On Friday, the top golfer in the world, Scottie Scheffler, was arrested and charged with felonious assault for allegedly dragging a police detective with his car. He was also charged with criminal mischief, reckless driving, and disregarding traffic signals. The news immediately went viral, with the police report claiming that the detective was dragged by Scheffler and suffered injuries requiring hospitalization.
The officer — Det. Bryan Gillis, identified as Det. Gillis in the arrest report — was dragged “to the ground” and suffered “pain, swelling, and abrasions to his left wrist” after the car “accelerated forward,” according to the police report.
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The entire incident seemed suspect from the beginning. Why would Scheffler, who was just a few shots off the lead in the tournament at the time, purposely drag a cop with his car? Further, why did the cop attempt to grab onto the car in the first place? That seems like a rather stupid thing to do, especially if Scheffler wasn’t able to see what was happening, which seems probable.
Somewhat conveniently, the detective involved “forgot” to turn his body cam on, depriving the public and prosecutors of any direct evidence of what occurred. There is some footage, though, and after its release on Thursday, the police have some explaining to do.
Scottie Scheffler was charged with felonious assault for THIS?!?!
That cop should lose his badge. Unreal pic.twitter.com/QPnZFXUcqU
— John Hasson (@SonofHas) May 23, 2024
There are a few things to note about the above video, which consists of a security camera and a dashcam. One, at no point do you see Scheffler drag the detective as alleged. Two, the security camera footage is edited to not include the point where that supposedly would have occurred, which is right before Scheffler turned left and stopped his vehicle. Three, you can see the detective come running from behind the buses where he then strikes Scheffler’s car with what I assume is a flashlight before reaching into the golfer’s car to open the door. Once Scheffler exits, he’s thrown against the vehicle and put in handcuffs.
In the immediate aftermath, one officer (it’s not clear which) said this.
“You need to get out of the way,” the officer told Darlington. “Right now, he’s going to jail, and there’s nothing you can do about it.”
So to recap, what we have is no body cam footage and two camera angles that do nothing to back the detective’s story. It also appears that Scheffler brought his vehicle to a stop the moment he realized what was happening. He didn’t resist arrest or show any intent to do anything but make his tee time. I can’t say for certain, but it sure looks like this detective got a big head, tripped, faceplanted, and then tried to exaggerate the entire incident to avoid embarrassment. That Scheffler was charged with second-degree assault of a police officer over this is ludicrous.
Of note is that the detective involved is being disciplined for not turning on his body cam and an investigation into the behavior of the officers is being conducted. It is further expected that the charges will be dropped. What does that tell you?
