Louisville police released two video clips Thursday of the arrest of golfer Scottie Scheffler, showing his car slowly crawling across an accident scene before a police officer chased him, punched his windshield and pulled him from the driver’s seat to handcuff him.
Scheffler was arrested on his way to the PGA Championships around 6 a.m. last Friday. He was accused of injuring a police officer who was directing traffic at the scene of the fatal crash, and was charged with second-degree assault on a police officer, third-degree criminal mischief, reckless driving and failure to comply with signals from officers directing traffic.
The clips released Thursday – one from a dash camera and the other from a fixed pole – offer only part of the story but appear to reinforce suggestions that the situation was an overreaction. The initial interaction between Scheffler and the cop was not captured because Detective Bryan Gillis did not turn on his body camera, in violation of department procedures. The force took “remedial action” against him, Chief Jacquelyn Gwinn-Villaroel said Thursday.
Footage from the post shows Scheffler’s car driving slowly toward the entrance to Valhalla Golf Club. Earlier in the morning, a shuttle had struck and killed a pedestrian in front of the gates. A cop can be seen running after Scheffler’s car and hitting her as she stops.
Dashcam footage shows Scheffler’s black Lexus going around a bus and the officer running over and arresting him.
ESPN reporter Jeff Darlington, who was at the scene, reported that Scheffler mistook the cops for security guards. When the officers told him to stop and he did not, “the officer buckled into the vehicle. Scheffler then drove another 10 meters before stopping the car,” Darlington said.
Scheffler later said it was “a very chaotic situation” and “there was a big misunderstanding about what I thought I was being asked to do.” I never intended to ignore any of the instructions.
The officer claimed he felt “pain, swelling and abrasions to his left wrist and knee,” according to an incident report seen by TMZ, and that his $80 pants were ruined.
After taking his shot and warming up in jail, Scheffler still made it back to the golf course on time.
Read more at The Daily Beast.
Get the Daily Beast’s biggest scoops and scandals delivered straight to your inbox. Register now.
Stay informed and get unlimited access to The Daily Beast’s unrivaled reporting. Subscribe now.
yahoo
