Kenny Chesney Once Stole A Police Horse At A Country Music Festival, & Tim McGraw Wound Up Behind Bars

Whatever makes you feel like a rockstar, right?

Well, for Tim McGraw and Kenny Chesney, one of their most “rockstar” moments happened 25 years ago today… in Buffalo, New York.

I mean, we all do some dumb things when we’re young, right? Luckily I’ve managed to avoid the handcuffs and the backseat of a squad car on a handful of occasions where it probably could’ve been justified, but these days, as a mid-thirties, married, father of 2 young children, my wilder days are well behind me.

And you could probably say the same for the likes of Kenny Chesney and Tim McGraw, who are now both pushing 60, although you’d probably never know it by looking at them. Of course, Tim married Faith Hill way back in 1996, and they have 3 daughters together, but Tim officially put the bottle down for good in 2008, and these days you’re more likely to find him in the gym than you are the local bar. And Kenny, well… he’s probably on an island somewhere.

But back when these two country music icons were in the prime of their careers, things got a little rowdy… to say the least. And one time in particular, the pair found themselves in handcuffs in Buffalo after they… stole a police horse, and Tim McGraw put a police officer, yes, a police officer… in a chokehold.

This wild story took place way back in 2000, when Kenny was dominating country music radio with hits like “She Thinks My Tractor’s Sexy” and “How Forever Feels,” meanwhile Tim was fresh off his 1999 megahit, “Something Like That.” This was right about the time Tim McGraw was an annual CMA and/or ACM Awards nominee for Best Male Vocalist and even Entertainer of the Year, and Kenny was just about to enter that territory as well. All of that to say… these two were on top of the country music world.

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 Mark Chesnutt, Lee Ann Womack, Martina McBride, and others, as well as the great Tim McGraw. And after the show, Kenny Chesney, who I think it is safe to say may have had a few cold ones during the course of the festivities, decided that he wanted to try and jump up on a police horse and take it for a ride. Seems a bit insane, but I think we’re all lying if we say we’ve never felt the urge to take off on a police horse. You see a horse, you want to ride it… it’s not that complicated.

But here’s the kicker… apparently Kenny asked the daughter of the officer if he could take it for a spin, and she said that it was OK, but dad didn’t get the memo. All he saw was a man stealing his horse. 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.

Kenny was allegedly told multiple times to get off the horse and wouldn’t listen, but finally the officers managed to wrangle up Kenny and pull him down off of the stolen horse. They then attempted to detain the country star (not sure of they knew it was him, but you’d have to think everyone would recognize Kenny Chesney in 2000). And that’s where Tim McGraw comes into the fray, and instead of cooling down the situation and trying to smooth things over with the Buffalo police, he made the whole situation WAY worse (let’s assume he had a few cold ones as well). He came off his bus, grabbed the arresting officer from behind, and put him in a chokehold. And if there’s one thing in America that we can all agree on, it’s that putting a police officer in a chokehold is going to go badly… for you. And it did.

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 allegedly suffered minor scrapes in the scuffle, and a minor neck injury (come on, really?), 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, AKA stealing a horse and starting the entire thing, Chesney was given a notice to appear but he was released at the scene and not taken to jail.

In the end, all the charges were dropped and Kenny and Tim left New York with nothing more than a wild story, one of many I would imagine throughout their legendary country music careers. But knowing how rowdy a Buffalo Bills tailgate can get, seems like these kind of shenanigans are just par for the course on the shores of Lake Erie. No harm, no foul, right?

The local news report is absolutely hilarious… check it out:

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