Cain Velasquez ‘should be behind bars’ According To Ex-cop Turned UFC Contender Chris Daukaus
Former UFC heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez currently remains in police custody for his alleged involvement in a shooting in late February ahead of his trial on April 12.
The incident took place in San Jose, California where Velasquez was accused of opening fire at a truck. He was charged with premeditated attempted murder after he was alleged to have shot in the direction of 43-year-old, Harry Eugene Goularte, an accused child molester who is believed to have molested a four-year-old relative of Velasquez “100 times”.
Velasquez is also facing a count each of assault with a firearm and a deadly weapon, where he is accused of engaging in a high-speed car chase with a vehicle containing the aforementioned, Goularte, his stepfather, and mother – allegedly shooting Goularte’s stepfather in the arm during the incident.
In a recent interview with Sherdog, fellow heavyweight Chris Daukaus shared his thoughts on the case being a UFC fighter, former police officer, and a father. The number nine-ranked UFC contender was a member of the Philadelphia police force from 2010 to 2021.
“As a father and as a fighter, I’m OK with what he did. Yes, it sucks that he shot the wrong person. I understand where he’s coming from. I understand the emotions that he must’ve felt, and I couldn’t imagine what was going through his head, and I couldn’t imagine being in that situation.
“As a former law enforcement officer, as a former police officer, dealing with the circumstances of the case and the facts of the case, I knew he was gonna be locked up. He is going to be charged, it’s just whether or not what he gets charged with during the trial,” Daukaus explained.
“It’s a really bad situation, I think, but we’ll see how it plays out. As far as the timeline goes, if he knew about things if he didn’t know about things if it was a ‘crime of passion’ with his emotions and if he just reacted, that plays a factor. As opposed to him planning a revenge factor against this person, that also plays a factor.
“As a father, as a father of a young son, and soon-to-be daughter, I can respect what he did. I understand what he did,” he reiterated. “But as a former law enforcement officer, like I said, he broke the law. He needs to be locked up.”
“I guess that goes to show the type of faith or lack of faith that an individual has in the criminal justice system here in America. Which, as you can tell from not only this story but from other stories, it seems to be broken at this point in time,” he said.
“I really wish that it was fixed, but there seems to be something really wrong if the guy who did that to Cain Velasquez is now free to go out in society and back to his normal life after what he’s done, allegedly, what he’s done to someone or other people.
“Cain Velasquez did attack this person and tried to kill them and he should be behind bars. But, there’s a morality there, and that question or that topic needs to be handled better.” (transcribed by Bloody Elbow)
MMA community’s response to Cain Velasquez
After reports of the incident came out, many prolific figures in the MMA community rallied behind Cain Velasquez and showed support through the hashtag #FreeCain. UFC President Dana White, former champions Khabib Nurmagomedov, Daniel Cormier, and Henry Cejudo are some of the notable names in the list of more than 30 that wrote to the judge in support of Velasquez.
Initially, he was booked into the Santa Clara County main jail for attempted murder and was being held on bail. He was denied bail by Judge Shelyna Brown who said, “the risk is too great” after reviewing Velasquez’s “reckless” alleged actions.
Judge Brown deemed him to be a threat to society while she allowed the reported molester to walk out on bail freely. She also requested extra protection in light of threats she received in regards to the case.
It remains unclear what charges will be brought against Velasquez and which ones he’s found guilty of. Depending on the possible legal consequences, he could be looking at a sentence of up to 15 years or life in prison based on the jury’s verdict.
