Police assault charges dropped against world No. 1 golfer Scottie Scheffler
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Golfer Scottie Scheffler was arrested on May 17 after allegedly ignoring police at a traffic stop outside the US PGA Championship.
PHOTO: AFP
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WASHINGTON – Scottie Scheffler, who was arrested after allegedly ignoring police at a traffic stop outside the PGA Championship on May 17, hopes to put the ordeal behind him after prosecutors in Kentucky dropped all charges against him on May 29.
The 27-year-old world No. 1 golfer was handcuffed and led away by officers in the pre-dawn incident on May 17, before having his mugshot taken in an orange jumpsuit and then returning from jail to the Valhalla course and teeing off for his second round.
The American allegedly drove onto a curb near the course entrance after police set up a traffic stop due to a separate road accident, in which a local man working at the tournament was killed.
A police report said Scheffler had disobeyed orders to stop his car and accelerated, dragging to the ground police officer Bryan Gillis, who was hospitalised with bruising and swelling.
But attorneys for Scheffler denied that Gillis was dragged by the golfer’s vehicle.
On May 29, Jefferson County Attorney Mike O’Connell lodged a motion in court to dismiss all charges and the judge agreed.
O’Connell told the court that the evidence against Scheffler did not meet the standard of probable cause.
“Based on the totality of the evidence, my office cannot move forward in the prosecution of the charges filed against Mr Scheffler,” he said.
“Mr Scheffler’s characterisation that this was a ‘big misunderstanding’ is corroborated by the evidence... (and) do not satisfy the elements of any criminal offences.”
The charges were dropped with prejudice, meaning they cannot be refiled.
The Louisville Metro Police Department said in a statement that it respected the decision, adding that videos and documents previously unreleased due to the judicial process would be made available after appropriate redactions had been made.
Gillis has also been reprimanded for not turning on his body-worn camera during the arrest.
Scheffler reacted with relief in a statement posted on Instagram.
“I hold no ill will toward officer Gillis. I wish to put this incident behind me and move on, and I hope he will do the same,” the two-time US Masters champion said.
“Police officers have a difficult job and I hold them in high regard. This was a severe miscommunication in a chaotic situation.”
Scheffler had been charged with felony assault on a police officer, criminal mischief, reckless driving and disregarding signals from an officer directing traffic.
His lawyer Steve Romines denied any wrongdoing, adding that the golfer received conflicting signals from police officers at the traffic control.
He explained that the golfer was unaware at the time that a fatality had occurred and was directed, as other players were, on how to proceed into Valhalla Golf Club.
Romines had also stressed that his client would fight the charges and was “not interested in any sort of settlement negotiations or anything”.
On the morning of his arrest, Scheffler released a statement saying “there was a big misunderstanding of what I thought I was being asked to do”.
After he was released from jail, fans cheered as he walked onto the course and gave him a standing ovation before he struck his first shot.
The reigning Masters champion, who finished the PGA Championship in a four-way tie for eighth, admitted on the day after his arrest that he was “shaking” and “in shock and in fear”.
The matter is all over now, and Scheffler is scheduled to return to action at the June 6-9 Memorial Tournament in Dublin, Ohio, before heading to the year’s third Major, the June 13-16 US Open at Pinehurst Resort in North Carolina. AFP, REUTERS
