The officer who arrested golfer Scottie Scheffler near the site of last week’s PGA Championship failed to activate his body camera in violation of policy, Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg and Louisville Metro Police Chief Jacquelyn Gwinn-Villaroel said Thursday in a news conference in Louisville.
The announcement followed an internal investigation into the May 17 arrest of the world’s No. 1 golfer outside Valhalla Golf Club, which revealed “policy violations” by Detective Bryan Gillis during the chaotic traffic incident that followed an unrelated fatality. Video footage of the arrest from a fixed pole camera at the scene and from a dash camera in a police car was made public, but the mayor said his office and the police are “not aware of any video footage” of the initial confrontation, which he said followed a “series of very unfortunate events in dark, rainy and tense conditions.”
Gwinn-Villaroel told reporters that Gillis “did not have his body camera operational.” The department, she added, has taken “corrective action” on Gillis’s “performance observation form.”
Advertisement
Scheffler faces charges of second-degree assault of a police officer, third-degree criminal mischief, reckless driving and disregarding signals from officers directing traffic. He has a June 3 court date.
“Our position is the same as it was last Friday,” Scheffler’s lawyer, Steven Romines, told reporters immediately after the mayor and police chief spoke. “Scottie Scheffler didn’t do anything wrong. We’re not interested in settling the case. We will either try it or it will be dismissed.”
Scheffler, who is playing in the PGA Tour’s Charles Schwab Challenge this week in Fort Worth, has a 1:45 p.m. Eastern tee time for Thursday’s first round. Asked whether he had expected the charges to be dropped, Romines said, “I’ve been doing this 30 years. I don’t expect anything. We’re prepared to litigate the case, if we need to. If we don’t need to, fine, but our position remains the same. It’ll either be dismissed or go to trial.”
Advertisement
The two-time Masters champion was arrested shortly after 6 a.m. as he attempted to navigate a traffic jam that occurred after a shuttle bus struck and killed security guard John Mills about an hour earlier. According to the police report, Scheffler refused to comply with directions given by Gillis, who was helping with traffic control. The report said Scheffler dragged Gillis “to the ground” as he accelerated his SUV past him in an attempt to enter the course.
According to the police report, Gillis “suffered pain, swelling, and abrasions to his left wrist and knee. He was transported to the hospital for further medical treatment by emergency medical personnel. Detective Gillis’ uniform pants, valued at approximately $80 were damaged beyond repair.”
In a statement released that morning, Scheffler said he had been “proceeding as directed by police offers” and that the “chaotic” 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.” Romines reiterated that stance Thursday.
Advertisement
“All the evidence that continues to come out just continues to support what Scottie said all along,” the attorney told reporters. “It was a chaotic situation and a miscommunication and he didn’t do anything wrong.”
Scheffler was briefly detained in jail and went on to shoot a 5-under-par 66 in the second round. He finished the tournament in a tie for eighth place, eight strokes behind winner Xander Schauffele.
“I got arrested Friday morning, and I showed up here and played a good round of golf as well,” Scheffler said after finishing the tournament. “So I’ve been good throughout my career — or I’d say that I’ve gotten better throughout my career — at leaving the off-course distractions at home and kind of keeping a pretty quiet personal life, and this week obviously that was not the case”
Last week, Greenberg announced that the police department would investigate the incident after it was revealed that Gillis’s body camera was not activated. Officers on traffic duty typically do not turn them on, Greenberg indicated.
“From my understanding, based on the facts I am aware of right now, I understand why [the] body cam may not have been turned on at the initial contact between Officer Gillis and Mr. Scheffler,” Greenberg said last week. “I still have questions about why it was not on during Mr. Scheffler’s arrest.”
Matt Bonesteel contributed to this report.
ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7uK3SoaCnn6Sku7G70q1lnKedZMCxu9GtqmhqYGeBcHyUaGlsZ6OYvLXAyJ5krJuYmrOnuMSrZKWnpZ7At7XLpZxmqJ%2BhtqSxjJumnbFdmK6usdGaZK%2BhlJq8cA%3D%3D