Officer who arrested Scottie Scheffler criticizes attorney but holds ‘no ill will’ toward golfer

By DYLAN LOVAN
Associated Press

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — The Louisville police officer who arrested Scottie Scheffler said he has “no ill will” toward the pro golfer for injuries he said he suffered while directing traffic after a fatal accident during the PGA Championship.

A Louisville prosecutor dropped charges against Scheffler on Wednesday. Jefferson County Attorney Mike O’Connell said Scheffler’s explanation that he had a misunderstanding May 17 with an officer directing traffic outside Valhalla Golf Club was “corroborated by the evidence.”

The officer, Detective Bryan Gillis, said he wishes Scheffler and his family “all the best” but took issue with comments by Scheffler’s attorney after the Wednesday court hearing. Gillis released the one-page statement to WAVE-TV in Louisville Wednesday night.

Scheffler attorney Steve Romines said his client had been “falsely arrested” and has grounds for a civil suit but does not wish to pursue any litigation. Romines said Wednesday that multiple on-scene witnesses can confirm Gillis was not dragged by the car.

Gillis wrote that Romines’ claim of a false arrest was “unfortunate and disturbing” and a challenge to his “honesty and integrity.”

“To be clear, I was drug by the car, I went to the ground and I received visible injuries to my knees and wrist,” Gillis wrote. “I’m going to recover from it, and it will be ok.”

Gillis also joked about his torn pants that he mentioned in the initial police report, saying, “I never guessed I’d have the most famous pair of pants in the country because of this.”

More details of the arrest surfaced in a video online that appears to show Scheffler being interviewed by another officer who is recording on his body camera. Louisville police released two video recordings at the scene of the arrest last week, but neither had audio.

O’Connell said Wednesday that the body camera video wasn’t released because his office was still investigating the case. A mayor’s spokeswoman has also confirmed its validity to media.

On the new video, Scheffler acknowledged to the officer that he “should’ve stopped. I did get a little impatient because I’m quite late for my tee time.” The golfer was preparing to play early in the second round of the four-day tournament but had a 30-minute delay getting to the course.

Romines said the video shows Scheffler being interrogated “after the most stressful situation of his life.”

Gillis was disciplined for not activating his body camera during the arrest. He wrote in a police report that Scheffler “refused to comply and accelerated forward, dragging” him to the ground.

Scheffler said on the recording that his window was down and he heard a person yelling for him to stop, though he didn’t know it was a police officer.

“As he was reaching the car, he grabbed my shoulder and hit me,” Scheffler said. “It seemed to be a little over-aggressive because the entrance was open.” He said he pulled away a little “because I thought he was going to start hitting me.”

Louisville police said some videos and documents related to the case will be released at a later date.