Bryan Gillis – the Louisville Police Detective who arrested Scottie Scheffler at Valhalla earlier this month – has fumed over his ‘honesty and integrity’ coming into question after all charges against the World No 1 golfer were dropped on Wednesday.
Scheffler had faced four charges, including second-degree assault of a police officer, following the dramatic events of May 17; when he was arrested and led away in handcuffs upon arrival for the second round of the PGA Championship.
The 27-year-old was accused of speeding away in his car when told to pull over by officers in Louisville – dragging Gillis to the ground in the process – before he was arrested and booked into a local jail in an astonishing series of events.
On Wednesday, however, Scheffler was cleared of all charges after the Jefferson County Attorney’s office filed a motion to dismiss the case, admitting his claim that it was simply all one big misunderstanding is now ‘corroborated by the evidence’.
In light of that outcome, Gillis has released a statement after Scheffler avoided criminal charges; in which he praised the golf star for agreeing to move on from the incident himself, while also paying respect to the family of John Mills – the 69-year-old who was struck by a bus and killed outside Valhalla earlier that morning.
‘A tragic incident occurred, and the family of Mr. Mills remains in my family’s thoughts and prayers,’ he said about the fatal collision, which caused the traffic pile-up that led to Scheffler’s arrest. ‘This was a chaotic situation for everyone involved. Ensuring the safety of everyone in the vicinity was my utmost priority.
‘Mr. Scheffler and I both agree that there will be no ill will over this going forward. Instead of giving a negative public reaction, he chose to speak with dignity, humility and respect. My family and I appreciate that.’
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However, Gillis went on to hit out at Scheffler’s lawyer, Steve Romines, for alleging that his client could file his own lawsuit after being ‘falsely arrested’ on the morning in question.
‘The more evidence that comes out, the more it shows that Scottie was a victim here,’ Romines said after the charges were dropped. ‘And I think everybody sees something like this happen and realizes they’re one wrong turn… from going to jail themselves.’
Scheffler’s legal representative also claimed that officers ‘tried to put words’ in his client’s mouth outside Valhalla. But Gillis has furiously denied those allegations, branding them ‘unfortunate and disturbing’, while doubling down on his version of events.
‘It was unfortunate and disturbing to hear Steve Romines’ commentary today claiming that a “false arrest” was made and for him to challenge my honesty and integrity,’ the Detective continued. ‘I’d be surprised and disappointed if Mr. Scheffler actually had any part in making those statements.
‘To be clear, I was drug by the car, I went to the ground, and I received visible injuries to my knees and wrist. I’m going to recover from it, and it will be ok. This is the extent of my commentary on the incident.
‘The reality is that there are more important things in the world right now than a back-and-forth over this. A person lost his life that day, and a family lost a loved one.
‘At the end of the day, I take pride in working for the people in the community to preserve their safety. I’ve spent two decades trying to protect this city through some challenging times. And I would like to keep doing so without the distractions caused by this series of events.
‘I wish Scottie Scheffler and his family all the best.’
In his police citation, Gillis also claimed that his $80 pants were ruined when he was dragged to the ground by Scheffler’s car. And he made light of the damage to his uniform in the statement.
‘PS… Yes, the department has us buying freaking $80 pants,’ he joked. ‘To those concerned, they were indeed ruined. But Scottie, it’s all good.
‘I never would’ve guessed I’d have the most famous pair of pants in the country for a few weeks because of this. Take care and be safe.’
Earlier on Wednesday, new footage emerged showing Scheffler giving his version of events to a cop while sat inside the back of a police car.
The two-time Masters champion admitted ‘I should have stopped’ before he accused an ‘over-aggressive’ Gillis of ‘hitting me with his flashlight’.
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He also claimed he ‘was not aware’ Gillis was a cop and insisted he only accelerated away from police because he feared for his safety.
The video – seemingly a recording of footage captured on a body camera – showed a tense exchange between Scheffler and an officer with the golfer sat in the back seat of a police car.
The officer reads Scheffler’s Miranda rights. Asked if he understands them, Scheffler replies: ‘Yes I do, thank you.’
Then he is asked ‘with those rights in mind, do you want to talk to me about what happened?’
Scheffler replies ‘yes please’ and started to explain: ‘So, um, my house is right up that road and so I was planning on getting here at 5:50am to start my workout for my tee time. I (inaudible) and that took me about a half hour.
‘So I’m pulling in here and the police officer up there told me to come the opposite way with the traffic and then come in. But as I was pulling in, my window was down, and the officer told me to stop. First of all, I did not know that he was a police officer, I thought he was one of the security guards that was mistaken.’
The officer interrupts and says: ‘Stop right there. Why does it matter if he’s a security guard or a police officer if someone tells you to stop?’
Scheffler replies: ‘Yes you’re right. I should have stopped. I was getting quite impatient because I’m quite late for my tee time. As he reached into the car he grabbed my shoulder and hit me.
The officer interjects: ‘Trying to get you to stop, right?’
Scheffler goes on: ‘Yes. It seemed to be a little over aggressive because the entrance was open. I pulled forward because I thought he was going to start hitting me and I didn’t know who he was. He didn’t tell me he was a police officer. All I saw was the yellow jacket. I didn’t know what he was doing.’
The officer replies: ‘So the thing is he’s wearing a uniform and the same jacket I have on that says police. Also, if someone is telling you stop no matter who it is you don’t keep going.
‘What happened was you kept going and you took him with you while he’s a pedestrian. You took him with your car and dragged him, which is not a good thing.
‘To make it even worse when he asked you to get out of the car, you refused to get out.’
Scheffler says: ‘I still was not aware he was a police officer. I was actually looking out of the window to try to find a police officer. Believe me sir, if I knew he was a police officer I would have been much more less afraid.
‘Panic kind of set in – as you can see I’m still shaking. I was afraid. I didn’t know who he was. He didn’t say police, he just hit me with his flashlight and yelled get out of the car.
The officer replies: ‘We’re wearing a lot of police gear. Surely that signifies we’re police.’
‘Sir, believe me, if I knew he was a police officer I would have gotten out of the car,’ countered Scheffler. ‘I don’t know what to tell you other than I was a little bit panicked trying to get into the golf course.’
Asked about the footage, Romines added: ‘That’s why you don’t talk to the police… they are trying to get you to incriminate yourself
‘No, here’s what happened. He is being interrogated after the most stressful situation of his life. And the officer is actually asking him leading questions and trying to get him to agree with him.
‘And that’s why you don’t talk to the police. Because they are going to try to put words in your mouth. And that’s exactly what he did.
‘He didn’t have to speak. Again, he asked to talk to the officer. He wanted to explain to him what happened. However, they are trying to get him to confess to something that he didn’t do. And the video evidence shows he didn’t do it.’