New footage shows the moment golf champion Scottie Scheffler was arrested in Kentucky, as it was revealed that the officer who stopped him is receiving “corrective action” after failing to activate his body cam during the incident.
On Thursday, the Louisville Metropolitan Police Department released two videos from the night of the arrest, one of which showed Mr Scheffler being escorted from the scene in handcuffs. The other showed officials chasing his car and banging on the window before dragging him out of the vehicle.
The world’s No. 1 golfer was detained Friday morning after trying to enter the Valhalla Golf Club ahead of the PGA Championship, unaware that an unrelated fatal crash had just occurred. Police accused Sheffler of driving through the scene while they investigated the wreck.
Scheffler was arrested and charged with second-degree assault of a police officer, third-degree criminal mischief, reckless driving, and disregarding traffic signals from Detective Bryan Gillis, who was directing traffic.
Mr Gillis was dragged along the ground after the golf champion failed to stop.
Clips released Thursday by police included dashcam footage and a fixed-pole camera along the road where the incident took place.
At a press conference, Lousiville police Chief Jacquelyn Gwinn-Villaroel, said Mr Gillis was being reprimanded for violating department policy by failing to have his body-worn camera operational.
“Detective Gillis did have an encounter, as we know with Mr Scottie Scheffler,” Ms Gwinn-Villaroel said. “Detective Gillis should have turned on his body worn camera, but did not.
“His failure to do so is a violation of the LMPD policy on uniforms and equipment subject category: body-worn cameras, and he was sustained for a violation of the policy… Detective Gillis did not have his body worn camera operationally ready, as required by our policy. He was performing a law enforcement action, as defined in our policy.”
Body-worn cameras should be in “a constant state of operational readiness,” she said, adding: “We understand the seriousness of the failure to capture this interaction, which is why our officer has received corrective action for this policy violation.”
The discipline comes after Scheffler’s arraignment, previously scheduled for Tuesday, was pushed to June 3, while further information on the case is gathered.
Reports on Sunday suggested the charges would be dropped, though a lawyer for the golf champion insisted that his client was prepared to go to trial if prosecutors push to find him guilty.
Previous footage, shared by an ESPN journalist who witnessed the event, showed the 27-year-old being pulled from his car, placed in handcuffs and then led away as he called out for help.
However, despite the “chaotic situation” he was released and made his way to the course less than an hour before he was due to tee off, at the revised time of 10.08am.
Scheffler told reporters at a Friday press conference he was still unable to explain exactly what happened and he had warmed up for his round in the police cell which he described as “a first for me”.
“I did spend some time stretching in a jail cell – that was a first for me,” he said. “I was just sitting there waiting and, you know, I started going through my warm up. I felt like there was a chance I’m able to still come out here and play and so I started going through my routine.”
