No footage was found of the initial interaction between Scottie Scheffler and arresting officer Detective Bryan Gillis from last week outside Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville, Mayor Craig Greenberg and LMPD Police Chief Jacquelyn Gwinn-Villaroel stated Thursday.
The duo confirmed that Gillis, contrary to LMPD protocol, did not activate his body camera at the time of the interaction -- spawning an internal investigation -- but that a dashboard camera from a police vehicle and a fixed-pole camera from across the street were able to capture footage of the arrest. LMPD's policy states officers must activate body cameras prior to engaging in law enforcement activities.
"We are not aware, at this time, of any video footage that captures the initial interaction between LMPD and Mr. Scheffler," Greenberg said. "We are releasing today video footage at the time of Mr. Scheffler's arrest from two video cameras. One of those video cameras is a fixed pole camera that was from the other side of Shelbyville Road, and the other camera is from the dash cam of a police car."
According to the arrest report, the road on which Scheffler's incident occurred was closed in both directions following a fatal accident from earlier that morning.
Scheffler allegedly "refused to comply" with Gillis' instructions, leading Scheffler to continue moving his vehicle forward with Gillis saying he was dragged to the ground by the PGA Championship courtesy car. The officer received medical treatment after he "suffered pain, swelling and abrasions to his left wrist and knee," and his uniform pants, valued at approximately $80, were "damaged beyond repair."
NEW @LMPD video of Scottie Scheffler’s arrest pic.twitter.com/1g1ppwIZKL
— GOLF.com (@GOLF_com) May 23, 2024
The world No. 1 was charged with second-degree assault of a police officer, third-degree criminal mischief, reckless driving and disregarding traffic signals from an officer. LMPD posted two videos, in full, on its YouTube channel.
"Det. Gillis did have an encounter, as we know, with Mr. Scottie Scheffler. Det. Gillis should have turned on his body-worn camera but did not," Gwinn-Villaroel said. "His failure to do so is a violation of LMPD policy… Det. Gillis did not have his body-worn camera operationally ready as required by our policy. He was performing a law-enforcement actions as defined in our policy… Det. Gillis was counseled by his supervisor. We understand the seriousness of the failure to capture this interaction, which is why our officer has received corrective action for this policy violation."
Here's a sequenced video of the key moments of both feeds from the Scheffler arrest, pole and dash cam, courtesy of @SomersF1 pic.twitter.com/eV4Hc1M00H
— Shane Ryan (Trustworthy) (@ShaneRyanHere) May 23, 2024
Explained Det. Gillis in a statement released Thursday: "While directing traffic in front of Gate 1, the PGA personnel stopped a bus from entering Gate 1. I oversaw a vehicle traveling in the opposing lanes coming at me. I stopped the driver and advised him he could not proceed because of the bus. He demanded to be let in and proceeded forward against my directions. I was dragged/knocked down by the driver. I then proceeded to arrest the driver."
Hours after his arrest, Scheffler went on to shoot a second-round 66 on Friday at the 2024 PGA Championship before falling off the pace on Saturday. While the legal process plays out in Louisville, the Texan is in his home state this week playing in the Charles Schwab Challenge at Colonial.
Scheffler's arraignment, originally scheduled for earlier this week, was pushed back to June 3 following a successful motion from his defense attorney, Steven Romines.
"He didn't do anything wrong," Romines told the media after Thursday's press conference. "We will go to trial or the case will be dismissed. We have no interest in settling the case."
