Scottie Scheffler was arrested prior to the second round of the PGA Championship at Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville, Kentucky. It was a truly bizarre scene that left so many questions about what happened, why, and how.
Unfortunately, we may not ever get those answers!
According to Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg, there is not any body camera footage of the incident that took place on early Friday morning. The video either does not exist or mysteriously disappeared, or both.
Either way, per WDRB news anchor Hayden Ristevski, an officer not having an active body camera is a direct violation of Louisville Metro Police Department policy. It changed in response to Breonna Taylor’s death.
If we were able to see exactly what took place during the strange arrest, it would obviously help to determine the truth. Scheffler and his lawyer said that it was a big misunderstanding that should get cleared up in no time. Louisville Metro Police’s official report claims that the world’s No. 1 golfer disobeyed Detective Bryan Gillis’ orders.
Detective Gillis was directing traffic into Gate 1 of the Valhalla Golf Course due to the road being closed in both directions from an earlier fatal collision. Listed subject was driving eastbound to gain access to the course. Subject pulled into the westbound lanes, where outbound traffic was flowing and to avoid backed up traffic.
Detective Gillis was in the middle of the westbound lanes, in full LMPD uniform and a hi-visibility yellow reflective rain jacket. Detective Gillis stopped subject and attempted to give instructions. Subject refused to comply and accelerated forward, dragging Detective Gillis to the ground. Detective 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.
— Louisville Metro Police report
The arresting officer’s pants were also ruined in the process.
Detective Gillis’ uniform pants, valued at approximately $80 were damaged beyond repair.
— Louisville Metro Police report
As of right now, we will not be able to see a first-hand account of what happened. We technically don’t know whether Gillis’ pants were ripped during a violent altercation or if he defecated his dungarees.
The officer did not have a bodycam footage turned on during the incident we will release the footage that we have. We did not have any — to my knowledge. We have not discovered any video of the initial contact between officer Gillis and Mr. Scheffler.
— Craig Greenberg
Despite the surprising arrest, Scheffler had himself a day.
Scottie Scheffler was dialed.
He shot a five-under 66 to finish tied for fourth at -9 overall and is in contention for yet another major championship after being forced to go through his warm-up routine in a jail cell. Fans on the course were already wearing t-shirts with his mugshot on them as he played out the most unusual day of his professional golf career.
Scheffler is scheduled to appear in court on May 21 after being charged with 2nd degree assault of a police officer (a felony), 3rd degree criminal mischief, reckless driving, and disregarding traffic signals from an officer directing traffic.
There will not be any bodycam footage played during Scottie Scheffler’s court appearance! It supposedly does not exist!