Police: Officer violated body cam policy during Scheffler arrest, release video

A Louisville police detective violated department policy May 17 when he failed to activate his body-worn camera before confronting and arresting Scottie Scheffler, the world’s top golfer, near the entrance to Valhalla Golf Club just before the PGA Championship’s second round began.

Louisville Metro Police Chief Jacqueline Gwinn-Villaroel said Thursday that Detective Bryan Gillis “should have turned on his body-worn camera, but did not. His failure to do so is a violation of LMPD policy.”

As a result of the violation, Gillis was “counseled by his supervisor” and the “corrective action” was noted on a “performance observation form,” she said.

Police officials publicly released a pole camera video taken from across Shelbyville Road, but it showed little of the confrontation between the detective and Scheffler.

Mayor Craig Greenberg and the chief held a news conference Thursday morning but refused to answer questions, citing the pending court case against Scheffler.

Scheffler is to be be arraigned June 3 on three driving-related misdemeanors and a felony count of second-degree assault of a police officer.

In keeping with department operating procedures, Gillis completed a form explaining his failure to activate his camera, writing he “immediately” started directing traffic after a fatal pedestrian accident.

Gillis also wrote that had he activated his camera, it would have shown Scheffler “demanded to be let in, and proceeded forward against my directions.”

“I was dragged/knocked down by the driver,” he wrote.

The pole camera footage captures some of the interaction between Gillis and Scheffler.

Scheffler, who is driving an SUV, is shown slowly making a left turn into the golf club. Gillis runs after the SUV and appears to swing at or hit the front passenger side of the vehicle, at which point Scheffler stops and is arrested.

Nothing in the publicly released footage shows Gillis being “dragged.”

Greenberg said that at the request of the prosecutor’s office, no additional “video or evidence related to this case” would be released.

The arrest report says Scheffler failed to comply with Gillis’ instructions and “accelerated forward, dragging him to the ground.”

But employees of ESPN disputed that account in interviews this week with Golf.com.

Play-by-play announcer Bob Wischusen was quoted as saying Gillis may have tripped and fallen to the ground as he was running beside Scheffler’s SUV.

“When Scheffler drove past him, the cop got very angry pursuing the car,” Wischusen told Golf.com. “…My impression was he was kind of running alongside, chasing the car, and maybe he tripped and fell. I mean, there was kind of an outcropping or median, by the front gate.

“And keep in mind, it was raining. It was 6 o’clock in the morning. It was dark.”

Wischusen added, “I could see him stumble, but I did not have a very clear view of exactly how you want to categorize his contact with the car.”

ESPN reporter Jeff Darlington said Gillis seemed to try to attach himself to Scheffler’s vehicle.

Wischusen did not respond to a message Thursday, and an ESPN spokesman said the network would not make either available for interviews.

Alex Payne, a former commissioner of the Kentucky Department of Criminal Justice training, said officers should not put themselves in danger chasing a moving vehicle on foot.

“The vehicle is faster and stronger than the officer,” he said.

If the charges against Scheffler are dismissed and he does not stipulate that there was probable cause for the arrest, “he could have a hell of a lawsuit” against the city, said attorney Thomas Clay, who has won many large verdicts against Metro Louisville.

Clay noted Scheffler’s arrest has captured international attention.

“It was a fiasco, “Clay said. “There was absolutely no reason for it.”

Attorney Steve Romines, who represents Scheffler, declined to comment on whether his client will file a lawsuit.

But Romines said he will not negotiate on the criminal case.

They will drop all charges or we will go to trial, he said.

Clay and other lawyers said Gillis could’ve issued Scheffler a citation rather than arresting him and taking him to jail.

Louisville Police officials declined to respond to questions about whether a citation could have been issued and whether anyone besides Gillis decided to take Scheffler into custody.