Criminal charges against golf star Scottie Scheffler have been dropped following his dramatic arrest at the US PGA Championship.
The world’s number one golfer, 27, has been accused of assaulting a police officer – allegations he called a “huge misunderstanding”.
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Prosecutor Mike O’Connell said this afternoon he would not pursue criminal charges against Scheffler.
Addressing the court, where Scheffler was not required to appear, O’Connell said the golfer’s claim that the incident was a “misunderstanding” was supported by the evidence.
Police charged him with second-degree felony assault on a police officer, third-degree criminal mischief, reckless driving and failure to comply with a police officer’s traffic signals.
All four charges are now set to be dropped.
The defending Masters champion was detained on May 17 after allegedly running over a police officer and dragging him to the ground.
In a span of three hours, Scheffler was arrested, donned an orange shirt for a photo, spent a brief period in a cell, and returned to the golf course just 56 minutes before teeing off in the second round.
The arresting officer, Detective Bryan Gillis, was outside the gate of the Valhalla Golf Course, directing traffic following the death of a pedestrian, when he encountered Scheffler.
Traffic was backed up for about a kilometer in both directions, with police directing vehicles in the dark.
Scheffler was driving a PGA courtesy vehicle when Gillis said he refused to comply and sped off, dragging Gillis to the ground.
The officer said his uniform pants were damaged in the fall and he was taken to hospital for his injuries.
Witnesses said Sheffler, who has a net worth of around £14 million, tried to direct what he believed to be security personnel.
Surveillance video released by Louisville police last week showed Gillis pursuing Scheffler’s vehicle on foot and blocking him from entering the route.
Scheffler is later removed from the car.
Wearing shorts and a t-shirt, the images showed him being handcuffed and placed in a police car.
But the video did not show Gillis’ first contact with Scheffler, authorities said.
Gillis was disciplined for failing to activate his body-worn camera during the arrest.
In a report on that failure, Gillis wrote that Scheffler demanded permission to enter the golf course.
Scheffler said he simply misunderstood commands coming from traffic officers.
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