[citation needed] Hatab was arrested in a raja bazaar where he was trying to sell a U.S. Army issue M16 rifle.
The serial number of this rifle showed it was one issued to a member of the unit that included captured Army Private Jessica Lynch.
United States Marines who were guarding the prisoners at Camp Whitehorse believed that his possession of the rifle implicated Hatab in Lynch's capture.
Major Clarke Paulus ordered Corporal Christian Hernandez to haul Hatab over to where he could be hosed off.
However, the container was left on the tarmac at Tallil Air Base in Iraq and exploded in the hot sun.