CARLISLE, Mass. (AP) — A suburban Boston firefighter has been arrested and placed on administrative leave over allegations he killed 11 of his neighbor’s chickens by poisoning them.

Police in Carlisle told The Lowell Sun (http://bit.ly/XAmKKf ) that 66-year-old Frank Sargent fed the chickens in his neighbor’s backyard coop food pellets laced with rat poison between April and July.

A police report says Sargent initially denied the allegations, but later admitted that he poisoned the chickens because their noise was keeping him and his family up at night. Sargent had contacted town officials and police several times to complain about the noise.

Sargent’s family said he had no comment. The chicken’s owners also declined to comment.

Sargent was charged last week with 11 counts of malicious killing of a domestic animal.

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Information from: The (Lowell, Mass.) Sun, http://www.lowellsun.com

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