The Louisville Metro Police Department is not dropping charges against Scottie Scheffler, including felony assault. Scheffler is due to be arraigned in court on June 3.
The non-decision comes as Louisville PD released new video footage of the incident on Thursday.
Scheffler was arrested on the morning of Friday, May 17, before the second round of the 2014 PGA Championship at Valhalla Golf Club. He was charged with four crimes, including second-degree assault of a police officer. He was also charged with third-degree criminal mischief, reckless driving and disregarding traffic signals from an officer directing traffic — all misdemeanors.
In the dark, rainy wee hours outside the gates of Valhalla, Scheffler was attempting to navigate around a traffic jam caused by the shuttle bus accident that killed John Mills, who was working security for the event.
Amidst the chaos, Scheffler did not heed officer Bryan Gillis' orders to halt his progress. Instead, Scheffler “dragged” Gillis with his car, damaging the cop's $80 pants “beyond repair”, according to his police report.
Scheffler was handcuffed, booked, and jailed.
“My situation will get handled. It was a chaotic situation and big misunderstanding.” the no. 1-ranked golfer said Friday.
Mayor Craig Greenberg and Louisville Police Chief Jacquelyn Gwinn-Villaroel conducted a press conference Thursday to offer an update on the case and the internal investigation into why Gillis did not have his bodycam turned on.
Greenberg said new video footage only captures the arrest itself — from a fixed street pole camera and the dash cam of a police car. Gwinn-Villaroel said any other relevant video uncovered would be released after the conclusion of the legal process.
“We are not aware at any time of any video footage that captures the initial interaction,” said Greenberg.
However, footage from the pole camera and dash cam appears to show Scheffler's car slowly coming to a halt, and more than one officer forcibly removing Scheffler from his vehicle.
“Detective Gillis did not have his body-worn camera operational ready,” said Gwinn-Villaroel. “Our officer has received corrective action for his policy violation. We respect the judicial process, and we will allow the courts to proceed.”
Neither Greenberg nor Gwinn-Villaroel took questions. Notably, there was no mention of charges being dropped.
“We are all looking to move forward,” Greenberg said. “I know there are a lot of questions right now from every member of the media here and people across the entire city. We have to respect the legal process, and that's what we are going to do. And we're going to let that play out. We want to move forward. Mr. Scheffler has made it clear that he wants to be moved forward. And I know that everyone else involved, that LMPD, wants to move forward.”
Scheffler's defense attorney, Stephen Romine, told reporters that his client plans to plead not guilty, and whatever further video footage is or isn't released won't affect his case.
“Our position is the same as it was last Friday,” Romine said. “Scottie Scheffler didn't do anything wrong. We're not interested in settling the case. We'll either try it, or it'll be dismissed. All the evidence that continues to come out continues to support what Scottie said all along. This was a chaotic situation, a miscommunication. Scottie did nothing wrong.”
Scheffler tees off at the PGA Tour's Charles Schwab Challenge in Fort Worth, Texas at 1:45 p.m. ET.
Follow Us
Subscribe
