Tiger Woods told officers he doesn’t recall driving
When Tiger Woods crashed his car while driving on the Palos Verdes Peninsula last week, he told sheriff’s deputies that he had no recollection of driving or how the accident happened, according to a Los Angeles County affidavit for a search warrant of the vehicle’s black box.
Woods was driving Feb. 23 in Rancho Palos Verdes, shortly after 7 a.m. when his Genesis SUV hit a “Welcome to Rolling Hills Estates” sign, crossed a center divider and traveled more than 150 feet across the shoulder of the road through shrubbery and uprooted tree before coming to a stop on the driver’s side, according to the affidavit.
Woods sustained injuries and
cuts to his face, multiple fractures and compound fractures to his right leg, the affidavit said.
The documents, obtained by CNN, said Woods regained consciousness before sheriff’s deputies arrived. While he remained sitting in the driver’s seat of the vehicle with blood on his face and chin, Woods told the deputies he had no recollection of driving or how the collision occurred.
“The deputies asked him how the collision occurred. Driver said he did not know and did not even remember driving,” the affidavit said. “Driver was treated for his injuries at the hospital and was asked there again how the collision occurred. He repeated that he did not know and did not remember driving.”
A witness, who lives near the accident scene in Rolling Hills Estates, heard the crash and walked to the SUV, Los Angeles County sheriff’s Deputy Johann Schloegl wrote in the affidavit. The man told deputies that Woods had lost consciousness and did not respond to his questions.
The first deputy, Carlos Gonzalez, arrived minutes later and has said Woods appeared to be in shock, but was conscious and able to answer basic questions.
There was no evidence Woods was impaired by drugs or alcohol, according to first responder interviews cited by the affidavit.
The SUV was provided to Woods by the sponsor of the golf tournament at Riviera Country Club that he hosted over the previous weekend. The L.A. County Sheriff’s Office this week it executed a search warrant for the black box in the vehicle.
The data stored in the box, along with “several data recording modules” in the vehicle, “may provide information regarding the use of brakes and the accelerator by the driver” as well as other factors that could determine the cause of the crash, the affidavit said.
Schloegl said Tuesday the search warrant was just due diligence and he didn’t consider the probe a criminal investigation.
“If somebody is involved in a traffic collision, we’ve got to reconstruct the traffic collision, if there was any reckless driving, if somebody was on their cell phone or something like that,” Schloegl said. “We determine if there was a crime. If there was no crime, we close out the case, and it was a regular traffic collision.”