Page 29 - Brian Bates News Today : Breaking News, Live Updates & Top Stories | Vimarsana

>> the john is getting out. very large, black male. he's getting out. and something odd happened at that point. the police officer did something i've never seen an officer do. he had his gun drawn. but he approached the man, literally putting it inches from his head. and says, "i'm going to f'ing shoot you right in the head." >> brian stands just feet away, keeping his camera trained on the action and watches as that officer gets more and more physical with the john. >> don't open your mouth! >> down to the ground. >> the police officer is trying to handcuff the john. but then the officer thou...

Arrive on the scene. and they are angry. as they chase one girl, baits realizes she's in serious trouble. >> take this. >> he asks someone to hold his camera, and he jumps in. >> literally, you have this girl who is down on the ground with another prostitute holding her hair, beating her in the face. the pimp's beating her too. and cars aren't even stopping. they're just kind of slowing down. i'm trying to pull the prostitute off, but i'm trying not to aggravate the situation into a bigger brawl. i can't throw any punches. i don't want to do anything now that's going to focus all their energy ...

And he doesn't carry a gun. but over the years he's captured hundreds of prostitutes and their johns on camera. he's made a name for himself locally, with his eye-popping video. but then, what he catches on tape here vaults him into the national spotlight. >> tell me what you were shooting and how it unraveled. >> well, at that time i was actually just driving through the neighborhood and saw -- >> the date is monday, july 8th, 2002. and brian bates is out videotaping, as usual. he sees a truck pick up a woman he knows to be a prostitute. so he starts rolling. >> no big deal. like every other ...

They have this to say -- "the behavior we observed on the video is clearly a violation of lowe's policy, and we have taken corrective measures to address this matter." as for the john, police arrest him, tow away the truck, just another day in the life of a video vigilante. >> if i was just some psychologist out there talking about how bad prostitution is, nobody would pay attention. but if i've got these over the top videos of people caught in the act, literally with their pants down, it becomes the water cooler talk the next day and people say, have you ben to that nut job's website that cat...

Realize that. >> i get people all the time say, brian, why prostitution? why don't you go after the murderers? the drug dealers? the child rapists? why don't you go after those people? well, i'm here to tell you, those people are our prostitutes and our pimps and our johns on south robinson. these aren't pta moms making a few extra bucks. these are hardened criminals. >> out on his beat, bates has seen it all. armed robberies, drug deals and violent crimes. on this day driving his normal route, he witnesses another scary scene. >> i notice there's this group of black males surrounding this bla...