Louisville police cite department violation in arrest of top golfer Scottie Scheffler
The Kentucky police detective who arrested top golfer Scottie Scheffler violated department policies by failing to activate his body-worn camera during the interaction, officials said Thursday.
The Louisville Police Department did not reveal what, if any, punishment was meted out to Detective Bryan Gillis as Chief Jacquelyn Gwinn-Villaroel would only say that such action would be “in line with our disciplinary protocol and practices.”
“Detective Gillis should have turned on his body-worn camera but did not,” the chief told reporters on Thursday. "His failure to do so is a violation of LMPD police on uniforms and equipment."
It wasn't clear on Thursday if the detective's failure to capture his dealings with Scheffler would harm a possible prosecution of the golfer for allegedly failing to follow officers' directions.
"Detective Gillis was counseled by his supervisor," Gwinn-Villaroel said. "We understand the seriousness of the failure to capture this interaction, which is why our officer has received corrective action for this policy violation."
Police said the only videos of the arrest comes from a squad car dashboard camera and from a roadside pole.
There is no known video of Scheffler interacting with police, Mayor Craig Greenberg said.
"Our position remains the same as it was last Friday," the golfer's attorney Steve Romines said in a statement to NBC News. "I am not negotiating as we have no interest in settling. I am preparing to litigate as needed and the case will be dismissed or we will go to trial because Scottie did absolutely nothing wrong."
Before Scheffler’s dealings with officers, a shuttle bus struck and killed Louisville resident John Mills just after 5 a.m., officials said.
“Last Friday morning, our community suffered the tragic death with the loss of Mr. Mills,” Greenberg said. “That tragic death led to a series of very unfortunate events in dark, rainy and tense conditions.”
Scheffler, the top-ranked golfer in the world, ran afoul of Louisville police last Friday morning when he tried to enter the Valhalla Golf Club ahead of second round of the PGA Championship.
Police were on the scene directing traffic while investigating Mills' death.
Scheffler claims he was simply following police directions on how to drive into Valhalla when police, under conflicting orders, arrested him.
But the arresting officer said he was giving Scheffler proper directions when Scheffller allegedly “refused to comply and accelerated forward,” dragging the officer to the ground, according to a police incident report.
Scheffler was booked into custody and accused of second-degree assault of a police officer, third-degree criminal mischief, reckless driving and disregarding signals from officers directing traffic.
Scheffler still managed to get back to the course on Friday and shot a 5-under 66 on his way to an eighth-place finish.
