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Driver accused of abandoning chicken truck found

A semitrailer carrying 35,000 pounds of frozen chicken is abandoned at a western Montana truck, Wednesday, Sept. 24, 2014 in Missoula, Mont. An employee of an Idaho trucking company abandoned the trailer load of frozen chicken after the company reportedly refused a ransom demand, Missoula County officials said. The 53-foot trailer, dripping the rancid juices of rotting chicken, was discovered near the Flying J Truck Stop west of Missoula on Tuesday. Truck stop manager Crystal Friede said the trailer had been there since at least Saturday. It contained 35,000 pounds of chicken worth $80,000, officials said. (AP Photo/The Missoulian, Martin Kidston)
A semitrailer carrying 35,000 pounds of frozen chicken is abandoned at a western Montana truck, Wednesday, Sept. 24, 2014 in Missoula, Mont. An employee of an Idaho trucking company abandoned the trailer load of frozen chicken after the company reportedly refused a ransom demand, Missoula County officials said. The 53-foot trailer, dripping the rancid juices of rotting chicken, was discovered near the Flying J Truck Stop west of Missoula on Tuesday. Truck stop manager Crystal Friede said the trailer had been there since at least Saturday. It contained 35,000 pounds of chicken worth $80,000, officials said. (AP Photo/The Missoulian, Martin Kidston) A semitrailer carrying 35,000 pounds of frozen chicken is abandoned at a western Montana truck, Wednesday, Sept. 24, 2014 in Missoula, Mont. An employee of an Idaho trucking company abandoned the trailer load of frozen chicken after the company reportedly refused a ransom demand, Missoula County officials said. The 53-foot trailer, dripping the rancid juices of rotting chicken, was discovered near the Flying J Truck Stop west of Missoula on Tuesday. Truck stop manager Crystal Friede said the trailer had been there since at least Saturday. It contained 35,000 pounds of chicken worth $80,000, officials said. (AP Photo/The Missoulian, Martin Kidston)

By Associated Press 3 min read

NAMPA, Idaho (AP) – Authorities in Idaho have arrested the driver thought to have abandoned a trailer containing 37,000 pounds of rotten chicken at a western Montana truck stop.

The Greater Idaho Fugitive Task Force in Meridian found Christopher Hall, 42, on Friday afternoon, Nampa police Lt. Eric Skoglund said.

Police say the trailer might have been sitting at the Flying J Truck Stop west of Missoula, Montana, for a month before it was discovered this week with rancid juices from the cargo dripping onto the pavement and attracting flies.

Hall abandoned the trailer after his employer, Dixie River Freight Inc., refused his demands for more money to deliver its then-frozen cargo to Kent, Washington, according to police.

He left the chicken worth $80,000 to thaw and then rot when the fuel for the trailer’s refrigeration unit ran out.