Overview
- Maricopa County deputies, responding Saturday around 10:30 a.m., say they reached a Rainbow Valley property near 170th Avenue and Cotton Lane and saw active cockfights as several people fled.
- Eight men were detained while trying to leave and were booked on charges of being present at a cockfight.
- Investigators reported two fighting pits, 157 live roosters, a dry-erase board showing bets, $18,000 in cash, four handguns, an AR-15 rifle, and gaffs, which are knife-like blades strapped to birds’ legs.
- Sheriff’s video showed dead birds and crowded makeshift cages, and certified veterinarians euthanized all 157 roosters at the scene as protocol.
- The Sheriff’s Office says this is its second bust in 2026, and Arizona outlawed cockfighting in 1998 as detectives now look for links to January’s Tonopah case.