88 people arrested including 2 police officers

Dogfighting

North Philadelphia, and East Germantown, PA

April 22, 2000

88 people were arrested including 2 off-duty city police officers, when police raided a dogfight in an auto-repair garage on 19th and Norris St.  A tip was given by an FBI informant.

Isaac Fontaine, a 10 year veteran of the 5th District in Roxborough and Craig Thomas, a 2 ˝ year veteran of the 35th District in East & West Oak Lane were initially believed to be under cover officers but it was later determined that they were active participants.  Fontaine and Thomas were suspended with intent to dismiss.  Of the 88 arrests 81 people were charged with cruelty to animals, gambling and related crimes.  5 people were also charged with operating a gambling ring.  2 people were acquitted as they were at the event looking for a stolen dog.

The people charged are listed below:

Rasul Abdul

Lamont Alexander          

James Baker

George Barabin

Michael Barker

Steven Barrett

Warner Berkley

Dorrell Best

Edward Blackwell

Anthony Blount

Jori Britt

Richard Brown

Lawrence Burch

Rodney Carroll

Robert Carson

Rashawn Coleman

Tiyeak Cook

Paris Dickerson

Jamal Doggett

Jabbar Fairweather

Nichole Fisher

Isaac Fontaine

Francis Garfield

Steven Gilliard

Russell Gray

Afiz Hagg

Edward Harris

Anthony Hynes

Edward Jenkins

Michael “Isiack” Johnson

Melvin Justice

Ricky LeBron

Harold Leonard

Dwayne Lewis

Stewart Liggon

Jacob Lightbourne

Lovelie Lundy

Omar Mateen

Hakim Miller

Maurice Miller

Sheldon Miner

Timothy Mitchell

Anwar Munsin

Hassan Munson

James Murray

Samuel Nazario

Michael Norris

Robert Parks

Judson Poles, Jr.

Justin Polo

Charles Powell

Melvin Rambert

Robert Reid

Gilroy Robinson

Leonard Rose

Steve Salvatore

Eric Scales

William Scales

Carey Searles

Kareem Simmons

David Simms

Joseph Skinner

Kevin Smith

William Smith

Bruce Stratton

John Taliaferro-Bertalomue

Antoine Talley

Leslie Taylor

Craig Thomas

Alfred Tribble

Kareem Upshur

Tammy Volovnick

Kile Warthen

Keith Washington

Brian Watson

Leah Wiley

Aadeil – Randy Williams

Johnny Williams

Mikkel Williams

Bryan Woods

Lee Woodward

The Philadelphia ASPCA was called to meet the police and assist in the raid.  The arrests began around 11:30pm and went into Easter morning.

The animals seized were: 1 Rottweiler and 3 pit bulls from inside the garage and 8 were removed from vehicles.

As the investigation began, it was learned that more dogs were being held in an abandoned East Cosgrove St. East Germantown row house.

Most of the emaciated animals seized were attached to walls by 3 foot chains and were surrounded by piles of feces and urine-soaked floorboards.  Buckets of water and bags of straw for bedding were found in the front room but well out of the dogs’ reach.  There were also medical kits including penicillin to help wounded dogs avoid infection.  3 dogs were found in a dark upstairs room, chained inside wooden pens.

Also found were ropes hanging from the 1st floor rafters, which are typically used to dangle live cats or dogs to rile the pit bulls in training.  The dogs were 2-4 years old except for 2 5-month-old puppies.

The dogs taken into protective custody were given medical treatment, five basic shots and treated for serious wounds.  The dog found inside the fighting ring had to undergo surgery as the skin had been torn off of his legs.  One of the puppies was euthanized immediately because he had scabies, a contagious skin infection.

$13,000 in cash was also seized in the weekend raid. Also confiscated were four handguns, a small amount of marijuana and other drugs.

A total of 25 maimed or mauled dogs were rounded up in both raids.

All the dogs seized eventually had to be euthanized because they were found to be not socialized.

Update July 11, 2000: The two off-duty Philadelphia cops who were seized with 86 other people in an illegal North Philadelphia dogfight were "more than mere bystanders," a prosecutor said at a hearing held on July 10th. 35 of the defendants waived preliminary hearings and opted to go right to trial on animal cruelty charges. The 2 police officers have been suspended without pay.

Update January 13, 2001: 24 "spectators" were convicted of cruelty to animals for watching dogfights inside a North Philadelphia garage last spring. Paying to watch dogfights is a felony in Pennsylvania, said Assistant District Attorney Anne Marie Coyle. The defendants, including Craig Thomas and Isaac Fontaine, the two now-fired police officers, were acquitted of conspiracy charges. The former police officers were among 12 offenders placed on three years' probation and ordered to each pay a fine of $750.

Update January 17, 2001: After learning that 24 spectators at an illegal dogfight were convicted of cruelty to animals last week, there wasn't much fight left in 26 other men charged in the case. So seven negotiated guilty pleas on cruelty-to-animal charges in exchange for three years' probation, fines of $500 and 30 hours of community service.

Eleven others pleaded guilty without any plea bargains. They got three years' probation and $500 fines, but no community service. Eight others wound up with the same sentences after being convicted by Common Pleas Judge Legrome D. Davis. The 8 others agreed to waive testimony and allow Assistant District Attorney Anne Marie Cole to summarize the evidence. Most of the defendants had no prior convictions.

Kevin Smith, described as a dog handler at the time of the police raid, will be sentenced in two months. Smith was found guilty of cruelty to animals and illegally dealing in proceeds of the fight.

Dwayne Lewis, age 20, a lookout who paraded outside the garage during the dogfighting, was among those pleading guilty. He pleaded to a summary offense and received 90 days' probation and a $500 fine.

Update January 19, 2001: Two men who were accused in the North Philadelphia dogfighting case succeeded in convincing a judge they had been at the dogfight to look for a stolen pit bull. Common Pleas Judge Legrome D. Davis, who has been hearing the cases against some 80 spectators who were rounded up in a raid on the fight on April 22, 2000 acquitted Edward Harris, 48, of Oak Lane, and David Simms, 37, of Germantown.

Their lawyers, Peter D. Quinn and George Gossett Jr., told the judge Harris had been looking for his 2-year-old pit bull, "Big Red," which was stolen from his back yard around Christmas. They didn't find "Big Red" among the dogs. The acquittals were the first after 50 of the spectators either had pleaded guilty or were found guilty of cruelty to animals. About half were placed on probation. The others are awaiting a March sentencing.

Update March 27, 2001: Common Pleas Judge Legrome D. Davis found Michael Johnson, age 31 guilty and sentenced him to 11 1/2 to 23 months in prison under the work-release program, plus four years' probation. He also ordered him to make $2,500 restitution to the SPCA for the cost of the treatment of pit bulls injured during the event, and fined him $206 in court costs. Johnson was found to be the organizer of the dogfighting event.

The two former cops were among the spectators convicted and placed on probation.

Judge Davis also jailed two others for cruelty to animals and placed 13 others on probation and ordered them to perform community service.

References:

The Philadelphia Inquirer

The Philadelphia Daily News

The Philadelphia ASPCA