New footage has emerged of Scottie Scheffler’s first conversation with police after being arrested at the PGA Championship.
Golf’s world number one was arrested in the early hours of May 17 before his second round at Valhalla Golf Club in Kentucky for failing to follow police orders during an investigation into the death of a pedestrian.
The 27-year-old was charged with four counts, including second-degree assault on a police officer, which is a felony.
The detective who arrested Scheffler, Bryan Gillis, has since received “corrective action” for failing to activate his body camera to record the situation.
Jefferson County Prosecutor Mike O’Connell will address the court on the case at 1 p.m. ET Wednesday, less than a week before the world No. 1 is scheduled to be arraigned.
New footage of Scottie Scheffler’s arrest reveals the first conversation he had with police
A mugshot of world number one Scottie Scheffler following his arrest by Louisville police this month.
The detective who arrested Scheffler, Bryan Gillis, has since been given “corrective action.”
But new video of the moments immediately after Scheffler was arrested and placed in the back of a police car has been posted online.
It shows a tense exchange between Scheffler and an official, in which the two-time Masters champion accuses Gillis of “hitting me with his flashlight.”
The video, apparently a recording of footage captured with a body camera, shows the officer opening the car door with Scheffler sitting inside.
The officer reads Scheffler’s Miranda rights. When he is asked if he understands them, Scheffler replies: “Yes, thank you.”
Then they ask the golf star ‘with those rights in mind, do you want to talk to me about what happened?’
Scheffler responds “yes please” and begins to explain, “So, my house is right down that street and I was planning on getting here at 5:50 a.m. to start my training for my tee time.” I (inaudible) and that took me about half an hour.
“So I stopped here and the police officer there told me to come in the wrong direction with traffic and then get in. But as I was getting in, my window was down and the officer told me to pull over. First of all, I didn’t I knew he was a policeman, I thought he was one of the security guards who had made a mistake.’
The officer interrupts and says, ‘Stop right there.’ What does it matter if it’s a security guard or a police officer if someone tells you to stop?
Scheffler responds: “Yes, you’re right.” I should have stopped. I was getting quite impatient because I arrived quite late for my departure time. When he got into the car, he grabbed my shoulder and hit me.
The officer intervenes: ‘I’m trying to get you to stop, right?’
Scheffler continues: «Yes. He seemed a little too aggressive because the entrance was open. I pulled forward because I thought he was going to start hitting me and I didn’t know who he was. He didn’t tell me he was a police officer. All I saw was the yellow jacket. I didn’t know what he was doing.
Jefferson County Prosecutor Mike O’Connell will address the court about the case on Wednesday.
The officer responds: ‘Then the thing is that he wears a uniform and the same jacket that I have and that says police. Also, if someone tells you to stop, no matter who it is, don’t continue.
‘What happened was you went ahead and took him with you while he was a pedestrian. You took it with your car and dragged it, which is not good at all.
“To make matters worse, when he asked you to get out of the car, you refused to get out.”
Scheffler says, “I didn’t know he was a cop yet. In fact, I was looking out the window trying to find a police officer. Believe me sir, if I had known he was a cop I would have been a lot less afraid.
‘Panic seized me; As you can see, I’m still shaking. I was afraid. I didn’t know who she was. He didn’t say police, he just hit me with his flashlight and yelled for me to get out of the car.
The officer responds: ‘We carry a lot of police equipment. Surely that means we’re police officers.
“Sir, believe me, if I had known he was a police officer, I would have gotten out of the car,” Scheffler replied. “I don’t know what to tell you other than I felt a little panicked trying to get on the golf course.”
Kentucky Police Chief Jacquelyn Gwinn-Villaroel spoke at a news conference last week.
The officer responds: ‘Let’s go back to the first point. It doesn’t matter if you thought he was a police officer or not. Why do you think we wear yellow vests? So you can see us, right? So you can see us and if someone tells you to stop, anyone, that means you stop at that moment and don’t continue so that things like this don’t happen.
‘You really hurt him. He is a police officer. He has a big scratch on his knee, the emergency services are checking him out, he has a big bruise. I don’t know. But for you right now, the main question is whether you’re going to jail and it’s up to him. I don’t know.’
When Scheffler asks if he can speak to the officer, the police officer responds: ‘No. Not right now. No.’ The video ends then.
Despite rumors in Valhalla during the year’s second major suggesting charges against the PGA Tour star could be dropped, Louisville police insisted the legal process would move forward.
Louisville Metro Police Chief Jacquelyn Gwinn-Villaroel promised to “respect the legal process” and “let it play out” at a news conference last week.
“We all look forward to moving forward,” Mayor Greenberg added during Thursday’s press conference.
‘But we have to respect the legal process. And that’s what we’re going to do. “We’re going to let that happen.”
Yescheffler is accused of failing to stop for police when trying Access at a time when they were managing traffic after a fatal collision between a bus and a member of the tournament’s security staff, John Mills..
The police report says Scheffler failed to comply with instructions and then walked away from Officer Gillis, causing him to be dragged by the two-time Masters winner’s car.
He was taken to a Louisville jail and booked into Jefferson County on four charges; felony second-degree assault on a police officer, third-degree criminal mischief, reckless driving, disregarding signals of officers directing traffic.
In Kentucky, second-degree assault is a class C felony that carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $10,000.
Scheffler was released from jail in time to make it to the starting time of the second round of the major championship.
In a statement following his release, Scheffler said the incident was a “huge misunderstanding,” while his attorney Steve Romines said he plans to plead not guilty.
More to follow.
