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Case #16222 Rating: 2.9 out of 5
Dog-fighting - 21 dogs
Elgin, IL (US)Incident Date: Friday, Feb 19, 2010
County: Kane
Charges: Misdemeanor, Felony Non-CTA
Disposition: Convicted
Defendant/Suspect: Alejandro Campos-Rivera
Case Updates: 2 update(s) available
Raiding a home across the street from Ellis Middle School that reportedly was being used as an indoor marijuana farm, a task force of police also discovered 21 vicious pit bulls that apparently were being trained for dogfighting. Officers said that when the dogs began attacking them and each other, police shot six of them to death and trapped the other 15.
The raid happened about 11 p.m. Friday at 210 S. Liberty St., as traffic was blocked off on the busy artery between Villa and Laurel streets. The man who lived at the home, 37-year-old Alejandro Campos-Rivera, was charged with unlawful production of cannabis plants, a class 2 felony, and aggravated animal cruelty, a class 4 felony. Police were trying to determine if the drug charge could be upgraded because of the home's proximity to the school.
His bail was set Saturday morning at $750,000. He was being held in the Kane County jail pending a March 5 hearing.
"We knew that he had pit bulls, so we brought along animal control officers, hoping we'd be able to capture them safely with nooses," Deputy Police Chief Jeff Swoboda said. "But there turned out to be 21 of them, and they were extremely aggressive. Some broke out of their cages and had to be shot."
He said three of the animals that broke loose jumped on a fourth one and began tearing it apart before police shot them. After the gruesome scene was brought under control, Swoboda said, police found pool cues and sticks with gnaw marks on them, apparently used to beat or train the dogs. They also found raw meat on the floor.
Swoboda said the dog cages were in the basement, while marijuana plants were found throughout the home. He said the plants had electric lights over them, a system to deliver water to each plant and a mechanism to dry out the fully-grown plants.
Swoboda said police do not believe dogfighting matches were held at the house. But "these dogs clearly were not being raised as pets," he said.
City code enforcement officers declared the house unfit for habitation and boarded up the windows. The surviving dogs were taken to the Golf Rose Animal Hospital in Schaumburg.
Case UpdatesAn Elgin man pleaded guilty Friday to production of cannabis and animal cruelty charges.
In exchange, he was sentenced to three years in prison.
Alejandro Campos-Rivera will receive credit for 174 days he spent in the Kane County jail awaiting trial.
Campos-Rivera, 37, was arrested Feb. 19 by Elgin police during a raid on his marijuana-growing operation at his home in the 200 block of South Liberty Street.
Besides finding 180 marijuana plants, police discovered 22 pit bull dogs.
The dogs were in poor condition, being kept without food or water, police said. Some of them tried to chew their way out of their cages, and some tried to attack police. Some had signs of being bitten.
Police shot six dogs that night, and five more were euthanized due to injuries and suffering from parvovirus �" a highly contagious virus in dogs that is almost always fatal when left untreated.
The marijuana charge was a Class 2 felony; the animal cruelty, a Class B misdemeanor. | Source: dailyherald.com - Jan 14, 2011
Update posted on Jan 14, 2011 - 1:27PM |
Police have recovered multiple videos of dogfighting from the home of an Elgin man charged with animal cruelty, according to Kane County court documents made public Wednesday.
The videos, documents state, contain images of pit bulls "viciously fighting," breeding and feeding on raw meat.
The home movies were seized March 6 when officers returned to 37-year-old Alejandro Campos-Rivera's home on the 200 block of Liberty Street in Elgin, following his arrest on charges of growing marijuana, police said.
In addition to more than 50 cannabis plants, police said they found more than 20 pit bulls in a search of Campos-Rivera's home in February.
Six of the dogs were euthanized after exhibiting "aggressive" behavior, police said, and five more were put down after they contracted a virus.
Elgin police referred questions about the home movies Wednesday to the Kane County state's attorney's office, which declined to comment.
Campos-Rivera, who is charged with animal torture, aggravated animal cruelty and marijuana production and possession, remains in the Kane County jail on $150,000 bond.
His next court date is Thursday. | Source: Daily Herald - Apr 7, 2010
Update posted on Jun 2, 2010 - 2:46PM |
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