No. 1 Golfer Scottie Scheffler Arrested Before PGA Championship: NPR

The world’s top-ranked golfer, Scott Scheffler, faces four criminal charges after an early Friday morning interaction with police as he tried to drive to a Louisville golf club where the PGA Championship is being held this week.

The incident occurred at the entrance to Valhalla Golf Club, where Louisville police were conducting a traffic stop Friday morning after an unrelated incident in which a pedestrian – an employee of a salesperson working at a golf tournament – was struck and killed by a shuttle bus. .

A Louisville police report published by local radio station WHAS said Scheffler refused to obey officers directing traffic and dragged the officer with his car.

A lawyer representing Scheffler, Steve Romines, disputed that version of events, telling reporters on Friday that Scheffler complied with all police instructions. “When he entered the facility, he did exactly as he was instructed,” Romines said.

Scheffler’s charges include one felony count of second-degree assault on a police officer and three misdemeanors: criminal mischief, dangerous driving and disregarding signals given by traffic control officers. The indictment was scheduled for Tuesday.

In a statement posted on his Instagram, Scheffler said he never intended to disregard any police commands.

“It was a very chaotic situation, which is understandable given the tragic accident that had occurred earlier, and there was a great misunderstanding of what was being asked of me,” Scheffler said.

The video, recorded by ESPN reporter Jeff Darlington, shows a handcuffed Scheffler being led by two officers to a police car. “He’s going to jail right now,” the officer can be heard telling Darlington. “He’s going to jail and there’s nothing you can do about it.”

The police report shows that the officer involved in the incident, Lt. Col. Bryan Gillis, said Scheffler “refused to comply and accelerated forward, dragging (the officer) to the ground.” The report said that as a result, Gillis experienced “pain, swelling and abrasions to his left wrist and knee” and was transported to the hospital for treatment.

According to public records, Scheffler was arrested by the Louisville Metropolitan Department of Corrections at 7:28 a.m. local time. He was released just over an hour later. Police officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Scheffler, 27, is the No. 1 ranked men’s golfer in the world and is fresh off winning last month’s Masters tournament. After his release, Scheffler arrived at the golf club and teed off at 10:08 as scheduled, then birdied his first hole of the day.

In a statement, the PGA said it was “devastated” to hear of the death of the retailer’s employee. “This is heartbreaking for all of us involved in the PGA Championship. We express our sincere condolences to their families and loved ones,” the organization said.

According to Louisville police spokesman Dwight Mitchell, the employee was walking on the main road near the golf club’s entrance gate when he was struck by a bus. “Unfortunately, the bus did not notice him and hit the person. He was pronounced dead at the scene and our traffic department is currently investigating,” Mitchell told WHAS, according to a statement from the PGA.