The Kentucky police detective who arrested top golfer Scottie Scheffler violated department policies by failing to activate his body-worn camera during the interaction, officials said Thursday.
The Louisville Police Department did not reveal what, if any, punishment was meted out to Detective Bryan Gillis as Chief Jacquelyn Gwinn-Villaroel would only say that such action would be “in line with our disciplinary protocol and practices.”
“Detective Gillis should have turned on his body-worn camera but did not,” the chief told reporters on Thursday. “His failure to do so is a violation of LMPD police on uniforms and equipment.”
It wasn’t clear Friday if the detective’s failure to capture his dealings with Scheffler would harm a possible prosecution.
“Detective Gillis was counseled by his supervisor,” the chief said. “We understand the seriousness of the failure to capture this interaction, which is why our officer has received corrective action for this policy violation.”
Scheffler, the top-ranked golfer in the world, ran afoul of Louisville police last Friday morning when he tried to enter the Valhalla Golf Club ahead of second round of the PGA Championship.
Police were on the scene directing traffic while investigating a nearby fatal accident.
Scheffler claims he was simply following police directions on how to drive into Valhalla when police, under conflicting orders, arrested him.
But the arresting officer said he was giving Scheffler proper directions when Scheffller allegedly “refused to comply and accelerated forward,” dragging the officer to the ground, according to a police incident report.
Scheffler was booked into custody and accused of second-degree assault of a police officer, third-degree criminal mischief, reckless driving and disregarding signals from officers directing traffic.
Scheffler still managed to get back to the course on Friday and shot a solid 66 on his way to an eighth-place finish.
