Recycling aluminum is worth .78 cents per pound these days. So, if you had something weighing around, oh, 600 pounds or so, you could get about $468 for it.
Or you could go to jail in a story that’s equal parts The Onion and TV’s Cops. You don’t often get headlines like this in the aluminum industry, but then again, things like “Darrin Edwards, Tyler Jones, James Smith Arrested For Stealing, Riding Aluminum Chicken In Florida” just don’t happen that often. From the Huffington Post:
Three men were charged with grand theft after allegedly stealing a purple, 9-foot, 600-pound aluminum chicken statue, First Coast News reports.
Darrin Luke Edwards, 19, Tyler Lee Jones, 21, and James Joseph Smith, 18, were arrested for hatching the plan on Wednesday in San Mateo, Fla. Ben Smith, the chicken’s owner notified authorities after hearing a ruckus outside around 6 a.m. Tuesday.
Smith told deputies that when he went outside, he saw the bird being dragged down the street behind a Chevrolet truck, News 4 Jax reported. One man allegedly mounted the chicken and rode its back about a mile down the road. They then unhooked it and fled.
Chances are, these fellows weren’t looking to turn the aluminum chicken in for a valuable return. Instead, this was probably more a case of misguided youth and a dare gone too far. In any case, if you ever wondered what you could get charged with for stealing an aluminum chicken statue, now you know.