Police Investigate Bizarre Chicken Theft

By Andrew Gorosko

“It’s unusual, to say the least,” explained police patrol Officer Richard Robinson.

Officer Robinson is investigating the overnight theft of approximately 35 chickens from a Sandy Hook chicken coop earlier this month.

The stolen chickens had been kept by A.J. and Jeff Collier, a couple living off Route 34, who had raised the named animals as pets, with a sideline of selling the eggs that the hens laid.

The crime occurred sometime overnight on September 9-10, Mr Collier said this week.

Apparently, someone who knew that there were chickens on the property, entered the chicken coop, and then stole the birds, he said.

Clearly, at least some of the birds were killed before they were taken away, Mr Collier said, noting that after the theft, six chicken’s heads were found lying in the area. Only one bird was left alive. That bird has been given to a friend who raises chickens, Mr Collier said.

The thief or thieves apparently parked a vehicle alongside Route 34, hopped a fence and then entered the chicken coop to steal the animals, he said.

The birds may have been stolen by someone for food, or may have been stolen for use in cult practices, he said.

“It’s disturbing,” Mr Collier said of the incident.

Police were thorough in investigating the crime, Mr Collier said, noting that Officer Robinson took photographs of the scene and collected fingerprint evidence.

Officer Robinson said this week that there are no suspects in the case. When he investigated the scene, he encountered the remnants of the birds in the form scattered feathers, some blood, and a chicken’s head, he said.

“This is unusual,” he noted. “This one is bizarre, and I’m hoping that its [publicity] going to jog someone’s memory” concerning any unusual activity which was witnessed in the area when the crime occurred, he said.

Officer Robinson asks anyone with information about the poultry theft to contact him at the police station at 426-5841 or at 270-8888.