Video Shows Altercation Between Louisville Police Officer and Golfer Scottie Scheffler
The Louisville Metro Police detective involved in the confrontation with the world’s No. 1 golfer, Scottie Scheffler, which thrust Louisville into international headlines last week, was “counseled” by his supervisor for not activating his body camera during the encounter, LMPD Chief Jacquelyn Gwinn-Villaroel announced at a press conference on Thursday.
“Detective [Bryan] Gillis should have turned on his body-worn camera but did not. His failure to do so is a violation of LMPD policy,” Chief Gwinn-Villaroel stated.
NEW: here is the relevant portion of the video released by the Louisville Metro PD this morning.
— John Nucci (@JNucci23) May 23, 2024
It shows Scottie turn into the lot and a police officer chase after the car and bang on the window. Scottie then stops the car immediately.
I cannot believe THIS is the footage the… pic.twitter.com/MgXKaNbeLg
She added that the “corrective action” was documented on a “performance observation form.”
Scheffler was stopped early Friday morning as he attempted to enter Valhalla Golf Club to compete in the PGA Championship.
According to an arrest citation, Scheffler was driving eastbound in a marked PGA player vehicle toward Gate 1 when he pulled into a westbound lane, “where outbound traffic was flowing,” to bypass a backup caused by an earlier fatal collision.
Gillis was “in the middle of the westbound lanes, in full uniform and a hi-visibility yellow reflective rain jacket,” when he stopped Scheffler and “attempted to give instructions,” the citation said.
The LMPD alleged that Scheffler “refused to comply and accelerated forward, dragging Detective Gillis to the ground. Detective Gillis suffered pain, swelling, and abrasions to his left wrist and knee.”
Scheffler, who has since called the incident a “big misunderstanding,” and competed in the tournament later that day, is charged with second-degree assault of a police officer — a felony that carries significant prison time — as well as third-degree criminal mischief, reckless driving, and disregarding signals from an officer directing traffic.
His arraignment is scheduled for June 3.
LMPD policy requires officers to activate their body cameras “prior to engaging in all law enforcement activities and encounters,” but Gillis did not have recorded footage of the confrontation.
Officers are excused from activating their devices only if their assigned camera is “docked for uploading following a tour of duty.”
If an officer finds themselves “involved in a sudden and unanticipated incident where exigent safety concerns prevent the immediate activation of” their body camera, they are to activate it “at the first opportunity, when it is safe to do so, in order to capture the immediate aftermath of the situation.”
Responding to a question from The Courier Journal at a press conference on Tuesday, Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg said he had “questions” about why there was no body-camera footage of the encounter available, particularly of the arrest itself.
Neither Gwinn-Villaroel nor Mayor Greenberg took any questions at Thursday morning’s press conference on the high-profile arrest.
Greenberg mentioned that video was captured by a fixed pole-mounted camera across the street from the incident, and that video, along with some dash-cam footage, was to be released soon after the press conference on Thursday.
