Scottie Scheffler arrest: All charges dropped against world No. 1 as new video of traffic incident emerges

Prosecutors on Wednesday dropped all charges against Scottie Scheffler stemming from a traffic incident in Louisville ahead of the second round of the 2024 PGA Championship. Scheffler was charged with second-degree assault on a police officer, third-degree criminal mischief, reckless driving and disregarding a police officer’s traffic signals after moving his car forward during a heated incident outside the Valhalla Golf Club.

“Based on the totality of the evidence, my office cannot move forward in prosecuting the charges filed against Mr. Scheffler,” said Jefferson County District Attorney Mike O’Connell. “Mr. Scheffler’s characterization that this was ‘a big misunderstanding’ is supported by the evidence. The evidence we reviewed supports the conclusion that Detective Gillis was concerned about public safety at the scene when he initiated contact with Mr. Scheffler. Scheffler, however, Mr. Scheffler’s actions and the evidence surrounding their exchange during this misunderstanding do not meet the elements of any criminal offenses.”

The decision comes a week after the Louisville Metro Police Department announced that the officer who arrested Bryan Gillis “received corrective action” for failing to activate his body camera before taking law enforcement actions as required by policy. This prompted an internal investigation into whether proper police protocol was followed in Scheffler’s arrest.

LMPD released two videos of Scheffler’s arrest – one from a fixed camera located across the street and the other from a camera on the dashboard of a police vehicle. Video footage shows Gillis running toward Scheffler’s vehicle and shining his flashlight into the driver’s side window as the 2024 Masters champion approaches the entrance to Valhalla. Both failed to capture the initial interaction between the two.

On the same day that these videos were released publicly, a third was posted on Facebook from Scheffler’s conversation with a police officer in the police car during his arrest. It was not widely discovered until Wednesday.

Scheffler explained to the officer that he mistook the person who stopped him for a security guard and didn’t realize it was a police officer: “All I saw was a yellow jacket.” Then he admitted his impatience at the moment, as he was “very late for my tea time”. Scheffler also claimed that the arresting officer “grabbed my shoulder and hit me” after getting into the car without identifying himself as a police officer.

According to the arrest report, the road where the Scheffler incident occurred was closed in both directions following a fatal crash that occurred that morning.

Scheffler allegedly “refused to comply” with Gillis’ instructions, leading Scheffler to continue moving his vehicle forward, with Gillis claiming he was dragged to the ground by the PGA Championship courtesy car. The officer received medical treatment after “suffering pain, swelling and abrasions to his left wrist and knee,” and his uniform pants, valued at approximately $80, were “damaged beyond repair.”

Throughout this ordeal, Scheffler’s defense attorney, Steven Romines, insisted that his client did nothing wrong. He insisted that there was no interest in resolving the case. Prepared to go to trial or see the case dismissed, Romines and Scheffler saw the latter come to fruition.

“We are pleased that the case was closed today. Obviously, closed with prejudice, which is something we demand,” said Romines. “We were prepared to move forward and litigate this matter. We were also prepared to litigate the case civilly. … Whenever Scottie had to appear in court, we were going to initiate litigation regarding the civil matter. He does not want to do that. He wants to pursue in front.”