Officer disciplined for not having bodycam on during Scheffler arrest
The police officer who arrested Scottie Scheffler at last week’s US PGA Championship – and who subsequently accused the world No1 of “dragging” him along by trying to accelerate away in his car – has been disciplined for not having his body camera activated at the time of the incident.
Scheffler is facing four charges – most seriously that of assaulting a police officer, a felony that comes with a maximum of 10 years in prison. The case is due initially to be heard on June 3, the week before the US Open, although it is still unknown if Scheffler will be required to attend the arraignment.
But the golfer and his legal team will surely be buoyed by detective Bryan Gillis’s official rebuke, as well as by video evidence released by the Louisville Metro Police Department. That footage – from a fixed security camera and a dash-cam in a police vehicle at the scene – appears inconclusive and, in itself, does not corroborate the officer’s claims in a damning report.
Police chief Jacquelyn Gwinnvillaroel announced that “corrective action” has already been taken against Gillis, because of his bodycam failure outside the gates of Valhalla Golf Club. “Detective Gillis did not have his body-worn camera operationally ready as required by our policy,” Gwinn-villaroel said. “Detective Gillis should have turned on his body-worn camera but did not. His failure to do so is a violation of LMPD policy. We understand the seriousness of the failure to capture this interaction, which is why our officer has received corrective action.”
Scheffler has maintained he did nothing wrong and that it was “a big misunderstanding”. After a fatal accident early in the morning, in which John Mills, a security guard working at the tournament, was hit by a shuttle bus, traffic had been halted in both directions.
However, players were allowed through and Scheffler insists he took instructions from police as he circumnavigated the congestion. But in the report, Gillis stated that Scheffler ignored him and accelerated forward. It was at that point that Gillis says he was dragged along, sustaining injuries to his legs and wrists that required him to be treated in hospital.
Scheffler was arrested and taken to the station, where he was put in a prisoner’s uniform for the police mugshot that inevitably went viral, before being booked into a cell for an hour and eventually charged.
Scheffler was rushed back to the course and made his tee-time, shooting a second-round 66. Yet he tailed away on Saturday and indicated that he believed he was suffering from the after-effects.
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Watch video that boosts golfer’s assault defence h telegraph.co.uk/sport