Columbia, SC (WLTX) -- Richland County deputies were looking for a stolen motorcycle; instead, they ended up busting a dog fighting ring.
"They were hosting fights there and he was breeding dogs for fighting," said Holly Wagner, an investigators with the Richland County Sheriff's Department.
Wagner was enjoying her Sunday off, when she was called in for an early morning raid.
"I got a call at home and responded out there to look at it and determined after walking around and looking at it that it was definitely a dog fighting location," she said.
Deputies say Behind 1920 Crane Church Road was a dog fighting pit with old blood smeared on the wall.
And lots of dogs and puppies.
"This was a typical yard, it had 16 adult dogs that were on heavy log chains and they were chained just far enough so the dogs can't touch," Wagner said. "They had some young puppies that were way too young to be off of the mothers yet but they had been removed from their mothers and they were in separate cages kind of like rabbit hutches off of the ground."
Deputies say 21-year-old Jacobi Anthony Green took off running when deputies arrived, but was caught not far from the home. Deputies say he didn't go without a fight.
According to investigators, he bit a deputy then threatened him and his family.
"No serious injuries, the dogs were fed and watered, but they were definitely set up for dog fighting," Investigator Joseph Clarke said.
Clarke came out to assist not too long after Wagner had been called out.
He said he normally finds fighting rings from neighbors and has some things you can look out for.
"Suspicious noises, the barking, excessive amounts of animals, lots of foot traffic, lots of car traffic, that kind of thing," he said.
Although this isn't their biggest dog fighting bust, he said that this could alleviate other illegal activity.
"It brings the narcotics, large quantities of cash, things like that that go with the narcotics trade and almost always in a case when we stop someone with narcotics, they have firearms as well. So we like getting this stopped and off the street," Clarke said.
Green is charged with receiving stolen goods, resisting arrest, threatening the life of a public official, two counts of animal fighting and baiting, and simple possession of marijuana.
His bond was set at $50,000, but as of Tuesday evening, he remained behind bars.
