(CNN)— Louisville Police disciplined the detective who arrestedWorld No. 1 golfer Scottie Schefflerlast week for not activating his body-worn camera at the time of the arrest, Chief Jacquelyn Gwinn-Villaroel said Thursday.
Detective Bryan Gillis “should have turned on his body-worn camera, but did not,” she said. “His failure to do so is a violation of the LMPD policy on uniforms and equipment, subject category body-worn camera.”
The police chief said Gillis violated policy because he did not have his body-worn camera “operationally ready” as required. The detective has received “corrective action,” the chief said, though the specifics of that discipline were not made clear.
Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg said they are not aware of any video footage that captures the initial interaction between police and Scheffler, but they are releasing video from a fixed pole camera and a police dash cam. The mayor praised the police chief for working quickly and with transparency in the internal investigation.
“Activating body-worn cameras is critically important for our police department to have evidence, to maintain community trust, to be transparent,” he said.
The news conference comes a week after Scheffler was arrested, charged with felony assault, released from jail and then made his tee time in awhirlwind few hours at the PGA Championship,one of golf’s four major tournaments.
Scheffler, 27, was attempting to drive to the Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville for the second round of the tournament at about 6 a.m. when he came to the scene of a fatal crash. He allegedly injured a police officer who was directing traffic and was arrested, according to police.
The golfer, anew father with a sterling reputation, was charged with felony second-degree assault on a police officer, along with lesser charges of third-degree criminal mischief, reckless driving and disregarding signals from officers directing traffic, according to Jefferson County court records.
After taking a mugshot and warming up in a jail cell, he was released and made it to his tee time at the golf club. He then shot 5-under that day on his way to finishing the tournament in a tie for 8th place.
His attorney told CNN he plans to plead not guilty to the charges. Scheffler described the incident as a “big misunderstanding” during a “chaotic situation.”
“I feel like my head is still spinning. I can’t really explain what happened this morning. I did spend some time stretching in a jail cell. That’s a first for me,” Scheffler said last Friday. “I was fortunate to be able to make it back out and play some golf today.”
High-ranking police officials in Louisville have privately voiced concerns a felony charge against Scheffler is excessive, a source familiar with thediscussions told CNN.
Scheffler’s arraignment was originally scheduled for Tuesday but was delayed to June due to his attorney’s scheduling issue.
He is scheduled to play Thursday afternoon in the Charles Schwab Challenge in Fort Worth, Texas.
What we know about the arrest
According to a Louisville Metro Police report, Scheffler was trying to drive into the golf course when he was stopped by an officer wearing a full police uniform and a yellow reflective rain jacket. The officer, identified as Gillis, stopped Scheffler and “attempted to give instructions,” the report states.
“Subject refused to comply and accelerated forward, dragging Detective Gillis to the ground,” according to the report.
The detective suffered pain, swelling and abrasions to his left wrist and knee and was taken to the hospital for further treatment, the report states. His uniform pants, valued at about $80, “were damaged beyond repair,” the report adds.
Scheffler’s attorney, Steven Romines, said his client was headed to the golf course early to prepare to play.
“Due to the combination of event traffic and a traffic fatality in the area it was a very chaotic situation. He was proceeding as directed by another traffic officer and driving a marked player’s vehicle with credentials visible,” Romines said in a statement, referring to Scheffler. “In the confusion, Scottie is alleged to have disregarded a different officer’s traffic signals resulting in these charges.”
Multiple eyewitnesses have said Scheffler “did not do anything wrong” but drove as directed, according to Romines.
“He stopped immediately upon being directed to and never at any point assaulted any officer with his vehicle,” the statement reads. “We will plead not guilty and litigate this matter as needed.”
ESPN’s Jeff Darlington witnessed the encounter. When Scheffler arrived in a marked player courtesy vehicle, he tried to drive around the crash scene on a median, according to ESPN. Darlington wrote on social media that Scheffler “continued to drive about 10 to 20 yards toward the entrance” before stopping.
“The police officer attempted to attach himself to Scheffler’s car, and Scheffler then stopped his vehicle at the entrance to Valhalla,” Darlingtonwrote on X. “The police officer then began to scream at Scheffler to get out of the car. When Scheffler exited the vehicle, the officer shoved Scheffler against the car and immediately placed him in handcuffs.”
Police escorted a handcuffed Scheffler into a police vehicle, Darlington’s video shows.
“Right now he’s going to jail,” an officer at the scene says in the video.
