Police in South Carolina have arrested a truck driver after he allegedly absconded with cargo he was supposed to deliver. Specifically, he took off with 20 tons of chicken.

What was the man's plan? Just to eat all that chicken?

What is one man supposed to do with 20 TONS of chicken?

(Actually, the plan was a little more ingenious than it appears on the surface.)

55-year-old Christopher Thomas was supposed to deliver 41,000 pounds of chicken for Pilgrim's Pride Plant in Sumter, SC, to two locations in Milton, Georgia.

But, thinking he could get away with it, Thomas made multiple stops along the way and sold the chickens right off the truck at a personal profit.

"Thomas was to deliver approximately 41,000 pounds of chicken valued at approximately $80,000. He was arrested with approximately seven pallets loaded with 215 cases of chicken weighing 8,000 pounds remaining. It is believed that Thomas sold about 33,000 pounds of chicken," the sheriff's office said.

This dude was making bank!

But Pilgrim's Pride knew something was up, and that's why the police were tipped off to his scheme.

A tip led them to pull Thomas over in a traffic stop, allegedly, on a trip to make another sale.

"Following the tip, law enforcement was able to travel to where Thomas had agreed to meet a buyer. Upon Thomas' arrival at the predetermined location, the Sumter County Sheriff's Office investigator and the deputies from Lee County activated their blue lights and performed a traffic stop," the Sumter County Sheriff's Office said.

Thomas is sitting in a cell with a $50,000 Surety Bond for his poultry crime.

If the chickens were still living, maybe he could have claimed to be an environmental vegan hero!

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