Random Daggers
Former PGA Tour pro poses funny (and logical) question after seeing new Scottie Scheffler police videos
The prevailing reaction on social media to the new videos released by Louisville Metro Police on Thursday surrounding Scottie Scheffler's arrest ahead of the second round of last week's PGA Championship was a big: "That's it?!"
Although the angles of the cameras and the dark and wet conditions made it hard to see, there's really not a lot in them. The arresting officer, detective Bryan Gillis, who has been disciplined for failing to activate his body camera, appears to run after Scheffler's SUV before banging on it to get him to stop. Moments later, Scheffler gets out of the vehicle, is put in handcuffs and led away to be booked at a city jail.
Again, in both videos you're not seeing what appears to be the initial part of the incident. It's possible something else happened before either of these cameras picked it up. But these videos don't look like they show anything that fits the description of "dragging" the officer as the official police report said (Louisville mayor Craig Greenberg acknowledged during the press conference that there is no video footage that they know of that captures the initial interaction between Scheffler and Gillis). However, Tte four charges, including second-degree assault of a police officer, have not been dropped as of Thursday afternoon, and Scheffler's lawyer says they will go to trial if necessary.
After watching these videos, though, one former PGA Tour pro was left wondering something else. That police report also noted that in addition to minor injuries, "Detective Gillis' uniform pants, valued at approximately $80, were damaged beyond repair." That led to the following tweet from Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano:
The seven-time DP World Tour winner misspelled Scottie's name, and he makes a pretty cheap joke out of the situation. Still, there's nothing in those videos that shows Gillis' pants being destroyed. If this were a "Seinfeld" episode, you can just imagine those pants becoming evidence at the trial and Scheffler's lawyer arguing, "If the pants aren't torn to bits, then you must acquit!"
OK, we're getting carried away here. And as Dylan Dethier from Golf.com pointed out, there is one part of one video that seems to show Detective Gillis motioning to his pants.
So the (pants) plot thickens. In any event, we really didn't get much info today on the matter—other than the fact that it seems far from over.