So they’re really doing this, eh?
The Scottie Scheffler PGA Championship arrest saga added a new chapter on Thursday as the Louisville Metro Police Department held court with the media to further explain the fiasco involving the world No. 1 golfer.
Scheffler was arrested last Friday by Detective Bryan Gillis in a bizarre traffic incident as he tried to make it to the PGA Championship at Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville, Kentucky.
According to the police report:
“Detective Gillis was directing traffic into Gate 1 of the Valhalla Golf Course due to the road being closed in both directions from an earlier fatal collision. Listed subject was driving eastbound to gain access to the course. Subject pulled into the westbound lanes, where outbound traffic was flowing and to avoid backed up traffic. Detective Gillis was in the middle of the westbound lanes, in full LMPD uniform and a hi-visibility yellow reflective rain jacket.
Detective Gillis stopped subject and attempted to give instructions. Subject refused to comply and accelerated forward, dragging Detective Gillis to the ground. 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.
Detective Gillis’ uniform pants, valued at approximately $80 were damaged beyond repair.”
I mean, even the worst case scenario (which is what the officer included in his report) makes it sound like a chaotic scene and a misunderstanding.
It also came out that Gillis failed to turn on his bodycam to capture the incident, a violation of the department’s policy (and awfully convenient for a situation where there are so many people contradicting the officer’s story…), but today the Louisville Police held a press conference and released video from a nearby pole camera that captured the incident.
And based on the video…well let’s just say that police report may have been a little exaggerated. A lot exaggerated. Ok, it may have been a flat out lie.
The Scottie Scheffler arrest video looks like a total overreaction.
The camera is across the street, but you can see Scheffler turn left into Valhalla Golf Club.
It looks like the police officer runs alongside the car, jumps on the driverside door, and then arrests him.
Crazy. pic.twitter.com/5nzgUFfQIZ
— Joe Pompliano (@JoePompliano) May 23, 2024
In the video, you see Scheffler turn in towards the entrance gate at Valhalla, and Gillis running up beside him before Scheffler stops, Gillis slams the vehicle, and immediately pulls the golfer out of the car to arrest him.
Now, is it possible that the whole “being dragged by the car” thing happened off camera and behind the buses that are in the front of the video? Sure. But based on the only available video evidence, it’s not looking great for Gillis and his ruined pants.
And as soon as people saw the video and saw that it didn’t match up with the police report…well, the internet obviously had jokes:
I for one cannot believe Scottie Scheffler would recklessly and wantonly pull over and stop at such a reasonable rate of speed. https://t.co/rPZiuVSTEm
— Bunkie Perkins (@BunkiePerkins) May 23, 2024
Your detective that pooped his pants is a liar, and y’all just tweeted proof hahhah wild
— mig_dig (@Mig_Dig) May 23, 2024
Fire Gillis pic.twitter.com/ptOFoqTI2S
— JW (@jwtnvol) May 23, 2024
Scheffler’s attorney, Steven Romines, says that they have no interest in striking a plea agreement with the state and that they’re prepared to go to trial if the charges aren’t dismissed.
Got a feeling that trial wouldn’t take very long…