BENTON - Benton police arrested a rooster Monday for allegedly, well, running around like a chicken with its head cut off.

The unidentified rooster was shown who truly rules the roost after an altercation on the city's northeast side, Benton Police Chief Mike O'Neill said.

"This (Monday) morning we got a call from a woman who said a rooster was preventing her and her child from going on their travels," O'Neill said. "Officers responded and apprehended Leghorn or whoever he is and took him into custody after a, um, brief scuffle. He is currently incarcerated at our facility, actually outside our facility, while we attempt to locate his owner."

Police provided the jailed fowl with feed and water in his temporary cell.

O'Neill said the complaint was not the first against the rooster, who has allegedly acted in an aggressive manner to children.

"He has been bothering people, confronting them, impeding their travel," he said. "We are holding him in custody until he can be transported out of the city limits."

O'Neill said the rooster is in violation of an ordinance that bars his ilk from residing within the city's boundaries.

"We are trying to locate the court of venue for a case like this, but the closest we've come is a kangaroo court," O'Neill joked.

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