Dreadhead Cowboy 'Threw An Elbow' at Officer In Confrontation: Police

HAMMOND, IND. – Adam Hollingsworth, who became known as the Dreadhead Cowboy, was arrested last week in Hammond after police said he assaulted a police officer who tried to keep Hollingsworth from riding a horse inside the city limits.

Hollingsworth gained notoriety after he was arrested for riding a horse on the Dan Ryan Expressway in 2020. Last week, police said Hollingsworth elbowed a city police officer in the head after he was told he could not have or ride a horse within city limits.

Police said that Hollingsworth had been warned numerous times he could not have a horse within Hammond’s city limits, which is a city ordinance. Police said that Hollingsworth was seen riding the horse in the 7000 block of Indianapolis Boulevard on Thursday when officers approached him.

Hollingsworth attempted to get back on the horse and when officers stopped him, Hollingsworth hit the officer in the head with an elbow, police said. He was charged with battery on a police officer, resisting arrest, and disorderly conduct, police said.

In 2022, Hollingsworth was sentenced to one year in jail after he pleaded guilty to animal cruelty charges in connection with his nearly eight-mile ride on the Dan Ryan that lasted almost two hours. He also agreed to surrender custody of the horse that suffered severe injuries during the Dan Ryan incident, which Hollingsworth said was done to bring attention to the abuse of children in Chicago.