Louisville police cite department violation in arrest of top golfer Scottie Scheffler
The Kentucky police detective who arrested top golfer Scottie Scheffler violated department policies by failing to activate his body-worn camera during the interaction, officials said Thursday.
The Louisville Metro Police Department did not reveal what, if any, punishment was meted out to Detective Bryan Gillis. Chief Jacquelyn Gwinn-Villaroel would say only that such action would be “in line with our disciplinary protocol and practices.”
“Detective Gillis should have turned on his body-worn camera but did not,” Gwinn-Villaroel told reporters Thursday. "His failure to do so is a violation of LMPD police on uniforms and equipment."
It wasn't clear Thursday whether Gillis' failure to capture his dealings with Scheffler would harm a possible prosecution of Scheffler for allegedly failing to follow officers' directions.
"Detective Gillis was counseled by his supervisor," Gwinn-Villaroel said. "We understand the seriousness of the failure to capture this interaction, which is why our officer has received corrective action for this policy violation."
Police released videos that partly show what happened a week ago Friday, shot from a squad car dashboard camera and from a roadside pole.
Both sets of video fail to clearly illustrate what might have led to Scheffler's arrest, with a bus obscuring much of the interaction.
There is no other known video of Scheffler with police, Mayor Craig Greenberg said.
Scheffler’s attorney Steve Romines said in a statement: "Our position remains the same as it was last Friday. I am not negotiating as we have no interest in settling. I am preparing to litigate as needed and the case will be dismissed or we will go to trial because Scottie did absolutely nothing wrong."
Before the incident, a shuttle bus struck and killed Louisville resident John Mills just after 5 a.m., officials said.
“Last Friday morning, our community suffered the tragic death with the loss of Mr. Mills,” Greenberg said. “That tragic death led to a series of very unfortunate events in dark, rainy and tense conditions.”
Scheffler, the top-ranked golfer in the world, ran afoul of police Friday morning when he tried to enter Valhalla Golf Club ahead of the second round of the PGA Championship.
Police were directing traffic while they investigated Mills' death.
Scheffler claims he was simply following police directions on how to drive into Valhalla when police, under conflicting orders, arrested him.
The arresting officer said he was giving Scheffler proper directions, alleging he “refused to comply and accelerated forward,” dragging the officer to the ground, according to a police incident report.
Scheffler was booked into custody and accused of second-degree assault of a police officer, third-degree criminal mischief, reckless driving and disregarding signals from officers directing traffic.
Scheffler still managed to get back to the course Friday and shot a 5-under 66 on his way to an eighth-place finish.
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
