Police Chief Jacquelyn Gwinn-Villaroel during a press conference Thursday.
YouTube.com/@LouisvilleMetroPD
The arraignment of Scottie Scheffler for four charges levied against him during an incident with Louisville police officers has hung in the air for most of a week. Scheffler finished the PGA Championship last weekend, and is now playing another tournament, the Charles Schwab Challenge, in Dallas this week.
In the meantime, the Louisville Metro Police Department has been investigating the incident and the protocols of its officers, particularly the arresting officer, Detective Bryan Gillis. Thursday, additional information was shared by LMPD in a press conference on Scheffler’s case. Here’s what we learned:
1. Detective Gillis’ failure
LMPD officers are expected to abide by strict body camera policies, which are outlined in a 10-page document on standard operating procedures. Detective Gillis failed to comply with two aspects of those policies, according to the department’s internal investigation.
“Detective Gillis should have turned on his body-worn camera, but did not,” police chief Jacquelyn Gwinn-Villaroel said during the press conference.
Officers are expected to activate their cameras for all enforcement activity, the policy states. But that seems to be a sticking point in this incident. Gillis, who was called to the scene at 5:16 a.m., in response to a fatal accident, was signaling traffic outside Valhalla’s main entrance when Scheffler arrived. Does signaling traffic necessitate the activation of a camera? Scheffler’s arrest, which also was not recorded, would certainly constitute as a police encounter. As a result, there are internal repercussions for Gillis, because he did not have his camera at least “in standby mode,” according to a performance observation signed by Gillis’s supervisors.
A snipped of the performance observation form from the Louisville Metro Police Department, outlining failure by Bryan Gillis to activate his body camera. Louisville Metro Police Department
“Detective Gillis was counseled by his supervisor. We understand the seriousness of the failure to capture this interaction, which is why our officer has received corrective action for this policy violation.”
It is unclear what “corrective action” entails.
2. New videos released
Much of the incident remains foggy, between what Scheffler says happened and what Gillis reported in the arrest. But LMPD acknowledged Thursday they have not acquired any video footage of the initial actions between Scheffler and Gillis. Despite that, the LMPD published two videos captured in the area, one via a fixed camera attached to a pole. Another came from the dash cam of another police car that was pointed in the direction of the incident. Both provided limited footage.
As you can see below (relative timestamps of 22:50 on the first and 0:28 on the second), multiple shuttle busses were backed up, and police cars flanked the vicinity. Scheffler, driving a Lexus courtesy car for the week, can be seen pulling up to the entrance, though the busses block out much of his arrival.
These are the only videos that will be made public from the arrest. Jeff Darlington, an ESPN reporter, originally broke the news, and can be seen approaching the officers in the second video above. Darlington also shared video he captured from his phone of Scheffler being guided away from the scene in handcuffs.
Chief Gwinn-Villaroel added that “any additional video will not be shared by LMPD until the judiciary process is complete,” which brings us to the final, important bit of information shared Thursday.
3. June 3 court date will tell us more
There were initial reports and rumors throughout the weekend at the PGA Championship that the four charges against Scheffler may be dropped. It’s possible they could still be dismissed, ruled against or even upheld, but that seemingly won’t be decided until a June 3 court.
“We respect the judicial process and will allow the courts to proceed accordingly,” Chief Gwinn-Villaroel said. “We will not be able to make any further statements as it refers to this matter.”
The original arraignment for Scheffler has been scheduled for May 21.
Scheffler’s attorney, Steve Romines, offered this statement to Golf Channel:
“Our position’s the same as it was last Friday. Scottie Scheffler didn’t do anything wrong. We’re not interested in settling the case. We’ll either try it or it’ll get dismissed. It’s very simple. All the evidence that continues to come out continues to support what Scottie said all along. This was a chaotic situation and a miscommunication. And he didn’t do anything wrong.
“I’ve been doing this 30 years. I don’t expect anything. We’re prepared to litigate the case if we need to. If we don’t need to, fine. But our position remains the same. It’ll either be dismissed or it’ll go to trial. He didn’t do anything wrong. We’ll either go to trial or it’ll get dismissed.”
As for Gillis, some of his story was clarified in his performance observation form.
“While directing traffic in front of Gate 1 the PGA personnel stopped a bus from entering Gate 1. I observed a vehicle traveling in the opposing lanes coming at me. I stopped the driver and advised him he could not proceed because of the bus. He demanded to be let in, and proceeded forward against my directions. I was dragged/knocked down by the driver. I then proceeded to arrest the driver.”
Shortly after the press conference ended, the Memorial tournament announced that Scheffler will compete in its event that week, just days after the court hearing.
Scheffler’s agent, Blake Smith, issued this brief statement at Colonial Thursday: “His [Scottie’s] attorney has made a statement [on Thursday’s press conference]. We plan no further statement [from Colonial].”
When asked by GOLF.com if he was surprised that the charges have not been dropped, Smith declined to comment.
Sean Zak is a writer at GOLF Magazine and just published his first book, which follows his travels in Scotland during the most pivotal summer in the game’s history.
