By: Sammy Wang

On Friday, May 17, 2024, World Number 1 American professional golfer Scott Alexander Scheffler was arrested with the charge of second-degree assault, third-degree criminal mischief, reckless driving, and disregard of the traffic signals after trying to enter the Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville, Kentucky, by driving around a car accident and ignoring a police man’s instructions.

The police officer in question was Louisville Metro Police Detective Bryan Gills who, as eyewitness ESPN reporter Jeff Darlingtion said, told Scheffler to stop driving which the latter continued to do until Gills attached himself to Scheffker’s car.

When Scheffker relented and rolled down his window to talk to Gills, Gills took this opportunity to open the car door and arrest Scheffker.

Gills sustained injuries from this accident with the police report stating that he was dragged “to the ground” and suffered “pain, swelling, and abrasions to his left wrist” after the car “accelerated forward.

Steven Romines, Scheffler’s attorney, told ESPN that the golfer had no clue what was going on before he arrived at the scene.

“He was going into Valhalla to work out,” Romines said. “He was getting ready for his tee time. They were directing traffic. He held his credential out and was going in like they’d been instructed to.”

“Apparently, there had been a traffic accident, maybe even a fatality, down the road, and that had changed the traffic patterns, and he was unaware of that.”

On Wednesday, May 23, 2024, all charges were dropped against Scheffler after Gills told his part of the story.

“To be clear, I was dragged by the car, I went to the ground, and I received visible injuries to my knees and wrists,” Gills said. “I’m going to recover from it, and it will be OK…But Scottie, it’s all good… Take care and be safe.”

Scheffler followed up Gill’s statement with his Instagram story.

“As I stated previously, this was an unfortunate misunderstanding. I hold no ill will toward Officer Gillis. I wish to put this incident behind me and move on, and I hope he will do the same. Police officers have a difficult job and I hold them in high regard..”

This incident will likely end up as a humorous memory between Scheffler and Gills.

Sources:
https://golfweek.usatoday.com/2024/05/29/scottie-scheffler-arrest-louisville-cop-bryan-gillis-80-dollar-pants/
https://www.espn.com/golf/story/_/id/40162983/scottie-scheffler-detained-police-prior-start-pga-championship