Someone mugged the Bojangles' chicken,
stealing the costumed character's head as he waved to race fans on N.C.49.
Now, Bojangles' Restaurant officials say they
will forgive the crime - if the prankster returns the chicken's noggin unharmed.
The incident happened just after Saturday's NASCAR
race outside the restaurant near Lowe's Motor Speedway in Harrisburg.
The chicken was outside waving to race fans when
a man approached him asking for directions.
The man got close, then grabbed the chicken's
head, pulled it off and ran. He jumped into a waiting van that sped away,
leaving the headless bird stunned.
"He couldn't believe it," said Mike Bradley,
Bojangles' area director.
"He was just standing there trying to say hi and
someone steals his head."
The restaurant manager called police and filed a
report. But Bradley said he won't ask any questions or press charges, if the
chicken head is returned in the same condition it was taken.
Bradley said the head cost the company about
$800.