• June 19, 2000
• Vol. 53
• No. 24

Horse Collar

A Prank Lands Country's Tim Mcgraw and Kenny Chesney in the Hoosegow

If you borrow a horse and don't give it back, it's called horse thievin'. When the horse in question belongs to a lawman, it's just called stupid. That about sums up events on the evening of June 3, when country star Kenny Chesney rode off on Erie County (N.Y.) Sheriff's Department Captain James Coyle's steed and fellow singer Tim McGraw held back deputies who tried to rein him in. Both men were arrested and charged, Chesney with disorderly conduct and McGraw with, among other things, assaulting a police officer. "There's nothing in the law that allows a citizen, no matter how famous, to jump and assault a police officer," says Sheriff Patrick Gallivan.

The trouble started after the singers performed before 50,000 fans at Ralph Wilson Stadium near Buffalo. Police say Chesney, 32, asked to mount Coyle's horse. Receiving permission "to sit on it, not to ride it," according to Gallivan, Chesney trotted off across a fenced-in field and ignored orders to stop. When two deputies hauled him from the saddle, McGraw, 33, grabbed one of the uniformed officers "in a choke-hold headlock," Gallivan says. Released on bail, McGraw—whose wife, singer Faith Hill, was also at the stadium—and Chesney call the incident a misunderstanding. "A totally innocent and fun gesture was blown way out of proportion," Chesney said. "When [Tim] saw me in danger of being harmed, he simply came over to help out his friend." "They never intended anything to be malicious," says a friend. "It was pure fun." And poor horse sense.