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Howard Ensley
State and local authorities had their eyes on a cockfighting site in Murray County for more than a year before arresting more than 60 people from three states.
On Berry Bennett Road in Chatsworth, Ga., U.S. Drug and Enforcement Administration officials discovered a major cockfighting site 14 months ago and continued to investigate the area along with local help, said Murray County Sheriff Howard Ensley.
When the investigators had enough evidence, a raid was conducted Saturday, rounding-up 67 suspects, Sheriff Ensley said.
"There are people from all three states -- Georgia, Alabama and Tennessee -- that we arrested," he said.
Among the arrests, police were able to identify three people allegedly running the fights, Sheriff Ensley said.
Christopher Harden, of Dalton, Ga.; Richard Martin, of Gainesville; and Christopher Welch, of Chatsworth, were charged with commercial gambling for conducting the cockfights, records show.
Most of the others were charged with gambling and cruelty to animals, and a few had drug charges also, Sheriff Ensley said.
Three people from Tennessee -- two from Cleveland, one from Birchwood -- were charged during the raid.
"I don't think cockfighting is a prevalent (criminal) charge in Hamilton County," said Executive Assistant District Attorney Neal Pinkston.
While there aren't many cockfighting charges filed in the county, that's not an indication of how often or how little it actually happens, he said.
Cockfighting is a statewide problem in Georgia, but it is more prominent in rural areas, said Georgia Bureau of Investigation Special Agent Rusty Grant, who is in charge of the Canton Regional Drug Office.
"It's not unusual for people to travel to attend cockfights," he said.
The GBI investigates many cases of cockfighting in North Georgia, and drug sales and cockfighting often have a strong correlation, Agent Grant said. Drugs are often sold at cockfights, which are handy sites for drug sellers to network, he said.
While one of the leaders of the Murray County cockfight and several of those arrested were from Dalton, the local police department said cockfighting does not seem to be a problem within city limits.
Dalton police have not arrested anyone for these charges in several years, said police spokesman Bruce Frazier.
Staff writer Monica Mercer contributed to this article.
Joy Lukachick covers crime in North Georgia for the Chattanooga Times Free Press. She started working at the paper in July 2009 as an intern. Raised near the Bayou, Joy’s hometown is along the outskirts of Baton Rouge, La. She has a bachelor’s degree in mass communication from Louisiana State University. While at LSU, Joy was a staff writer for the Daily Reveille. When Joy isn't chasing down stories, she is a full-time supporter of ...
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