Almost two weeks after world No. 1 golfer Scottie Scheffler was arrested and charged during a traffic stop outside the PGA Championship, all the charges against him will be dropped.
Jefferson County prosecutor Mike O’Connell told a Kentucky judge Wednesday that his office had reviewed all the evidence and found Scheffler’s actions “do not satisfy the elements of any criminal offenses,” The Associated Press reports.
“Based upon the totality of the evidence, my office cannot move forward in the prosecution of the charges filed against Mr. Scheffler,” O’Connell said. “Mr. Scheffler’s characterization that this was ‘a big misunderstanding’ is corroborated by the evidence.”
Scheffler, a Masters champion, was arrested May 17 outside the gate of Valhalla Golf Course, where he was set to tee off in the tournament’s second round later that morning.
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The arresting officer, Det. Bryan Gillis, claimed Scheffler failed to follow police orders during an investigation into a pedestrian fatality and “refused to comply and accelerated forward, dragging” Gillis to the ground. Gillis said his uniform pants were damaged in the fall and he was taken to the hospital for his injuries.
Masters champion Scottie Scheffler was detained by police on his way to the PGA Championship.
Louisville Metropolitan Department of Corrections via AP
Scheffler, 27, was subsequently charged with multiple crimes: second-degree assault of a police officer, third-degree criminal mischief, reckless driving and disregarding traffic signals from an officer directing traffic.
A surveillance video released by Louisville police last week showed Gillis pursuing Scheffler’s vehicle on foot and stopping him from entering the course. Scheffler is later pulled from the car and cuffed. But the video did not show Gillis’s first contact with Scheffler, authorities said.
Gillis has been disciplined for not activating his body-worn camera during the arrest. In a report on that failure, Gillis wrote that Scheffler had “demanded to be let in” the golf course.
Scheffler has said he simply misunderstood the commands coming from traffic officers.
The famous golfer spent a brief stint in a jail cell, then returned to the course for the second round. He finished the tournament tied for eighth place.
— With files from The Associated Press
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