Chicken leads police officer on chase in Arkansas

JONESBORO, Ark. (KAIT/Gray News) - A chicken chase in Arkansas went viral and a police officer and resident are talking about it, KAIT reports.

On Sunday, Tia Dulaney got home and saw a chicken on her front porch.

“I waited for like five minutes until you know, to see if it was gonna, you know, leave or whatever and it never did,” she said.

Dulaney first called animal control, but they were closed. She called the Jonesboro Police Department next.

Officer Nathan Swindle answered the call.

“Last thing I thought I’d be doing is chasing a chicken around,” he said.

Swindle and his training officer arrived at Dulaney’s apartment. Swindle got out of his car and approached the chicken, but the chicken had other plans.

“I was trying to shoo it off a little bit and it took off and so I was like, ‘Man, I gotta catch it,’ and so I immediately started running,” he said.

Officer Swindle chased the chicken around the parking lot for more than four minutes.

The chicken eluded the officer and even hid under a car. The officer brought a stick out to try to get the chicken from under the car.

His plan worked, but the chicken would continue to avoid its capture.

Bodycam footage of the chase shows everyone including Swindle laughing as he chases the chicken.

Dulaney says Swindle was “having fun.”

“I think she just thought I was going to shoo it off and call it good, but she sure got a kick out of it,” Swindle said.

Since the release of the photos from the chase, Swindle has newfound fame. The video has been shared across the country.

Swindle’s peers at the Jonesboro Police Department have given the officer a nickname.

“My nickname has been “Rooster’ since Sunday,” he said.

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