Scottie Scheffler arrest: New video footage of incident released
Louisville police are releasing additional video footage of pro golfer Scottie Scheffler’s arrest outside last week’s PGA Championship.
The Louisville Metro Police Department has scheduled a news conference for 11:30 a.m. ET, saying they will also provide an update on the internal investigation surrounding the case.
Scheffler’s lawyer, Steven Romines, told The Athletic that the public can expect to see pole camera footage at that time and promised the video will be consistent with Scheffler’s description of the incident.
Scheffler, a Masters champion and the world’s No. 1 golfer, was arrested last Friday while on the way to the PGA Championship in Maryland, after he failed to follow police orders during an investigation into a pedestrian fatality.
In this mug shot provided by the Louisville Metropolitan Department of Corrections Friday, May 17, 2024, Scott Scheffler is shown. Masters champion Scottie Scheffler was detained by police Friday morning on his way to the PGA Championship, with stunning images showing him handcuffed as he was led to a police car. Louisville Metropolitan Department of Corrections via AP
The incident took place outside the entrance to Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville, Ky., around 6 a.m., shortly after a man was struck and killed by a shuttle bus.
Police had stopped traffic, resulting in a sea of red and blue flashing lights.
ESPN reporter Jeff Darlington, who witnessed the incident, said Scheffler was attempting to drive around the scene of the crash using a median when an officer ordered him to stop. Scheffler, Darlington said, continued to drive slowly toward Valhalla’s entrance.
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Darlington, posting to X, detailed a dramatic scene, writing that “the police officer attempted to attach himself to Scheffler’s car, and Scheffler then stopped his vehicle at the entrance to Valhalla.”
Breaking News: World No. 1 golfer Scottie Scheffler has been detained by police in handcuffs after a misunderstanding with traffic flow led to his attempt to drive past a police officer into Valhalla Golf Club. The police officer attempted to attach himself to Scheffler’s car,…
— Jeff Darlington (@JeffDarlington) May 17, 2024
The officer, wrote Darlington, then “began to scream” at the golfer to get out of his car. When Scheffler complied, the officer “shoved Scheffler against the car and immediately placed him in handcuffs.”
Scheffler’s lawyer, Steve Romines, says the arrest was “a big misunderstanding.”
In the three hours that followed, Scheffler was detained, taken to the local jail for a mug shot in an orange jail uniform, and released. He was back at Valhalla in golf clothes with just under an hour before the tournament’s second round began.
Scheffler was charged with multiple crimes: second-degree assault of a police officer, third-degree criminal mischief, reckless driving and disregarding traffic signals from an officer directing traffic.
0:31 World’s top golfer Scottie Scheffler arrested outside PGA Championship
Romines told ESPN that Scheffler was just doing as he was told, unaware of the accident, and that the arresting officer wasn’t part of the regular traffic detail posted outside the golf club.
In a statement released later that morning, Scheffler wrote that he had been “proceeding as directed by police officers” and that the incident stemmed from a “big misunderstanding of what I thought I was being asked to do. I never intended to disregard any of the instructions.”
@scottie.scheffler / Instagram
On Tuesday, Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg announced that the city’s police department will investigate the actions of the officers involved in Scheffler’s arrest to determine whether they followed proper protocols. He said they will also investigate why the arresting officer, Det. Bryan Gillis, did not have his body camera turned on.
“I think that’s critically important that we do that, not just in high-profile events like took place on Friday, but on a regular basis,” Greenberg said at the news conference, according to Golf.com. “And if policies are not being followed, there will be transparency about that. There will be action taken.”
This week, CNN reported that high-ranking law enforcement officials in Kentucky have “privately voiced concerns that the felony charge against Scheffler is excessive,” citing an anonymous source close to the investigation.