Major cock fighting ring halted in Lehigh Acres
A major cock fighting ring in Lee County was broken up this morning with the arrest of two men. Hundreds of chickens were rounded up in two locations, one just outside Lehigh Acres about two miles south of SR80 on Kentara Way near Sunshine Blvd. and another in Fort Myers at 1530 Apollo Drive.
Dozens of deputies, including narcotics agents were on hand to sweep up the chickens and put them in coops for forensic investigations by veterinary experts.
Lee County Sheriff Sgt. Mike Shelly spoke to reporters shortly before 1 p.m. today at the site near Lehigh. It is located off of Green Meadows Drive, down a long dirt road.
Shelly said the investigation has been under way for eight months and a search warrant was served this morning and animal cruelty officials such as the ASPCA (The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to animals) were on hand to take delivery of “about 600 chickens” being confiscated. Shelly said many of the chickens were in cages and others were roaming in a wire-enclosed area at both sites.
The chickens were voluntarily relinquished by their owners to Lee County domestic Animal Services.
Shelly said the cock fighting ring was the largest chicken fighting ring in Lee County and one of the largest, if not the largest in Florida history.
A visibly upset young woman, who identified herself as Virginia Sanchez, said she was the step-daughter of the man, William Roman, who was taken away in handcuffs at around 1 p.m. and charged with running the operation. She said she knew nothing about “any kind of cock fighting” that her father and six brothers lived in the remote area and “raised chickens.”
Also arrested was Pedro Lopez of Fort Myers. He was charged with animal cruelty, housing distressed animals (chickens), possessing animals for fighting and baiting, trafficking in cocaine, possession of marijuana and the sale of marijuana. Roman was charged with animal (chicken) fighting and baiting, housing distressed animals (chickens) and animal cruelty, according to Larry King, a spokesman with the Sheriff’s Office.
On the scene at Kentara Way, some nine miles from downtown Lehigh, were trailers brought in by ASPCA officials who said each chicken will be inspected.
In a statement released to the media, Kat Destreza, the ASPCA’s Southeast director, Field Investigation and Response, said the ASPCA was asked to support the efforts of the local authorities in this case and toward that end have brought their expertise in animal fighting and forensic evidence collection to the table.
“Tim Rickey, the ASPCA’s senior director of Field Investigation and Responses, said cockfighting is a violent blood sport where the participants the roosters – don’t have choices.
“These birds are forced into being killing machines for entertainment, during which they die or are left to die a horrible death.”
ASPCA officials said the roosters were housed in elevated cages, inside wire fencing, and in barns that dotted both properties the other being in a city site in Fort Myers.
Sheriff’s officials said at 1:30 p.m. that they still had 350 chickens to round up in Lehigh and put into special coops and then loaded onto a large truck.
Shelly said investigators were also collecting implements used on the chickens for evidence. He said such things a razors and other objects were attached to the chickens to bring more harm and often the killing of one of the chickens.
Officials said not only is it against the law in Florida to run such an operation but it is against the law even to attend a cock fighting event.
Shelly said it was not uncommon for hundreds of people to attend these cock fighting events.
Investigators said people bet big money as they stand around a large ring while roosters fight one another, often to the death.
ASPCA officials said the chickens’ eyes and lungs are often injured in the cock fights.
They said people bet on them through lotteries and other means. They also said prized cock fighters are sold and exchanged with other groups and bring good money, sometimes several hundred dollars.
William Roman was identified by his daughter, Virginia, as the man arrested on the scene. A woman who identified herself only as Anita screamed that she had nothing to do with the operation or turning him in. Virginia Sanchez said she was divorced from her father.
The Sheriff’s Office said the operation in Lehigh Acres will continue throughout the day and ASPCA officials said the chickens will be inspected for injuries and if there are those that cannot be saved, they will be disposed of in a humane way.
When asked what will happen to the hundreds of other chickens that are saved, ASPCA officials said they were not sure.
They said there was a lot to do and they would have to make contact with others who would see that the chickens were taken and treated humanely, that they would not be used in cock fighting games.