ELLSWORTH -- After a monthlong investigation, police have broken up a fight club that pitted teens -- boys and girls -- against each other in bare-fisted fights.

They have charged five teens and one adult in connection with the club, which has organized fights at a remote location off Shore Road for several years. Police became aware of the fights last year, according to Officer Rick Roberts of the Ellsworth Police Department.

Earlier this fall, Roberts said, Ellsworth High School Principal Bill Connors contacted the police and informed them the fight club was again active.

Roberts said he began an investigation and, in late September, Connors received an e-mail with video of the fights that had been posted on YouTube.

The videos show the teenagers engaged in fights, sometimes surrounded by as many as 50 onlookers, many of whom watched silently, while others egged the fighters on. Although amateur videos, they show the fights graphically. One video in particular shows a youngster get kneed to the head and fall to the ground.

The videos helped police in their investigation "That was convenient," Roberts said. "I watched it, and some of the kids, I recognized."

"Most of these kids are good kids from good families."

he said. ìMost of them said they did not want to be there, but there was a lot of pressure to be involved in it.î

The peer pressure also appears on the video, he said. One of the fighters says he isnít doing it to win, he is just doing it to get it over with.

The prestige apparently is the title ìtoughest kid in the school,î Roberts said. Often, the fights appeared to be set up between teens who already didnít like each other.

Although all the videos showed teenage boys fighting, Roberts said he had information that there had been fights pitting girls against girls. He said that part of the investigation had hit a dead end.

In all, five teenage boys, aged 14 through 17, all from the Ellsworth area, were issued summonses and charged with unlawful prize fighting. One adult, Jeremy Shorey, 19, of Ellsworth, who served as the referee in at least one of the fights, also was charged with unlawful prize fighting, which is a Class E crime punishable by up to six months in prison.

The fight club concept is not a local incident. Roberts said fight clubs have sprung up around the country. Officers even found rules for the Ellsworth fight club online.

It appears the fights have stopped since the police began charging people, but Roberts said they will remain alert in the event they start up again.

ìWeíre concerned that somebody is going to really get hurt,î he said. ìIf they start up again, weíre going to stop them.î

The investigation continues as police search for the person who has been organizing the fights.

ìMy goal is for this to stop,î he said. ìIím looking for the ringleader. I want to find out whoís picking the kids to fight, whoís setting it up. Somebodyís doing it.î

The information on the case will be forwarded to the Hancock County District Attorneyís office.

The phenomenon of ìfight clubsî gained momentum following the release of the 1999 film ìFight Club,î which featured Brad Pitt and Edward Norton.