Louisville mayor asks why police body cam was off during Scottie Scheffler arrest; probe launched
Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg wants to know why there's no police body cam footage of the Scottie Scheffler arrest at last week's PGA Championship and has vowed action if protocol wasn't followed.
Greenberg addressed the incident at his weekly news conference Tuesday morning.
"From my understanding, based on the facts I am aware of right now, I understand why body cam may not have been turned on at the initial contact between Officer Gillis and Mr. Scheffler," Greenberg told reporters. "I still have questions about why it was not on during Mr. Scheffler’s arrest."
Per LMPD’s body-worn camera policy as cited by the Louisville Courier-Journal, officers must activate their camera "prior to engaging in all law enforcement activities and encounters."
Greenberg announced that Louisville Metro Police will investigate whether officers involved in Friday's arrest of Scheffler prior to Round 2 of the PGA Championship followed department policy.
"I think that’s critically important that we do that, not just in high-profile events like took place on Friday, but on a regular basis," Greenberg said. "And if policies are not being followed, there will be transparency about that. There will be action taken."
LMPD chief Jacquelyn Gwinn-Villaroel addressed the status of the investigation in a statement to Yahoo Sports.
"The internal investigation is still ongoing," her statement reads. "Any policy violations that are revealed through the course of the investigation will be appropriately addressed according to LMPD’s disciplinary protocol."
LMPD intends to provide an update on the investigation on Thursday, per Gwinn-Villaroel.
Accounts of Scheffler's arrest
Louisville police arrested Scheffler early Friday morning as he attempted to access Valhalla Golf Club for his 8:48 a.m. tee time. Officials had stopped traffic outside the golf club to investigate the scene of a fatal accident around 5 a.m.
An officer attempted to stop Scheffler from entering the club around 6 a.m. ESPN's Jeff Darlington was on the scene and reported that Scheffler drove around "10 to 20 yards" after being told to stop and that Scheffler said after he stopped that he didn't know the man telling him to stop was a police officer.
"The police officer attempted to attach himself to Scheffler’s car, and Scheffler then stopped his vehicle at the entrance to Valhalla," Darlington reported on social media. "The police officer then began to scream at Scheffler to get out of the car. When Scheffler exited the vehicle, the officer shoved Scheffler against the car and immediately placed him in handcuffs."
A police report states that Scheffler refused to comply with the instructions of Detective Bryan Gillis and that Scheffler's car dragged Gillis to the ground when he accelerated forward, leaving Gillis injured.
"Subject refused to comply and accelerated forward, dragging Detective Gillis to the ground," the police report reads. "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."
Lack of footage leaves unanswered questions
Per Greenberg, there's no police body cam footage of the incident. So far, no video of any kind of the incident has been made public. Greenberg said on Friday that there was a camera across the street from the scene of the arrest. It's not yet publicly known if that camera recorded the incident.
The lack of known footage has left the public to depend on Darlington's report and competing accounts from the police and Scheffler to assess the situation. After his arrest, Scheffler described the situation as a "big misunderstanding."
"I was proceeding as directed by police officers,” Scheffler said via a statement. “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. I never intended to disregard any of the instructions.”
Scheffler faces multiple charges including a felony count of second-degree assault of a police officer. He also faces misdemeanor charges of criminal mischief in the third degree and disregarding signals from officers directing traffic in addition to a traffic violation of reckless driving.
Scheffler was released shortly after his arrest and booking and made it to his tee time after warming up in a jail cell. The two-time major champion and runner-up at the 2023 PGA championship shot a 5-under 66 on Friday after his arrest en route to a T8 finish.
Scheffler was initially scheduled to be arraigned on Tuesday. Scheffler's attorney Steve Romines announced Monday that the hearing had been postponed to June 3.
