An anonymous telephone tip on Friday gave the Chesterfield County Sheriff's Department something to crow about. Deputies arrested 24 people in a cockfighting ring, the Sandspur Classic, at 411 Keith Town Road, on the Chesterfield County side of Society Hill.

These arrests Saturday marked the second time in six months Chesterfield County deputies thwarted this illegal form of gambling. Again, the Chesterfield County Sheriff's Department walked away with the first-place trophy.

People arrested Saturday were from Hartsville, Society Hill, Rockingham, N.C., Ellerbe, N.C., Darlington, Cassatt, Kershaw, Rock Hill, McBee and Patrick. Officers believe Shon McKinley Fales and Malcolm Greg Rogers were the organizers and coordinators of the event.

Some of those arrested were in possession of cockfighting paraphernalia, which increased their fine, Dixon said.

On the way to the location to which deputies had been tipped, a person in attendance at the Sandspur Classic flagged deputies toward the entrance road to the cockfighting ring.

When authorities arrived at the scene, they discovered about three dead birds. They also found a pen for cockfighting, about $2,000 in entry fees for fighting, more than 40 roosters, spurs, steroids and the first-place trophy Dixon said. Authorities also discovered boxes in which up to five roosters could be held in reserve.

From the scene, deputies had eight trucks, one van and one car towed. The vehicles were searched and any contraband items discovered were inventoried and seized by the Chesterfield County narcotics unit.

People who hold such fights change locations frequently to avoid getting caught, Dixon said. “They move different places each weekend,” he said.

Chesterfield County authorities discovered a much larger cockfighting operation July 2 in the woods in McBee when contenders were vying for the 2005 Cock Fighter of the Year. The scene in July was one Sheriff Sam Parker called “a very, very sick scene.”

Between 60 and 80 people were arrested on charges ranging from cockfighting to marijuana possession. When deputies arrived at that scene at McKenzie Road in McBee, more than 30 fights had taken place and more than 100 dead roosters littered the ground. Nearly $16,000 was seized at the raid, along with more than one pound of marijuana and boxes full of cockfighting supplies, including spurs and steroids.

Most of those arrested in the McBee cockfighting ring were from Darlington and Kershaw counties in South Carolina and Robeson and Scotland counties in North Carolina. Some of those same people arrested in July were arrested this time.

Cockfighting has been under increasing scrutiny in South Carolina, and one bill last year even called for making it a felony.

For more information on this story, please read the February 9, 2006 edition of the Cheraw Chronicle & Chesterfield Advertiser.