking in" and they were doing just as any guard dog does, guard and defend their territory. Though it says that the dogs didn't act violent which raises the question on why the dogs were shot to begin with.

    By Anonymous RJ, at 6:02 PM, February 17, 2006  

  • First anonymous is right.....


    Tausan was actually acquitted on grounds that the shooting was in self-defense.

    This statement is incorrect. He didn't use a gun! He was acquitted of killing the guy w/ his bare hands....not in shooting in self defense !

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 3:32 PM, February 26, 2006  

  • the hells angel steve tausan was set free because of selfdefense !! steve tausan the hells angel member was the west coast sgt at arms for the hells angels, paper said he is a pro fighter and a x- marine, tausan was found not guilty of murder by his hands not a gun.. i followed the case and the hells angels had nothing to do with the fight, tausan was the bouncer who was attacked by kevin sullivan, who had a arrest for threating to kill kids !!! thank you ME. TAUSAN for killing a bad person !!!

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 10:15 PM, August 09, 2006  

  • HELLS ANGELS ALWAYS GET TREATED BADLY BY LAW INFORCEMENT !!! STICK TO THE FACTS !!! FIST FIGHT NOT GUN PLAY !!! TAUSAN KILLED THE GUY WITH HIS HANDS !!! TAUSAN THE HELLS ANGEL IS A VERY GOOD FIGHTER I HAVE SEEN HIM FIGHT IN A BOXING RING AND THE MAN IS A ANIMAL, MY SON GOT HIS AOTOGRAPH AND HE WAS A VERY NICE PERSON OUT OF THAT RING, BUT I COULD SEE HOW THE GUY IN THE BAR DIED BECAUSE THE BOXER HE FOUGHT WAS CARRIED OUT ON A STREACHER FROM THE BEATING FROM TAUSAN, TAUSAN HAD A CUT EYE AND A BROKEN NOSE , THE FIGHT WAS A REAL WAR !!!!

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 10:22 PM, August 09, 2006  

  • I HAVE MET STEVE TAUSAN IN PERSON, A REAL NICE MAN , HE HELPED ME BAIL MY SON OUT OF JAIL, STEVE TAUSAN IS A BAIL BONDSMAN, IF YOU GET THROWN IN JAIL IN SAN JOSE CALIFORNIA CALL STEVE TAUSAN BAIL BONDS @ 408-287-8181, IAM A SINGLE MOTHER AND HE HELPED ME THREW A VERY BAD TIME , HE ALSO IS VERY GOOD LOOKING AND HAS BEAUTIKUL LONG GREY HAIR AND A SMILE THAT LIGHTS UP THE ROOM....

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 10:28 PM, August 09, 2006  

  • I wouldn't say he was innocent, just that he was not convicted.

    He isn't an angel. He killed a man while working as a bouncer.

    He should share some responsibility for the dogs death. If he wasn't a man of questionable character, the police wouldn't be paying him a visit.

    (And his looks are irrelevant.)

    By Anonymous kb, at 9:16 PM, August 23, 2006  

  • take your time and think !!!! this is about everyones rights not the HELLS ANGELS or money !!! YOUR RIGHTS !!!!

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 1:52 AM, August 24, 2006  

  • he was acquitted because of lack of evidence, not that it was self defense. the victim in this case was beaten to death by this guy and another person on the premises. the eye witnesses were plenty until it came time for trial. then they were all unavailable or their stories changed for some reason, gee, i can't imagine why that would have happened. the dogs being killed was wrong but the rest of the case was bullshit. he's not a nice guy at all, don't believe any of these postings.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 1:48 PM, November 13, 2007  

  • I WOULD LIKE TO KNOW WHO THERE LAWYERS WERE.MY HOME WAS JUST SERVED A SCEARCH WARRENT FOR DNA EVIDENCE ONE OF THE SWAT OFFICERS FREAKED WHEN HE SEEN MY 2 DOGS OF 5 YEARS I TOLD HIM THEY WERE FRENDLY AS THEY SAT THERE WATCHING ME AND MY 16 YEAR OLD DAUGHTER GETTING ZIP TIES PUT ON WAGGING THERE TAILS WITH SHOT GUNS POINTED AT THERE FACES I ASKED TO PUT THEM UP IF HE WAS SCARED I WAS TOLD TO SHUT THE FU-K UP AND TAKEN OUT SIDE 20 MIN LATER AFTER BEING IN THE HOUSE WITH THEM I HURD 8 SHOTS 2 SHOT GUNS AND 6 FROM A HAND GUN AND THEN THEY BROUGHT MY BABIES OUT IN CLEAR PLASTIC BAGS FULL OF BLOOD AND DROPED THEM ON THE GROUND 10 FEET AWAY FROM ME .THERE WERE NO ARREST MADE NO CHARGES FILED AFTER SCEARCHING FOR 2 DAYS AND NOT GETTING ANY ANSWER'S I FOUND THEM ON THE THIRD DAY AT A SHELTER WERE THEY GAVE ME THEM BACK THE SAME WAY THEY TOOK THEM FROM ME IN CLEAR PLASTICE BAGS ONLY THIS TIME THE BAGS WERE SMALLER AND NO BLOOD ONLY ASHES .AND IV'E NOW COME TO FIND THE ASHES ARE NOT OF MY BELOVED DOGS BUT OF EVERY DOG THAT MAKES THERE WEIGHT LIMIT BEFORE THEY CAN LITE THE FIRE . SO YES I KNOW HOW THEY FEAL .I ONLY HOPE I FIND JUSTICE FOR THE MURDER OF MY BABIES PS IF ANY ONE CAN HELP ME IN FINDING THERE LAWYER I WOULD BE GREATFULL SADIEDO2OK@AOL.COM

    By Anonymous LOUISA MARTIN, at 1:57 AM, August 07, 2008  

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