A South Carolina truck driver allegedly decided to wet his beak this week by hatching a plan to steal and resell 41,000 pounds of chicken.

The Pilgrim’s Pride Plant in Sumter, South Carolina, hired Christopher Thomas to transport the $80,000 worth of chicken to two locations in Milton, Georgia, according to . But Thomas never made it to Georgia. Instead, he flew the coop with his pilfered poultry. Thomas is suspected of legging it with the intention of selling the chicken himself and keeping the proceeds. Thanks to an anonymous tip, police flocked to the location where Thomas and his second buyer were meeting. The cops lay in wait until Thomas arrived, then they hit the lights.

This isn’t the first time this has happened at the plant, according to :

A worker at Pilgrim’s Pride says these types of thefts keep happening.

“I’m not entirely sure how this is happening to be honest,” the worker said. “That’s a lot of chicken to be stolen out of there twice so I really have no idea how they’re even doing it and what they’re doing to stop it.”

Investigators believe Thomas sold part of the load of chicken he was transporting to various locations and was in the process of selling more when deputies pulled him over for a traffic stop.

When Thomas gave consent to deputies to search the truck, the investigator saw pallets loaded with cases of frozen chicken which was confirmed to be stolen from Pilgrim’s Pride.

Birds of a feather, I guess. Thomas’ shell game was quickly uncovered by police, who allege Thomas was able to move 33,000 pounds of frozen chicken. This theft certainly wasn’t the best laid plan, and if convicted on the charges of breach of trust with fraudulent intent, Thomas will be yolked to this crime for life. He doesn’t seem like a rotten egg, but that might change if he gets the maximum 10 years in prison, if convicted. It’s difficult to scratch out a living these days but when it comes to crime, it’s either eat or be eaten.

You can’t keep him caged forever and, soon enough, Thomas could be free-range once more if he makes a $50,000 bond.

We will stay abreast of this story as it unfolds.