| Cockfight den raided | |||
| Bag a peck of players in a former church | |||
More than 70 people found in the feather-covered gambling den on Longwood Ave. in the South Bronx were arrested, and nearly $18,000 was seized, officials said. Authorities also found 19 fighting roosters - some in sacks and others racing around the blood-stained floor when cops burst inside around 12:15 a.m. Hours later, 100 more birds were confiscated during a search of a building on nearby E. 156th St., authorities said. The cockfighting and gambling ring was operating out of an expansive second-floor room equipped with steel security doors. Lookouts with two-way radios guarded all entrances, investigators said. The room, hidden above a storefront at 869 Longwood Ave., held a 20-foot cockfighting ring, an illegal bar, a dice table and several food stands, officials said. Dozens of drunken gamblers ran toward the doors and stumbled over fluttering birds in a bid to escape after cops and agents from the law enforcement division of the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals moved in. "One guy had in excess of $5,000 in his pocket," said ASPCA Special Agent Joseph Pentangelo, who participated in the raid. In fighting trim Most roosters had their crowns removed and their chests shaved - a telltale sign they were being bred for the lucrative blood sport, Pentangelo said. "When they are fighting, it's something less for other birds to hang on to," he explained. Only a few months ago, the room used for the cockfights was home of the Bread of Life Church. A sign for the house of worship hung outside the building yesterday - but neighbors said it was no secret what was really going on behind the guarded doors. "There's a lot of money involved," Sam Garcia, 55, said as he sat outside. "You'd see them. They were carrying them in, the birds, in sacks." The cockfights were held mostly on Saturdays. A $20 cover was charged, and most gamblers came from outside the area, neighbors said. "People with money. Classy people," said Nancy Sanchez, 32, who lives on the block. Eight alleged organizers of the cockfights were awaiting arraignment last night on felony charges. Seventy-one people were charged with misdemeanor crimes, and five others were arrested on outstanding warrants for unrelated charges, authorities said. The confiscated roosters - each worth as much as several thousand dollars in cockfighting circles - will be euthanized. "They're unable to be rehabilitated," Pentangelo said. But at least one hen and a handful of chicks were to be spared and sent
to an animal sanctuary. |
