Jerry Sleater knows why the chicken tried to cross the road early Thursday in front of his Badger Canyon home. Someone tried stealing the brightly painted five-foot tall, 400-pound yard ornament in the middle of the night. The thieves left behind his slightly damaged rooster named Rudy, partially blocking the roadway. A front-end loader was used to recover Rudy as a Benton County deputy used the lights on his patrol car to warn motorists.

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