Scottie Scheffler’s lawyer insists the world No 1 is prepared to go to trial if the charge of assaulting a police officer is not dropped.
Scheffler was arrested on Friday morning after trying to drive into Valhalla Golf Club in heavy traffic caused by an earlier, unrelated accident in which a male pedestrian died after being struck by a shuttle bus.
According to the police report, Detective Bryan Gillis stopped Scheffler’s car and “attempted to give instruction” to the Masters champion, who is competing in the PGA Championship at Valhalla.
The report alleges Scheffler refused to comply and “accelerated forward, dragging Detective Gillis to the ground”.
Scheffler faces charges of second-degree assault of a police officer, third-degree criminal mischief, reckless driving and disregarding traffic signals from an officer directing traffic, with an arraignment set for Tuesday.
Second-degree assault is a felony, the other three charges are misdemeanours.
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Brandel Chamblee and Paul McGinley shared praise for Scottie Scheffler for his ability to bounce back from adversity after coming out of jail hours before he teed off on day two of the PGA Championship.
“They’ll either be dropped or we’ll go to trial because he didn’t do anything wrong,” Steve Romines, Scheffler’s lawyer, told Golf Channel. “So we’re not interested in any sort of settlement negotiations or anything like that. It was just a big miscommunication.
“There had been a traffic fatality down the road and so there were differing traffic directions going on and traffic control officers were advising different things.
“Scottie was advised by one officer to go around and turn left into the facility. But the officer who charged him obviously didn’t know that. So, that’s where the miscommunication occurred.”
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Speaking after his second round at the PGA Championship, Scottie Scheffler detailed his arrest and detainment before being released in time to make his tee time at Valhalla Golf Club.
Speaking about Tuesday’s arraignment, which he said could be rescheduled, Romines added: “We will enter a plea of not guilty and get the next court date.”
Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg – who released a statement about the incidents on Friday – told local media outlets on Saturday that there is no police bodycam footage of Scheffler’s arrest.
“The officer did not have bodycam footage turned on during the incident,” Greenberg said. “We will release footage that we have. To my knowledge, we have not yet discovered any video of the initial contact between Officer Gillis and Mr. Scheffler.”
Greenberg said that footage from a “fixed camera” across the street from the entrance to Valhalla would be released in the coming days.
Scheffler stayed in major contention at Valhalla
After being released on his own recognizance and driven to the course, Scheffler carded a second round of 66 to lie three shots behind halfway lead Xander Schauffele.
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Speaking after his second round at the PGA Championship, Scottie Scheffler detailed his arrest and detainment before being released in time to make his tee time at Valhalla Golf Club.
“I did spend some time stretching in a jail cell,” Scheffler admitted after his round. “That was a first for me. That was part of my warm-up. I was just sitting there waiting and I started going through my warmup, as I felt like there was a chance I may be able to still come out here and play.
“My situation will get handled. It was a chaotic situation and a big misunderstanding. I can’t get into what transpired, outside of my heart goes out to the family.”
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