The Louisville Metropolitan Police Department released a pair of videos Thursday morning of the incident outside of last week’s PGA Championship that resulted in the arrest of professional golfer Scottie Scheffler.
Neither of the videos appears to conclusively back up the department’s claim that the world’s top golfer ignored a police officer’s commands and dragged him with a vehicle last Friday outside Valhalla Golf Club in the city.
The clips also don’t offer much aid to Scheffler, who faces criminal charges but has denied any wrongdoing.
Scheffler was arrested by LMPD officer Bryan Gillis, who claimed in a memo also released by the department Thursday morning that he informed Scheffler to stop before he was “dragged” and “knocked down” by the golf pro.
At the time, the officer was working the scene of a fatal traffic accident involving a man and a bus.
One video shared from a nearby pole-mounted security camera caught the moment Scheffler drove past police security to enter the golf club.
At the 29-second mark in the video below, a vehicle believed to have been driven by Scheffler can be seen entering the club entrance (in the upper left portion of the screen) as an officer slapped the side of his car.
From the clip shared by police, it appeared Scheffler stopped immediately after an officer pounded on his door.
Another video released by the department was from a police cruiser dash camera that also does not offer a lot of help.
Another version published by WFAA-TV shows a zoomed-in view that provides more detail, including an officer appearing to run up to the car’s window, pound on it, and later reach into the vehicle through the window before the driver is removed and taken into custody.
According to the department, Gillis did not turn on his body camera before the interaction.
Because of that, neither the department nor the public has a better view of the incident. The LMPD said a supervisor spoke with the officer about ensuring his body camera is on in the future.
Scheffler was charged with felony second-degree assault on a police officer and with misdemeanors including third-degree criminal mischief.
The golfer said in a statement after he was arrested he was merely following the instructions he had been given, which were to drive past security to enter the club.
Does this footage change your opinion of Scottie Scheffler’s arrest?
He also admitted he was unaware there had been an accident.
Scheffler was let out of jail hours after his arrest and made his scheduled tee time for the second round of the tournament, which was eventually won by Xander Schauffele.
An attorney for Scheffler has vowed to fight the charges against his client in court and said the golfer did what he was supposed to do before a miscommunication.
Scheffler has a court appearance scheduled for June 3, according to Yahoo Sports.
