Scottie Scheffler reportedly told fellow inmates it was “bullshit” for him to be in jail after his arrest outside the PGA Championship on Friday.
Scheffler was arrested on Friday morning, with stunning footage showing him handcuffed while being taken to jail for failing to follow police orders during an investigation into the death of a pedestrian.
In a span of four hours, the world’s top-ranked golfer was arrested wearing gym shorts and a T-shirt, dressed in an orange prison T-shirt for his mugshot, stretched out in a holding cell and returned to Valhalla Golf. Club dressed and ready for your 10:08 am tee time.
The Louisville Metro Police Department said Scheffler He was charged with four counts, including second-degree assault on a police officer after his vehicle dragged an officer to the ground.
Scheffler called the incident a “huge misunderstanding in the middle of a chaotic situation,” but a man who was locked up with Scheffler on Friday has gave some details about their time in custody together to TMZ.
Scottie Scheffler told his fellow inmates it was “silly” that he was in jail Friday.
In stunning footage the two-time Masters winner is seen being led to a police car.
Police detained him in handcuffs outside the Valhalla Golf Club on Friday morning.
The man didn’t even know who Scheffler was until a police officer told him, “You know you’re talking to the number one golfer in the world, right?”
“He kept saying it was stupid for him to be there,” the man added.
It is also claimed that Scheffler attracted a large crowd at the jail, with staff and officers trying to catch a glimpse of the reigning Masters champion.
On Saturday, Scheffler’s lawyer insisted that the world number one will go to trial to clear his name if charges of assaulting a police officer are not dropped.
Scheffler is confident the matter will be resolved “pretty quickly” before his scheduled arraignment in a Louisville court on Tuesday.
But his legal team insists it will not involve accepting a plea deal, saying they will challenge any attempt to blame the golfer for the early morning episode.
Scheffler’s attorney, Steve Romines, said, “They’re either going to be removed or we’re going to go to trial, because Scottie didn’t do anything wrong.” So we are not interested in any kind of negotiation to reach an agreement or anything like that. “It was just a huge miscommunication.”
The 27-year-old was accused of failing to stop for police while trying to enter Valhalla Golf Club at a time when they were controlling traffic following 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 an officer, Bryan Gillis, causing the latter to be dragged by the two-time Masters winner’s car.
Scheffler is accused of injuring Detective Bryan Gillis (pictured) by speeding his car.
After performing well on Friday following his arrest, Scheffler fell in the rankings on Saturday.
While Scheffler has declined to discuss the details of the incident that led to his dramatic arrest and forced him to warm up for the second assault in a jail cell, Romines has offered new details.
He said: “There was a traffic death on the road so there were different directions of traffic and the traffic control officers were advising different things.” An officer advised Scottie to go around traffic and turn left toward the facility.
But the charging officer obviously didn’t know that. So that’s where the miscommunication occurred.
“It was kind of a perfect storm. One thing should be clear: he did not drive by any accident site or any investigation. None of that happened.’
The charges against Scheffler were listed by local police as second-degree assault on a police officer, third-degree criminal mischief, reckless driving and ignoring an officer’s traffic signals.
It remains to be seen whether the charges will be dropped, although Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg has stated that there was no body camera footage leading up to the 6:01 a.m. arrest.
“The officer did not have the body camera footage on during the incident,” he said.
“We will release the footage we have (but), to my knowledge, we have not yet uncovered any video of the initial contact between Officer Gillis and Mr. Scheffler.”
The mayor declined to comment on the possibility of Scheffler being acquitted. “Right now, the case is in the hands of our county attorney and I will let the legal process play out,” he said.