Robeson deputies break up cockfight

Authorities received an anonymous tip at about 2 p.m. Sunday about a cockfight taking place at a mobile home off Dixie Drive and Folks Road, east of Red Springs.

When deputies arrived, spectators began running off into the woods, and others hopped in their cars and sped away, said Maj. Howard Branch of the Robeson County Sheriff's Office.

Deputies towed 15 vehicles, he said. The 14 people charged in the case range in age from 19 to 35.

Investigators found one rooster dead and two others badly injured. One of the injured birds was later euthanized.

Cockfighting equipment, including metal spurs that are tied to the birds' legs, was seized.

Property owner Cedric McEachern, 35, was among those charged with cockfighting and felony conspiracy. His home is down a private, sandy road, shielded from the main road by brush and trees, and the property includes a shed with the words "Gamecock Man" spray-painted on it and roosters in cages.

McEachern denied the allegations, saying he breeds roosters and dogs to sell and that the people at his home were just hanging out.