Louisville, Kentucky
CNN
—
Less than two weeks after world number one golfer Scottie Scheffler was arrested while trying to drive around the scene of a fatal accident on his way to the PGA Championship and video of his arrest was released, all charges against Scheffler have been dropped.
According to Jefferson County court records, Scheffler, 27, was charged with a felony count of second-degree assault on a police officer, as well as misdemeanor counts of third-degree criminal damage to property, reckless driving and failing to obey a police officer’s signal during a traffic control.
“Based on the totality of the evidence, my office cannot move forward with the prosecution of the charges against Mr. Scheffler,” County Attorney Mike O’Connell said in court Wednesday. “Mr. Scheffler’s statement that this was a ‘major misunderstanding’ is supported by the evidence.”
Jefferson County District Court Judge Ann Delahunty dismissed the matter with a mistrial, meaning it will not be taken up again, “and it will be expunged within 60 days,” she said.
Scheffler reiterated Wednesday afternoon that the incident arose from a “serious miscommunication during a chaotic situation” and said he bore “no ill will” toward the detectives who arrested him.
“I hope to put this incident behind me and move on, and I hope he does too,” Scheffler said in a statement. “The job of police officers is difficult, but I think highly of them.”
Speaking to reporters outside the courtroom after the hearing, Scheffler and his lawyers “are pleased that the lawsuit has been dismissed today.” They were prepared to sue and were also preparing to file a civil lawsuit that Scheffler no longer wants to litigate because of the taxpayer costs, Romines said.
“He’s happy it’s over,” Romines said of Scheffler, who lives in Texas and was allowed to miss Wednesday’s hearing.
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Jefferson County Attorney Mike O’Connell made the remarks during a hearing in Louisville, Kentucky, on Wednesday.
The case has come under intense scrutiny since the arrest in the early hours of May 17. Law enforcement sources told CNN that the arresting detective was reprimanded for not having his body camera turned on at the time, and some officials believe the charges should be lighter.
“We respect the county attorney’s decision and respect the judicial process,” police said in a statement Wednesday. The Louisville Metro Police Department “remains focused on our mission of serving the City of Louisville and reducing violent crime.”
Scheffler was charged in connection with an incident that occurred upon arrival at Valhalla Golf Club, where he was accused of dragging a police officer who was directing traffic following a fatal crash that claimed the life of John Mills, 69, an employee of a vendor for the PGA, which organizes the PGA Championship.
Scheffler called the incident a “big misunderstanding,” and Romines strongly denied Wednesday that the officer was dragged.
Scheffler’s arrest was a dramatic upset for the PGA Championship because the new father, described by one golf writer as an honorable and “clean” player, had been the overwhelming favorite to win the tournament after winning his second Masters last month. Scheffler finished tied for eighth, eight strokes behind eventual winner Xander Schauffele.
“I tried my best to put that behind me and come out here and compete and do what I love, and the support I got from the fans was amazing,” Scheffler told reporters after the tournament on May 19. “I think everyone cheered for me even louder than usual this week, and I got a lot of support from the players and the caddies.”
Scheffler repeated his gratitude on Wednesday. “I want to thank everyone for their support over the past two weeks and once again urge everyone to remember the true tragedy of May 17th,” Scheffler said. “My thoughts and prayers are with John Mills and his family, and I would like to personally offer my condolences now that this incident has concluded.”
Body camera footage shows Scheffler at the scene.
Wednesday’s hearing featured body camera footage of Scheffler’s initial conversation with police officers after he was arrested at the scene. The footage shows officers reading Scheffler his Miranda rights before questioning him about the incident.
Scheffler believed another officer had directed him to divert traffic and enter Valhalla Golf Club, after which another officer ordered him to stop, the complaint said.
“I didn’t know he was a police officer,” Scheffler said in the video, along with a man later identified as Louisville Detective Brian Gillis. “I thought it was one of the security guards,” the golfer said, acknowledging he was “mistake.”
“If someone is telling you to stop, why does it matter if that person is a security guard or a police officer?” the officer asked.
“Yeah, you’re right. I should have stopped it,” Scheffler said. “I was pretty late for my tee time and I got a little annoyed.”
“He reached over in the car, grabbed me by the shoulder and punched me,” the golfer continued, describing it as “a little too aggressive.” Scheffler said he was scared, “I thought he was going to start punching me and I didn’t know who he was. He didn’t say he was a police officer. All I could see was a yellow jacket.”
The officer tells the golfer, “So what happened is you just kept going and you took him. He’s a pedestrian. So you took him in your car and you drugged him, which is not a good thing, right?”
When Scheffler asked if he could speak to Gillis and explain what had happened, the officer refused.
Asked about the footage on Wednesday, Romines said it showed his client “being interrogated after the most stressful situation of his life” and accused officers of asking the golfer “leading questions.”
Romines said the footage shows “the quality of Mr. Scheffler’s character in trying to defuse the situation.”
“He didn’t need to talk, but he did say he wanted to speak to the officers again and explain to the officers what had happened,” Romines said.
A spokesman for Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg said the blurry footage was authentic.
“Louisiana State Police swiftly released the video of Mr. Scheffler’s arrest on May 23, just days after the incident occurred,” Scottie Ellis, the mayor’s communications director, said in a statement Wednesday.
“At the press conference where the footage was released, Mayor Greenberg stated that, per the request of the Jefferson County Prosecutor’s Office, no other footage would be released until the legal process is complete,” Ellis said. “It is unfortunate and extremely disturbing that an individual would leak information that should remain confidential until the investigation is complete.”
CNN reached out to Louisville police regarding Scheffler’s claim that he was punched and asked them leading questions.
The arrest occurred around 6 a.m. on May 17, when Scheffler was driving to Valhalla Golf Club to play in the second round of a major golf tournament and encountered traffic jams near the scene of the fatal accident.
Police had been stepping up efforts at the trailhead after a pedestrian named Mills, who said he was enjoying his job as a security guard at Valhalla, was killed by a bus earlier that day as he tried to cross a highway leading to the trail, Louisville police spokesman Dwight Mitchell said.
According to ESPN, Scheffler was driving his race car and was about to enter the course when he was stopped by an officer wearing a police uniform and a yellow reflective rain jacket, according to a Louisville police report. The officer, Detective Brian Gillis, stopped Scheffler and attempted to give him instructions.
“The suspect refused to comply and accelerated, dragging Detective Gillis to the ground,” the report states.
The detective suffered pain, swelling and cuts to his left wrist and knee and was taken to a hospital for further treatment, according to the report. His uniform pants, valued at about $80, were “irreparably damaged,” according to the report.
At a press conference last week where video of the incident was released, Louisville Police Chief Jacqueline Gwynn Villarroel said the detective did not have his body camera on and that “corrective action for a violation of regulations” had been taken.
Scheffler was detained and arrested but was later released and returned to the golf course for a tee time four hours later. Scheffler said in a statement shared on his Instagram account that he believed he was following police instructions that day.
Despite spending part of the morning in jail and being photographed in an orange jumpsuit, Scheffler played well on May 17, finishing at 5 under par and nearing the top of the leaderboard, but struggled the next day and had too much to recover from to win a second consecutive major championship.
As for his legal troubles, the golfer is unsure what his future holds, telling reporters on May 19, “I don’t think anything has been decided yet.”
“I think I’ll go home tonight, but we’ll know when I leave here,” he said. “I haven’t had much of a chance to assess the situation off the track.”
This is a developing story and is being updated.
