Rooster Robbery Foiled 3 Days After Cockfighting Ring Busted in New York

P0lice have nabbed two would-be rooster robbers. The duo allegedly tried to bust out some of the birds held by police since a massive cockfighting ring operation in central New York was raided July 17.

NY Attorney General Eric Schneiderman was crowing about it Thursday in a press release.

“Poultry pilferers who try to fly the coop with our evidence will be brought to justice," he said.

The dominoes began falling June 17 when 41 people were arrested and 200 gamecocks were detained in an operation which officials dubbed Operation Bloodsport.

In Operation Bloodsport, state and local law enforcement agents – led by the New York State Attorney General's Organized Crime Task Force and the New York State Police – concluded a five-month investigation into a network operating prohibited cockfights at a landscaping business in Herkimer County.

The cockfighting drew bird owners and spectators from all over New York, officials said.

The investigation culminated when police seized the gamecocks during a raid that resulted in the discovery of a breeding and training facility. Police also seized bird-fighting paraphernalia, such as spurs or razors, which are attached to a bird’s talons to increase the carnage of the fight.

In addition, heroin, several handguns, and more than $68,000 in cash were seized.

The gamecocks were turned over to the Herkimer County Humane Society.

On June 20, two people allegedly broke into a barn in which the Humane Society and the Attorney General’s Office were keeping the birds. Prosecutors said they broke padlocks authorities had installed on the barn doors and attempted to remove about 50 chickens. Those birds were being treated for injuries sustained during cockfighting and are considered evidence in the case, prosecutors allege.

Juan Jose Lucca Vega, 41, and Wanda Santos, 42, both of Utica, were arrested Tuesday evening and charged with Burglary in the Third Degree and Training an Animal for Animal Fighting for Amusement.

They were each arraigned in the Town of Newport Court and remanded to the Herkimer County Jail. Their relationship to the other 41 people arrested as part of Operation Bloodsport is under investigation.

A central figure among those arrests is Patrick Samson, prosecutors said. Samson owns and operates the landscaping business known as “Mr. P’s Natural Stone and Landscaping” in Frankfort. Samson allegedly hosted monthly cockfights at his landscaping business, where he built a massive cockfighting ring. The cockfights on Samson’s property charged spectators an admission fee, and offered food and alcoholic beverages.

Also alleged to be central to the network was Cesar Perez. Perez lived in Utica and was allegedly responsible for organizing and contacting gamecock owners from all over the state, and inviting spectators to come watch the fights. Perez allegedly coordinated scheduling of fights, had his girlfriend collect admission fees, got his mother to cook food to sell to the spectators, and coordinated a gambling table for spectators to wager on which gamecock would die first.

“It’s cruel, dangerous, and unlawful to torture animals for entertainment – and even more egregious to break in and try to steal those animals after their rescue,” Schneiderman said.

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