Ventura County – Apparently unaware that California is part of the United States, and that it is currently the 21st Century in this country, four men were arrested in Fillmore in the morning hours of July 18th pursuant to an anonymous call to Ventura County Sheriff’s Department Fillmore Station reporting cockfighting activities in a rural neighborhood of that city.
According to VCSD spokesman Sgt. Dave Sparks, the area to which deputies were summoned is adjacent to the Santa Clara River, a dry, barren, undeveloped patch of land generally out of public view; when deputies responded to the scene, “multiple suspects fled the scene, running into the dense brush of the river bottom.” Uniformed deputies, as they are wont to do, were undaunted by the terrain and pursued on foot, ultimately confronting Fermin Navarro, a 32-year-old Sylmar resident, Abraham T. Figueroa, a 54-year-old from Piru, Lucio Vasquez-Sanchez, 34, and Rodrigo Suarez-Guzman, 28, both hailing from neary Ojai.
A brief investigation immediately ensued, revealing 39 roosters in cages, along with additional evidence of illegal animal activity that included more than $1,000 cash and several cockfighting knives “typically attached to the birds’ legs for use during fighting.” As described by Sparks, “the knives cause severe damage” to birds used in such activities, usually leading to death. Ventura County Animal Services were summoned to the scene, whereupon the birds were removed from the scene.
For their part, Figueroa, Navaroo, Vasquez-Sanchez, and Suarez-Guzman were each transported to Ventura County Jail where they were booked on charges of Animal Cruelty and living in The Dark Ages.
Photo: courtesy Ventura County Sheriff’s Department
