MMA and pro wrestling star Cain Velasquez has been hit with ten charges related to a shooting in San Jose, California on Monday.
Velasquez has been charged with first degree attempted murder, shooting into an occupied motor vehicle or aircraft, three counts of assault with a firearm, three counts of assault with a deadly weapon, carrying a loaded firearm with intent to commit a felony, and willfully discharging a firearm from a vehicle. TMZ Sports adds that Velasquez is facing 70 years in prison if convicted.
Velasquez, age 39, is accused of shooting at Harry Goularte, age 43, and his parents. Goularte was recently charged with one felony count of a lewd & lascivious act upon a child under the age of 14 for allegedly molesting one of Velasquez’s “young relatives.” Goularte faced a judge for the charge last week, but somehow was allowed to leave jail on supervised release. Court documents show that Goularte was released from custody on February 25, without bail and against the District Attorney’s orders. He was ordered to stay in home detention, stay 100 yards away from any child under 14, and wear an electronic monitoring bracelet. Goularte was allegedly on his way to get the bracelet when Velasquez started chasing him.
A press release from the Santa Clara County District Attorney notes that Velasquez was following Goularte’s Chevrolet Silverado truck in his own vehicle, during an “11-mile, high speed chase” through San Jose. Velasquez allegedly rammed the truck and then fired a 40-caliber handgun multiple times. The truck also carried Goularte’s mother, and was driven by his stepdad. Velasquez allegedly followed the truck from their San Martin, CA home.
Velasquez, who was driving a black Ford F-250, caught back up to the truck and fired more shots, striking 63 year old Paul Bender, the stepdad, once in his arm and torso. Bender is expected to survive. Police were called as Velasquez allegedly left the scene. Police later located Cain on the road, pulled him over, and he was arrested without incident.The shooting happened at around 3:14pm local time on Monday.
Police found a 40-caliber semi-automatic handgun in Cain’s truck. They also found two 10-bullet magazines in the truck, noting that 8 total bullets were missing from the magazines.
On February 24, the victim, who is under 10 years old, told an officer with the Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Department that Goularte took him into the bathroom of a daycare center and touched his genitals, according to court documents obtained by ESPN. The victim said Goularte told the child not to tell anyone what happened and that this occurred “100 times.” The child also said he witnessed other kids go into the bathroom with Goularte.
Goularte lives in the same building as the daycare center, which is owned by his mother. Goularte has denied the charges, saying he once helped a child with his pants when he noticed the child didn’t have them on correctly. Goularte’s mother told police that she did not believe the allegations against her son.
“The sad tragedy is that Mr. Velasquez chose to take the law into his own hands, endangering the public and everyone in the truck,” Santa Clara County DA Jeff Rosen said in a statement. “This act of violence also causes more pain and suffering to his family.”
Velasquez is from the San Jose area and has been coaching at his longtime American Kickboxing Academy gym in San Jose. He fought MMA from 2006 until his retirement in October 2019, leaving the sport as a two-time former UFC Heavyweight Champion with a record of 14-3. Velasquez made his pro wrestling debut with AAA in August 2019, and worked two more matches for the promotion in September 2019 and December 2021. He was briefly signed to WWE in October 2019, until being released with other budget cuts in April 2020. Cain’s WWE in-ring debut came at Crown Jewel 2019 when he took a loss to WWE Champion Brock Lesnar. He then worked a WWE live event in Mexico City on November 30 of that year, teaming with Humberto for a win over current Impact World Tag Team Champion The Good Brothers. Velasquez was nixed from 2020 Royal Rumble plans due to an injury.
Santa Clara County records show that Velasquez is still in jail with no bail. He had two court dates today, at 12pm and at 1:35pm. There is no word yet on if he will receive a bail.
Velasquez has not released any kind of statement through his team as of this writing, but we will keep you updated.
Stay tuned for more.
Follow Marc on Twitter at @this_is_marc. Send any news, tips or corrections to us by clicking here.
