Cockfighting - 45 birds, drugs seized
Bakersfield, CA (US)Incident Date: Thursday, Mar 6, 2008
County: Kern
Disposition: Alleged
Alleged:
» Rodolfo Serrato
» Manual Gonzalez
Case Updates: 1 update(s) available
An investigation was underway Friday into the discovery of a cockfighting ring at a home in east Bakersfield.
Thursday morning, members of the California Multi-Jurisdictional Methamphetamine Enforcement Team, or CALMMET, served a search warrant at a home in the 2700 block of Trust Avenue.
Officers said they found methamphetamine, drug paraphernalia, a sawed-off rifle, and 45 fighting roosters.
The birds were taken to the Kern County Animal Shelter, but not all of them remained there.
"Sometime last night, 13 of those same roosters were stolen," said Sgt. Ed Komin from the Kern County Sheriff's Department.
Investigators don't know who took the birds.
Rodolfo Serrato, 27, and Manual Gonzalez, 24, were arrested as a result of the original search.
Case UpdatesTwo men intent on stealing back a flock of cockfighting roosters from a Bakersfield animal shelter Friday had their middle-of-the-night plan interrupted by California Highway Patrol officers, authorities said.
The men were apprehended near the Bakersfield Animal Shelter carrying burlap sacks containing feathers, said Lt. Brad Wahl of the Bakersfield Police Department. A check of their vehicle turned up cockfighting videos but no roosters, so the vehicle was impounded and the men were released, Wahl said.
The CHP officers were unaware that a day earlier 45 roosters had been removed from a home by a police task force that was serving search warrants on a different matter, Wahl said. However, the CHP officers did notify animal control officials of the suspicious activity. When animal control officers counted the impounded cocks, they discovered that 13 were missing, said Denise Haynes of Kern County Animal Control.
The cages were not locked so it would have been easy to retrieve the roosters once the thieves got over a barbed-wire fence around the shelter, Haynes said. A pair of bolt cutters was found near the cages.
"My guess is the CHP caught them on a return trip. They were coming back for more," Haynes said.
The suspects are at large but detectives with the Police Department were investigating the thefts, Wahl said. | Source: LA Times - March 8, 2008
Update posted on Mar 9, 2008 - 2:51PM |
References- KGET - March 7, 2008
- KGET - March 13, 2008
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