Hey, it happens to the best of us.
My hard partying days are pretty much over (or at least a lot less frequent) now that I’m in my mid-30s, but back in the day I did plenty of stupid sh*t that definitely should have landed me behind bars.
Of course, I never stole a police horse like Kenny Chesney…
This wild story took place way back in 2000, when Kenny was dominating the radio with hits like “She Thinks My Tractor’s Sexy” and “How Forever Feels.”
On June 3, 2000, Kenny was playing the George Strait Country Music Festival at Bills Stadium (known at the time as Ralph Wilson Stadium), along with – among others – Tim McGraw.
Well after the show, a presumably-intoxicated Kenny Chesney decided that he wanted to ride a police horse. (Like I said, we’ve all been there).
He asked the daughter of the officer, who said it was OK, so the country star hopped on to take the stallion for a spin.
But the officer didn’t realize what was going on and told Kenny to get down from the horse. And I guess Kenny decided he’d rather not – and took off on the horse like a scene straight out of a John Wayne movie.
After managing to corral Kenny and his stolen horse, officers attempted to detain the country star. But that’s where Tim McGraw comes into the fray, as he attempts to defend his buddy and puts the policeman in a chokehold.
According to a report from the Erie County Sheriff at the time:
“When the deputy went to remove Chesney from the horse another deputy was going to assist him. McGraw came and jumped the second deputy from behind, wrapped one arm around his neck and was choking him.
Now I’m not suggesting he was trying to really choke him. But he had him with his arm around his neck, and he was holding on.”
And not only did McGraw jump in to defend Kenny, but so did a member of Tim’s management team, Mark Russo.
Deputies suffered minor scrapes in the scuffle, but due to assault on a police officer being a felony under New York law, both McGraw and Russo were arrested on felony charges and arraigned before a local magistrate judge before being released on bail.
For his part in the mayhem, Chesney was given a notice to appear and released at the scene.
In the end, all parties were acquitted of the charges – so ultimately all they ended up getting out of it was one hell of a wild story.
