Charges against Scottie Scheffler from his incident with Louisville Police at the PGA Championship have been dropped.
But, while talking about that on Wednesday, Scheffler’s lawyer had a heated exchange with a reporter asking questions about footage of the golf star’s exchange with a police officer.
Steve Romines held a press conference after charges against his clients had been dropped — reports side both sides sought to resolve the matter “amicably” — and he criticized Louisville Police for how they treated Scheffler while he was being arrested.
That led to a question from reporter Natalia Martinez of WAVE News, who suggested Scheffler’s reflection on what happened didn’t align with what he said in the bodycam footage that was released.
She said Scheffler agreed with the police officer after he mentioned his counterpart being “dragged” by Scheffler’s vehicle after being read his Miranda rights, indicating he was aware that his words could be used in a court of law.
NEW: Scottie Scheffler’s attorney issues a fiery response to the charges being dropped against Scottie Scheffler. Listen to what Romines told @NataliaWAVE3 when she asked why Scheffler originally agreed with the claim that he dragged Det. Gillis: @wave3news pic.twitter.com/TP01669eIH
— Ward Jolles (@wardjolles) May 29, 2024
“No, here’s what happened,” Romines answered quickly. “He is being interrogated after the most stressful situation of his life. And an officer is actually asking him leading questions and trying to get him to agree with them. And that’s why you don’t talk to the police because they are going to try to put words in your mouth! That’s exactly what they did.
“He didn’t have to speak, but again, he asked to talk to the officer. He wanted to explain to him what happened. However, they are trying to get him to confess to something that he didn’t do, and the video evidence shows he didn’t do it.”
The bodycam footage shows Scheffler sitting handcuffed in a police vehicle with an officer talking to him about what happened. Scheffler began explaining the situation, saying he had to “loop all the way around” the traffic in the road, which was due to the death of a volunteer at Valhalla Golf Club for the tournament after he was struck by a shuttle bus.
Scheffler said a police officer told him to go in the way he did, going the opposite way of traffic. He goes on to say the officer had told him to stop, but he thought it was a security guard who was mistaken about why he was going that way. The officer suggests Scheffler should’ve stopped his vehicle no matter the case.
A video on Facebook since May 23 captures Scottie Scheffler’s conversation in police car after arrest. “You’re right, I should have stopped. I did get a little impatient because I’m quite late for my tee time.” Cop says he “drug” and “hurt” officer. https://t.co/R4YtBZ2Wg3 pic.twitter.com/IosEtwj2tZ
— Alex Myers (@AlexMyers3) May 29, 2024
“You’re right, I should have stopped,” Scheffler responded. “I did get a little impatient because I’m quite late for my tee time. As he was reaching into the car, he grabbed my shoulder and hit me. It seemed to be a little overaggressive because the entrance was open, and I pulled up a little bit because I was afraid he was going to start hitting me. I didn’t know who he was. He didn’t tell me he was a police officer.”
“He just hit me with his flashlight and yelled, ‘Get out of the car,’” Scheffler added.
“You actually hurt him, and he’s a police officer,” the officer speaking to Scheffler says later in the video. “He’s got a huge scrape on his knee. He’s getting checked by EMS — big bruise. So, I don’t know.”
The officer said it would be up to Det. Bryan Gillis whether Scheffler would go to jail. Scheffler was booked and charged with four different counts, including felony assault over injuries to Gillis.