Williams man thought the hen had been abandoned. Little did he know she was a town celebrity in Murphy

MURPHY — A Williams man thought he was rescuing a neglected chicken, but the Josephine County Sheriff’s Department saw it as stealing and arrested him early Wednesday.

Nick Gombos was arrested at 1:08 a.m. and charged with third degree theft and interfering with an officer at Gombos’ home on Powell Creek Road. He was handcuffed and placed in a patrol car wearing nothing but his underwear. He was released from jail Wednesday morning five days after he took home a lone chicken from outside Ray’s Food Place, 7200 Williams Highway, in Murphy a few miles south of Grants Pass.

Little did he know that he had driven off with Speckles the celebrity hen, and community members, not to mention Jekyl the rooster, would want her back.

Kathy Dean, Gombos’ wife, said they were not regular shoppers at the store and were only thinking of the chicken.

Dean said Gombos stopped by the market after-hours Thursday for his weekly Nickel newspaper when he noticed a chicken huddled inside the magazine rack.

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Assuming it was abandoned, and could easily fall prey to animals or highway drivers, he took the hen home.

The next day, Dean said she learned that the chicken actually lived at the market, but she feared for the chicken’s safety next to a busy parking lot. So the couple purchased a companion hen and rooster, and were making a new home for Speckles.

She called the store and told employees she had the chicken.

"Up until the day before yesterday, everyone at Ray’s was fine with us having the chicken," said Dean.

Eleanor Edmondson-Collins, president of the Josephine County chapter of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, said she’s familiar with the situation at the market, and has been investigating it for some time. She said Speckles has a high-risk lifestyle strutting around a street and parking lot.

"The chicken could get killed," she said, adding it’s not safe for people, either.

"OK, we’re out in the country, but you don’t do that in public parking," she said. "That is creating a hazard."

Community members were becoming concerned about the store’s hen in her absence, and soon the store’s staff filed charges.

Josephine County Sheriff Dave Daniel said chickens have been living outside the market for several years, and they are something akin to celebrities in the community.

"These people (Gombos and Dean) felt pretty strong that they wanted to protect the chicken," he said. But it wasn’t their chicken to keep, he said.

He said deputies tried to keep the situation low-key, but Gombos wouldn’t return the chicken when asked earlier Thursday. So the sheriff’s department obtained a search warrant signed by a judge, a process that took until 1 a.m. They had planned to issue a citation, he said, but Gombos was trying to keep them from getting Speckles.

Sheriff Daniel said deputies asked Dean if she wanted to get clothing for her husband, but she was also uncooperative.

"So he went to jail in his red Speedos," said Daniel.

Dean said she didn’t hear a request for her husband’s clothing, and to be accused of theft is ridiculous.

"The last thing I need is a chicken," she said. "Nick’s not going to steal a chicken."

Meanwhile, Speckles was returned to the market Wednesday.

"The rooster was super excited to see her," said Nate McCully, Ray’s store manager. "He came flying out of a tree."

McCully said he grew up raising chickens and thinks the pair at Ray’s are as safe as any on a farm. He said the two chickens are not owned but live at the market by choice and are cared for by customers and employees.

And, like other community members, he’s become attached to them.

"It just wouldn’t feel right coming to the store without the chickens being here," he said.

Gombos is scheduled to appear in court Friday.

Sheriff Daniel said the release agreement requires Gombos to stay away from the market.

"No more contact with Speckles," he said.

Reach reporter Meg Landers at 776-4481 or e-mail mlanders@mailtribune.com