Fresno Police Chief Jerry Dyer announced that his department had broken up a dogfighting ring that staged fights in an area of town named for the Dogpound gang that thrives there. It's also the neighborhood where a mother was gunned down in front of her children last week.
"This is the same group that has committed murder," Dyer said. "These are individuals that don't have any regard for human life, let alone animal life. These are animals. Not the dogs, but the gang members who arranged the fights. They are animals."
On August 8, Wednesday, police and members of the Multi-Agency Gang Enforcement Consortium raided nine houses in the Dogpound neighborhood, bordered by Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and Elm, Jensen and Annadale avenues.
Police said they found three handguns, marijuana packaged for sale and 11 dogs, eight of which bore apparent scars from dogfighting.
Officers arrested Robert McCoy, 23, of Fresno on felony dogfighting, drug and weapons charges. Dyer said McCoy is shown on the videotape at the end of a particularly graphic scene where a dog is seen with blood dripping from its ear.
One man also suspected to have ties to the dogfighting, Louis Goodman, 45, is in state prison on unrelated convictions.
Three others -- Isaac McCoy, 21, Deandre Stanfill, 27, and Kevin Dejean, 27 -- are wanted in the case. All are from Fresno.
Dyer said the discovery that dogfighting had happened on such a large scale in Fresno was "distressing."
"Comments made on these tapes demonstrate that fights occurred on a regular, ongoing basis," Dyer said. "It's extremely distressing, and it was done solely for the amusement of gang members."
The videotapes that police say tied the five men to the dogfights were found by officers in May during an investigation into the death of Norvell Brown, 26, of Fresno, who died May 21 after a fight on the 1100 block of East Calwa Avenue in southwest Fresno.
The videos show at least six staged dogfights, all of which took place in the same neighborhood. They also show the faces of many people Dyer said were members of the Dogpound gang.
That gang, and the neighborhood that bears its name, have been the focus of intensive police efforts in recent days after the Aug. 1 shooting death of Evijeni Mesa Perez, 29, who was killed while walking home with her two small children.
Dyer said Wednesday that at least one of the dogfights shown on the tapes took place less than two blocks from where Perez was shot.
After announcing the arrest, Dyer showed one of the scenes from the seized videotapes. He called it so graphic that it would "shock your conscience."
The video showed two pit bulls savaging each other, biting over and over again before the stronger dog locks its jaws around the other dog's neck. Blood drips from wounds in both dogs. At one point, someone off camera says one of the dogs is losing so much blood that it looks like "transmission fluid coming out of a car."
Deputy District Attorney David Jones called the bystanders callous.
"You can tell they are proud of what they are doing," Jones said. "In their minds, it increases their stature in the gang."
Jones said his office has already filed five felony charges and four misdemeanors in the case. The suspects face up to 10 years in prison if convicted.
Robert McCoy Jr. plead "not guilty" to felony dog fighting charges along with gang, weapons and drug charges.
The SPCA is now treating all of the animals involved in the dog fighting. Officials said that the dogs will remain at the SPCA until they get better. Case UpdatesAt a preliminary hearing in Fresno County Superior Court, prosecutor David Jones showed video clips of pit bulls viciously attacking each other as spectators cheered them on. Detective Ron Flowers reportedly testified that the scenes were filmed by one of the defendants, Kevin Dejean, who used the videos to advertise his gang's toughness.
"The whole issue at hand is not just the crime, but the fact that it was videotaped," Flowers said. "It promotes the gang with this footage."
Disgusted that the fighting was for show, not for money, Judge Gary Orozco scowled when he sentenced a fourth defendant, Deandre Stanfill, 27, who had entered a plea deal before the hearing began. Stanfill pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor charge of being a spectator at a dogfight.
"Boy, the fact that people would do it out of sheer cruelty, that's pretty sick," Orozco said
Three other Fresno men -- Dejean, 27, and brothers Isaac McCoy, 21, and Robert McCoy, 22 -- face felony gang and dogfighting charges. If convicted, they could face up to 11 years in prison. Police said they found the dogfighting videos in May during an investigation into the death of a woman who died after a street fight.
The videos, which Flowers said showed six dogfights involving seven dogs, were interspersed with clips of what Flowers said was Dejean's young son dancing, Dejean's friends riding in a limousine in Las Vegas, and even a scene inside a home with a Christmas tree. Date stamps on the videos indicate they were filmed in December 2006 and January 2007. Flowers testified that the dogfights took place on the 2700 block of South Tupman Avenue in southwest Fresno.
In the dogfights, some of which lasted five minutes or more, the pit bulls chewed at each other's necks and ears, often leaving one of the dogs exhausted and lying helplessly on the ground.
Orozco ruled that the video's audio would not be played during the preliminary hearing, but it was clear from the video that the McCoy brothers, whose faces were shown in at least one of the fights, were urging the dogs on.
"All this happened in broad daylight in a densely populated area where people are forced to live with that activity," Flowers testified. "No police calls were made because of the gang's reputation and for fear of retaliation. It shows this gang's propensity for violence, not just man to man, but also with helpless animals."
Flowers said a fifth person was involved in the dogfighting ring whom police have yet to identify, "but we're pretty close."
Though Dejean's face is never shown in any of the dogfighting scenes, Flowers -- who patrols Dejean's neighborhood -- said he had arrested Dejean or talked with him "numerous" times before he saw the video, and that he recognized his voice on the video.
"At times, not only was he encouraging the animals, but also mocking the handlers of the losing dogs," Flowers said. | Source: Fresno Bee - Oct 3, 2007
Update posted on Oct 3, 2007 - 4:44PM |
Isaac McCoy entered a not-guilty plea during his arraignment Tuesday morning in a Fresno county courtroom. McCoy was arrested last Friday.
He faces felony dog fighting charges and could be sentenced to 7 years in prison if convicted.
Police say they were investigating a murder and a string of burglaries earlier this month when they found a videotape showing McCoy and his co-defendants participating in a dog fighting ring. | Source: ABC Local - Aug 28, 2007
Update posted on Aug 29, 2007 - 12:15AM |
Robert McCoy pleaded not guilty Tuesday to felony charges of dogfighting and being a member of a criminal street gang.
Fresno County Superior Court Judge Rosendo Pe�a denied a request by McCoy's attorney that he be released from jail as the case progresses.
McCoy -- whom police identified on a videotape of a dogfight -- is the only person arrested so far as part of a police investigation.
McCoy faces serious charges and the possibility of more than seven years in prison if convicted. Pe�a set bail at $105,500.
A preliminary hearing has been scheduled for Aug. 27. | Source: Fresno Bee - Aug 15, 2007
Update posted on Aug 19, 2007 - 5:53PM |
Neighborhood MapFor more information about the Interactive Animal Cruelty Maps, see the map notes.
Back to Top References« CA State Animal Cruelty Map
|
