An apparent cockfighting ring in Phoenix landed two men behind bars over the weekend.
Phoenix Police responded to a home near 21st Avenue and Jefferson Street for a welfare check and found several clues suggesting rooster fights.
Officers found several cages with roosters and hens, transport cages in a truck, fresh blood, dead roosters and two birds actively fighting each other. Inside the home, they saw vitamins and a calendar with photos of the fights.
One of the men who was detained, Manuel Lopez Parra, 48, originally told officers a different name, but they found a fake ID card with information leading to another individual, a fake $100 bill and other false documents.
Parra later admitted to purchasing the fake documents for employment.
Another man, Jose Miguel Mendez Bello, 46, was also found at the scene. He told officers that the roosters were not his, but because he permitted cockfighting to take place at the home, he was arrested.
Both men were booked on charges of cockfighting, a felony. Parra was also booked for identity theft and forgery, also felonies.
