Chicken crosses road. Motive eludes officials.
Chicken crosses road in Portland, Ore., blocking traffic and prompting at least one citizen to call the police. Police say they were 'unable to determine the chicken's intent.'
A chicken crosses the road, in this file photo, just north of Parker City, Ind. Police were unable to determine the intent of a chicken crossing the road in Portland, Ore., Monday.
Kurt Hostetler/The Star Press/AP/File
PORTLAND, Ore.
Portland, Oregon, police were told there was a chicken — and it was attempting to cross the road.
In fact, the citizen who called the police non-emergency line on Monday evening reported that the chicken's efforts to cross a road in a north Portland neighborhood were bringing traffic nearly to a standstill.
He assured the dispatcher he was not joking.
The dispatcher chuckled — and asked a clarifying question.
"It's just the one chicken?"
The caller said yes.
Sgt. Pete Simpson says responding officers were unable to locate the chicken.
And so, he notes, police "were unable to determine the chicken's intent."