Three Men Arrested Over Stealing, Riding Giant Purple Chicken

San Mateo, FL – Three young men were taken into custody Wednesday by Putnam County Deputies for stealing a 9-foot-tall, 600 pound, purple, aluminum chicken statue from a Florida homeowner’s yard.

According to the Putnam County Sheriff’s Office, a deputy was dispatched to a home on East State Road 100 at 6 am Tuesday. The officer met with the homeowner, Ben Smith, where the reported incident occurred.

The statue’s owner, Smith, stated he was getting ready for work that morning when he overheard a commotion – consisting of screaming and hollering – just outside his residence.

Several eyewitnesses, including the bird’s owner, watched as a Chevy pick-up truck, driven by one of the suspects, towed the oversized yard-art down the road while another suspect allegedly rode atop the giant aluminum chicken.

The crime practically begs for a why did the chicken cross the road joke.

The truck and the chicken traveled about one mile, reports News4Jax. The unorthodox joyride came to an end when the mischief makers reached their final destination down the block, where one of the men unhooked the chicken. Thereafter the trio drove away.

No one is sure what inspired the bizarre event.

The chicken, valued at $2,300, sustained a broken leg, broken claw, and extensive road-rash scrapes along one side, reports First Coast News.

The thieves were identified by witnesses and video surveillance and picked up the next day.

Darrin Luke Edwards, 19, Tyler Lee Jones, 21, and James Joseph Smith, 18, were arrested and confessed to the tomfoolery. Each of them was charged with a count of grand theft, according to a release from the Putnam County Sheriff’s Office.

Edwards was given an additional charge for violating his probation.

Jones and Smith were each released from the Putnam County Jail on a $1,004 bond and Edwards is still being held in jail without bond.

[Image via Shutterstock]