Incident involving Scottie Scheffler: Louisville police release video, investigation results against police officers

Louisville authorities have announced the results of an internal investigation into an incident involving world number one Scottie Scheffler last Friday before the second round of the PGA Championship. The officer who originally dealt with Scheffler was cited by the Louisville Metro Police Department for failing to follow official procedures during the arrest. Charges against Scheffler have not been dropped, and police said they will allow the trial to complete.

Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg and Louisville Metro Police Department Chief Jacquelyn Gwinn-Villaroel announced the findings during a press conference Thursday morning and released a video of the incident.

Greenberg noted that no footage of the inflammatory incident between Scheffler and Detective Bryan Gillis is currently available. The officer received, in Gwinn-Villaroel’s words, “corrective action” for violating department policy by not turning on his body camera.

“We respect the legal process,” Gwinn-Villaroel said, “and we will allow the courts to proceed accordingly.”

At around 5 a.m. on May 17, security guard John Mills died outside the gates of Valhalla Golf Club when a shuttle bus struck him. While police investigated the fatal accident, traffic was backed up in both directions on the one road that runs past Valhalla. Players were allowed onto the facility, but when Scheffler showed up at around 6 a.m., he was stopped by an officer on site.

What happened next sparked considerable debate about safety times. According to the police report, shortly after the incident, the officer asked Scheffler to stop, but the world No. 1 “refused to comply, accelerating forward and knocking (the officer) to the ground.” The officer was taken to a nearby hospital for treatment and his pants — valued at $80, according to the report — were a total loss.

Scheffler denied that version of events. “I followed police instructions,” he said in a later statement. “It was a very chaotic situation, which is understandable given the tragic accident that had occurred earlier, and there was a huge misunderstanding about what I thought I should do. I never intended to disobey any instructions.”

Nonetheless, Scheffler was removed from the vehicle, handcuffed, and taken to jail for booking. He was charged with second-degree assault on a police officer (a felony), third-degree criminal mischief (a misdemeanor), reckless driving (a traffic violation), and failure to obey traffic officer signals (a misdemeanor).

Scheffler spent a short time in prison, but was released in time to make his accident-delayed start time at the PGA Championship. He shot an impressive 66 on Friday, but fell short on Saturday and was out of contention for the second major of the season, won by Xander Schauffele. Fans wearing “Free Scottie” T-shirts could be seen all over the course, and ironically, he was experiencing a new surge in popularity that he hadn’t even achieved until he won the Masters twice.

An arraignment originally scheduled for last Tuesday was postponed until June 3. Scheffler has since traveled to Texas to compete in the Charles Schwab Championship this week.