The raided home had performance-enhancing drugs, a ring and about 70 gamecocks, cops say
A Saturday morning at the cockfights was interrupted by a Polk County Sheriff’s Office raid, the agency said.
Thirteen people were arrested April 25 at or around the Frostproof-area home of Jorge Luis Ocasio-Montanez and Carman Idelia Rivera-Rodriguez, both 56.
Each of the homeowners faces charges of owning equipment for animal fighting, promoting animal fights, owning animals for fighting, and operating a property for animal fighting. Each posted $4,000 bond the next day.
Arrested on a charge of attending an animal fight were: Samuel Rosario-Maisonet, 18; Ramon Rivera-Ortiz, 71; Eleazar Jimenez-Laporte, 44; Paulino Adelso Borgen-De Jesus, 56; Victor Manuel Montes-Maldonado, 39; Wilfredo Rivera-Herrera, 61; Jose Guadalupe Martinez-Martinez, 38; Leasiv N. Pantoja, 38; Rafael Marquez-Baez, 56; Johnathan Ernesto Colon-Portilatin, 25; and Jose Angel Garcia-Baez, 52.
When the law popped in around 10:20 a.m., a deputy sergeant saw “several subjects running from underneath a covered shelter in the rear of the residence. Subjects were holding roosters as they attempted to flee upon sight of law enforcement.”
Those who skedaddled, an arrest report said, left behind a fighting ring under the shelter and roosters in pens.
“Several roosters had injuries to their head and blood on their feet,” the report said. “Several roosters were found to have acrylic spurs attached to their legs for fighting.”
A search warrant turned up 70 gamecocks on the property.
“Several of the chickens had their feathers recently trimmed and manicured for fighting,” the report read. “Several medications and performance-enhancing drugs were located hidden in an old microwave next to the fighting ring.”
