Ex-UFC Champion Cain Velasquez Formally Charged with Attempted, Premeditated Murder

Cain Velasquez has been formally charged with attempted murder, premeditated murder and other related charges after firing shots at a vehicle containing three people in Morgan Hill, Calif.

The ex-UFC heavyweight champion is facing additional charges of shooting at a motor vehicle or aircraft, assault with a firearm and assault with a deadly weapon. According to a statement from the Santa Clara County district attorney’s office, the 39-year-old Velasquez fired a .40 handgun “multiple times” into a truck carrying Harry Goularte and two of Goularte’s older male relatives and “rammed” the vehicle with his truck. Goularte’s relative, who is 63 years old, was struck once by the shots but is expected to survive.

Velasquez, who was driving a Ford Truck, began shooting at the vehicle at Cochran Road and Butterfield Boulevard in Morgan Hill at approximately 3 p.m. local time Monday. What ensued was an 11-mile chase through “busy streets” in San Jose between Velasquez and a Chevy Silverado, driven by Goularte’s stepfather. During that chase, Velasquez rammed his truck into the Silverado several times and fired multiple rounds. Goularte was uninjured in the attack.

Goularte reportedly molested a relative of Velasquez’s at a home daycare in San Martin, Calif., as many as “100 times.” The 43-year-old Goularte had been charged with one felony count of a lewd and lascivious act with a child under the age of 14 on Feb. 25. A judge released him from custody without bail under the condition that he remain on home detention in Morgan Hill, stay away from children younger than 14 and wear an electronic ankle monitor – despite the protests of the district attorney’s office. Goularte was on his way to pick up the tracking device when Velasquez attacked the vehicle.

“The sad tragedy is that Mr. Velasquez chose to take the law into his own hands, endangering the public and everyone in the truck,” DA Jeff Rosen said in a release. “This act of violence also causes more pain and suffering to his family.”

Velasquez will be arraigned today at the Hall of Justice in San Jose and could face incarceration if convicted.