May 24, 2007 11:46 pm US/Pacific
7 Charged With Killing Falcons To Save Pigeons
LOS ANGELES (CBS) ―
Two Riverside County men are among seven people charged for allegedly beating and shooting Peregrine falcons and hawks to death because they wanted to protect pigeons used in flying competitions, federal prosecutors said Thursday.
The charges stem from an investigation in which a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service agent infiltrated several California pigeon clubs, leading investigators to estimate that organizations in the Los Angeles area alone are behind the killing of 1,000 to 2,000 raptors each year, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.
The pigeon enthusiasts, who raise and fly a special type of the bird that "rolls" mid-flight and therefore is especially prone to attracting predators, would allegedly use backyard traps to snare Cooper's hawks, which hunt on the ground. They then used sticks or pellet guns to kill the hawks, according to prosecutors.
At other times, they would shoot Peregrine falcons and red-tailed hawks out of the air above their backyards with shotguns or rifles, authorities say.
The birds of prey, including Peregrine falcons, which were listed as endangered species until 1999, are protected under federal law.
Six of the seven defendants were arrested Wednesday, and a seventh surrendered Thursday, Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph Johns said.
Timothy Decker, 60, of Mira Loma, is expected to make his initial court appearance Wednesday afternoon in Los Angeles along with Rayvon Hall, 46, of Rialto, and Efren Lopez Jr., 28, of Hacienda Heights.
Brian McCormick, 40, of Norco, a past president of the California Performance Roller Club, was among four defendants released Wednesday on bond.
The others were identified as:
Juan Navarro, 44, of Los Feliz, who is president of the National Birmingham Roller Club.
Keith London, 42, of South Los Angeles, who owns a store called The Pigeon Connection and is president of the Inner City Roller Club.
Darik McGhee, 38, of San Bernardino, who builds and sells hawk traps and pigeon lofts, according to the government.
All of the defendants are charged with at least one misdemeanor count of unlawful or attempted unlawful taking of a migratory bird, a charge that carries up to six months in prison.
The roller pigeons, also known as Birmingham rollers, are native to England and have a genetic defect that causes them to flip backwards while in flight. Enthusiasts breed the pigeons with the goal of having them roll simultaneously, and then recover before hitting the ground.
The in-flight flipping makes the birds appear to be easy targets, which attracts the raptors, prosecutors said.
"This is a group of hobbyists who selectively inbred a genetic defect that attracts predators," then seemed to "feel entitled ... to engage in the wholesale slaughter of these predators," Johns said.
Authorities allege Navarro claimed to the undercover agent that he had killed one raptor per week, and that McGhee told the undercover agent he had filled a five-gallon bucket with talons cut from hawks he killed. Hall, who lives near a school, allegedly used a pellet gun to kill hawks in his yard.
Hall allegedly told the agent that when he was concerned one of the children might see him with the gun he used for shooting hawks, he sometimes using a more gruesome method, in which he sprayed the hawks with bleach and ammonia to create poisonous chlorine gas that suffocated the birds, according to an affidavit filed in the case.
At least some of the defendants targeted raptors that were not in their backyards, according to the court papers.
Hall and McGhee allegedly told the agent they once had gone looking for a good spot from which to shoot a raptor that was nesting on a state building in San Bernardino. They said they considered the nearby Radisson hotel, but decided there were too many people nearby, according to the affidavit.
Regardless of what kind of firearm they were using, the defendants could have harmed their neighbors and other people around them by firing at the raptors, Johns said.
"It's never a good idea for people to be discharging firearms in an urban neighborhood setting," the prosecutor said.
The charges are part of an ongoing national investigation by the Fish and Wildlife Service. On Monday, federal prosecutors in Oregon charged three men. In Houston, a member of a local pigeon racing club was charged Wednesday for allegedly trapping a Cooper's hawk.
(© 2007 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
