Cockfight argument kills one man, injures another

By Karen Blakeman
Advertiser Staff Writer

One man is dead and a second hospitalized after an argument over the results of a cockfight last night at a house in lower Kalihi.

Police homicide Lt. Bill Kato said today that the death and injuries occurred after the cockfight at 686 Bannister Street.

No one had been arrested as of today, but police continued interviewing witnesses and examining a surveillance tape from nearby Laumaka Corrections Center, which may have recorded of the fighting.

Witnesses have told police the argument about the cockfight started behind the house but moved toward Bannister Street as the cockfight crowd left.

It escalated into violence as a 41-year-old man picked up a stick and attacked a half dozen men with whom he had argued. The group of men took the stick away from the victim and beat him with it.

As the men who had administered the beating continued to walk down Bannister Street toward Bannister Place, the victim's 39-year-old friend followed them, continuing the argument.

The group turned and beat the second man even more severely than the first.

As police arrived the cockfight audience as well as the slaying suspects fled amid a scene that Kato described as chaotic.

The two men were taken to The Queens Medical Center, both in critical condition.

Kato said the 41-year-old man's condition was upgraded to guarded this afternoon.

The 39-year-old man died about 2:30 p.m. today, Kato said.

Police made no arrests on cockfighting charges. Kato said the law requires officers to witness the cockfight firsthand.

Reach Karen Blakeman at kblakeman@honoluluadvertiser.com or 535-2430.