250 people, 600 chickens, cash and total chaos in Southeast cockfighting bust, cops say
.JPG "Cops are searching for up to 250 people from Georgia and South Carolina involved in an illegal cockfighting ring over the weekend — including the winner of nearly $30,000, media outlets report.")
A tow truck driver and his brother were hauling vehicles off a farm in Georgia until nearly 4 a.m. over the weekend, WRDW reported.
Where were the drivers? They scattered in the woods hours earlier.
The Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office is searching for 250 people who took off Saturday when law enforcement arrived at an underground cockfighting ring operating on the Georgia-South Carolina border, according to WJBF.
At least 26 people were charged with aggravated cruelty to animals and commercial gambling as of Monday, the media outlet reported.
“It was total chaos,” Major Jim Wallen told WJBF. “People running everywhere. Chickens running everywhere … sadly, [we were] outnumbered. There were over 200 of them and five of us so we managed to catch 20. I think we caught 22 initially, and then we picked up a couple more on the road.”
Lincoln County sits on the Savannah River — just over the border from South Carolina — with a population of just under 8,000, according to the latest U.S. Census records.
The county jail was nearly maxed out after the weekend bust, WJBF reported. More people were still turning themselves in.
“Whether you bet, whether you fought a chicken or just there helping your grandma, you get arrested,” Wallen said, according to WJBF.
The sheriff’s office got a tip around 2:30 p.m. Saturday and was on site 30 minutes later, WRDW reported.
Many of the attendees took off into the woods, but deputies told the media outlet they discovered between 500 and 600 chickens and 49 cars on the property. The license plates were from Georgia, South Carolina, Maryland, Oregon and Tennessee, according to WJBF.
Wallen told WRDW in a separate story that 46 people were entered in the fight. The buy-in was $600 and at least five chickens, but whoever won the $27,600 is “still on the run.”
The bodies of at least 17 chickens were also found on site, according to WFXG.
“But I know that there was birds that had already been disposed of and burned,” Wallen told the media outlet. “They had a couple of big pits out there that they burn them in.”
The chickens were strapped with knives — also known as gaffs that look like a pitchfork, Wallen reportedly said.
“Those fights last a maximum of 10 minutes unless one bird or the other bird dies,” he said, according to WFXG.
Investigators also found animal steroids, evidence of people selling chickens and concession stands, WRDW reported.
“It was like going to the ballpark,” Wallen told the media outlet. “Everything was there.”
Residents of the rural county where court is held only twice a year were shocked, according to WFXG.
“I couldn’t believe it,” Peyton Norman, who was called to tow the cars, told WRDW. “Not in Lincolnton. I mean, the only chickens we have is on a plate.”
