I-75 Traffic Stop In Dooly County Leads To Peach County Cock Fighting Ring Arrests

It’s not usual for a traffic stop in I-75 to turn into something more in Dooly County. But it is unusual for officers to find evidence of illegal cock fighting.

An Dooly County deputy discovered bloody roosters Saturday night, after he pulled over 54-year-old Antonio Barajas and his 34-year-old son, Antonio Medina Barajas for weaving in and out of lanes. They were taken into custody and charged with two counts of cruelty to animals.

The roosters were in a box in the back of the vehicle. Two were covered in blood and one had a serious injury to its eye. And investigators believed they had more.

When investigators executed a search warrant for the father’s home in Peach County, they made a shocking discovery in his backyard. More than a hundred-fifty chickens and roosters were caged in the backyard. Investigators estimate more than 80 percent were gamecocks.

Authorities also discovered scaled used to weight the roosters before a fight, roosters without their crowns and tools used for training and fighting the birds. They also discovered some of the roosters were caged high off the ground and in other ways to strengthen the birds.

Officers say they have no idea how long these men have been raising chickens and there’s no telling how many could have died.

WARNING—Some of these images may be disturbing.