2/16/2005: The Sheriff's Department has called the Chmait family and stated that the investigation is 80% done. They also said that the situation remains the same. This means that the shooting of Bassim Chmait is still not considered a crime. Read More

2/6/2005: Early in the morning on Saturday February the 6th around 1:30 am, Bassim Chmait along with three other friends were walking through an apartment complex in Mission Viejo, CA heading towards a college house party when a soda can was thrown at them from above. In frustration, one of Chmait's friends threw the can into the street, and they continued walking. At that point Douglas Bates, an off duty U.S. Custom's officer, left his home with his badge in hand and gun drawn to confront the group. He started to yell at them about laughing and being too loud. When one of Chmait's friend's asked Bates to stop pointing the gun in their direction, Bates pistol-whipped him on the forehead with the gun. Anticipating that Bates was going to hit his friend again, Bassim Chmait got in front of his friend telling the Bates to please put the gun down. Almost instantly the Homeland Security officer shot Bassim in the head. After shooting Bassim Chmait, Douglas Bates simply walked back into his apartment. While Chmait's friends were screaming for Bassim, neighbors dialed 911. About 5 minutes after murdering Bassim, Bates opened his door, with the gun still in hand, and yelled at his neighbors to shut up before returning to his apartment.

You would think that this would be an easy case to prosecute. You would think that Douglas Bates is in jail right now. But he’s not, he’s a free man, he was never arrested, he was never charged, he was never even asked to come to the police station to give a statement. The Orange County Sheriff's Department Spokesman, Jim Amormino, stated, "We treated this the same as we would any case. There was no clear evidence of a crime being committed, so there was nothing to book him on."
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