Prosecutors dropped the charges against the world's No. 1 golfer Scottie Scheffler, following an incident at the PGA Championship.
Jefferson County Attorney Mike O'Connell addressed the court Wednesday, calling for a motion to dismiss all charges against Scheffler, for driving through a police barricade and allegedly hurting an officer, following his office's complete review of the investigation over the Memorial Day weekend.
"Based on the totality of the evidence, my office cannot move forward with the prosecution of the charges filed against Mr. Scheffler," O'Connell said. "Mr. Scheffler's actions and the evidence surrounding the exchange during this misunderstanding do not satisfy the elements of any criminal offenses."
O'Connell pointed to laws in Kentucky that require prosecutors to "refrain from prosecuting charge the prosecutor knows is not probable." He said Scheffler's claim that the incident was a "big misunderstanding" is corroborated with the evidence.
The Louisville Metro Police Department released a comment on social media.
"We respect the County Attorney's decision, and we respect the judicial process," the statement reads. "LMPD will remain focused on our mission to serve the city of Louisville and mitigate violent crime."
Scheffler was not in court in Wednesday but posted a message on social media after the charges were dropped.
"This is an unfortunate misunderstanding," Scheffler posted to his Instagram story. "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. Police officers have a difficult job and I hold them in high regard. This was a severe miscommunication in a chaotic situation."
What happened?
Scheffler, 27, was attempting to enter the Valhalla Golf Club in the early morning of May 17 in Louisville, Kentucky, to compete in Round 2 of the PGA Championship. He was detained around 6 a.m. for allegedly driving through a police cordon at the site of a fatal car accident outside of the golf club.
The accident was not related to Scheffler. A man, who worked at Valhalla, died.
The Louisville Metro Police Department released two videos last week, including one from a dash camera from a police car that showed a long line of cars passing the officers and their vehicles throughout the morning.
Officers stopped traffic momentarily, moving some of their cars and the bus that was involved in the crash. A van goes around the bus and through where the police are at 6 a.m. One officer was waving on the van. The situation after is not seen in the dash camera's view.
Another car had gone the same direction prior to the bus moving just a minute prior. An officer motioned with his arms for where that car should go.
In the second released video, from the road, the car is seen making its way through the police. One officer runs up to the vehicle and seems to throw himself onto the front door. The officer continuously reaches into the window of the driver's seat, even putting his head and shoulders through the window. After the officer emerges, other officers surround the car as well.
The car did not move again once the officer was interacting with it.
The golfer's arraignment hearing was previously rescheduled to June 3. He was charged with four counts, including assaulting a police officer.
The golfer's attorney Steven Romines defended his innocence and plans to litigate the case.
"Scottie Scheffler didn't do anything wrong," Romines said. "We are not interested in settling the case... We are prepared to litigate."
"We are going to respect the legal process," Greenberg said. "I'm very hopeful that on June 3, the next step in the legal process, that all parties are in a position to move forward."
The injured detective
Detective Bryan Gillis grabbed a hold of the car and Scheffler allegedly dragged him for several yards.
Gillis was injured when Scheffler "refused to comply" with instructions and "accelerated forward," according to the incident report. Gillis, however, did not activate his body camera.
Gillis claims to have been dragged "to the ground" and suffered "pain, swelling, and abrasions to his left wrist."
But there is no video from Gillis' body camera.
"Due to the confusion in the area at the time, his sense of urgency in responding to the fatal MVA and expediting traffic for the PGA championship, he failed to comply with powering it on," according to comments from Gillis's supervisor, Jeremy Allen.
Louisville Metro Police Department policy requires officers to "maintain their [body cameras] in a constant state of operational readiness" and for them to "immediately activate their [cameras] in recording mode prior to engaging in all law enforcement activities or encounters."
At a press conference last week, Chief Jacquelyn Gwinn-Villaroel and Mayor Craig Greenberg announced how they "want to move forward" especially now that Gillis has gone through "corrective action for" the body camera policy.
"We understand the seriousness of failing to capture this interaction," Gwinn-Villaroel said.
In a video posted by Max Mitchell, the founder of Flipping the Seen, the body camera footage from the officer interviewing Scheffler after the incident is seen.
In the video Scheffler explains he did not know who the man was. He originally thought Gilis was a security guard and admitted he should have listened and pulled over. Gillis however "didn't tell me he was a police officer" and Scheffler admits to panicking.
"He grabbed my shoulder and hit me," Scheffler said. "It seemed to be a little bit over aggressive."
Back to the golf course
Scheffler, who won his second major championship back in April at the Masters, was released around 8:40 a.m. that same day.
He teed-off at 10:08 a.m. after he stretched "in the jail cell," he said a press conference Friday.
Scheffler posted a 5-under 66 par on Friday, remaining in contention for the tournament's victory. That all came undone, however, on Saturday when he finished with a 2-over 73 par, his worst score in almost a year. On Sunday he rebounded and posted at 6-under 65 par, his best score in the final round of a major championship.
He finished tied for eighth, marking his tenth Top 10 finish in his last 13 majors starts.
Scheffler had said in a statement that it was a "big misunderstanding." He called the incident a "very chaotic situation" and sent condolences to the family of the man who lost his life in the accident.
"This morning I was proceeding as directed by police officers. It was a very chaotic situation, understandably so considering the tragic accident that had occurred earlier, and there was a big misunderstanding of what I thought I was being asked to do," Scheffler said. "I never intended to disregard any of the instructions. I'm hopeful to put this to the side and focus on golf today."
Uncommon Knowledge
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
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