The investigation into Tiger Woods’ SUV crash in February has concluded, but the cause of the crash will not yet be released due to privacy concerns, Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva said on Wednesday.
Woods’ SUV crashed around 7 a.m. on Feb. 23, 2020, in Rolling Hills Estates outside of LA. Driving a downhill stretch that’s been the site of several accidents over the past year, Woods hit the median and crossed two lanes of oncoming traffic before rolling the vehicle.
Woods suffered serious leg injuries and had multiple surgeries in the days following the crash. Authorities on the scene said Woods showed “no evidence of impairment” and Villanueva called the incident “purely an accident.”
“We have reached out to Tiger Woods and his personnel,” Villanueva said on Wednesday. “There’s some privacy issues on releasing information on the investigation so we’re going to ask them if they waive the privacy and then we will be able to do a full release on all the information regarding the accident.
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“We have all the contents of the black box, we’ve got everything,” Villanueva continued. “It’s completed, signed, sealed and delivered. However, we can’t release it without the permission of the people involved in the collision.”
Woods’ agent, Mark Steinberg, did not immediately respond to an email from the Associated Press.
When reached by the AP, Joseph Giacalone, a professor at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice and a retired New York City Police Department sergeant, said he’d never seen a department ask for permission like they did in Woods’ case.
“What happens if his lawyers say, ‘No, you can’t send it out now.’ And then where does that leave us?” he said.
Woods tweeted on March 16 that he’s back home and recovering from his injuries.
