Officer who arrested Scottie Scheffler reprimanded for not having bodycam activated

Louisville Metro Police have taken “corrective action” against an officer who arrested Scottie Scheffler last week before the second round of the U.S. PGA Championship. The department said the officer failed to activate his body-worn camera (BWC) during the arrest.

Police Chief Jacquelyn Gwinn-Villaroel said at a news conference Thursday that LMPD Detective Bryan Gillis violated the department’s bodycam policy, which states that officers must “maintain their BWC in a constant state of operational readiness.”

“Detective Gillis did not have his body-worn camera operationally ready as required by our policy,” Gwinn-Villareal said. “He was conducting a law enforcement action as defined in our policy. Furthermore, section 4.31.7 states that members shall maintain their BWC in a constant state of operational readiness.

“Detective Gillis should have turned on his body-worn camera, but did not. Failure to do so would be a violation of LMPD uniform and equipment policy.”

Scheffler, 27, was arrested in the early hours last Friday on charges that he injured Gillis and disobeyed commands while driving to the course. But the Masters champion said “he never intended to disobey instructions” and claimed the incident was caused by a misunderstanding. Authorities said the interaction resulted in the officer being dragged to the ground, where he suffered “pain, swelling and abrasions” to his left wrist and knee and was taken to the hospital.

Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg said they have no video footage of when Gillis had his first interaction with Scheffler and Gillis outside the gates of Valhalla Golf Club.

“We understand the severity of the failure to capture this interaction, which is why our official has received corrective action for this policy violation,” Gwinn-Villaroel said.

Gwinn-Villaroel did not elaborate on what “corrective action” was taken against Gillis for violating the policy, but said the detective was assisted by his supervisor and the violation was noted in his personnel file.

The Louisville Police Department’s bodycam policy came under intense national scrutiny in 2020 after plainclothes officers shot Breonna Taylor, a 26-year-old Black woman, in her apartment while she was serving an arrest warrant during a botched drug raid. The since-changed policy requires all officers to turn on the camera “prior to all law enforcement activities and encounters.”

In a form detailing the arrest released Thursday, Gillis wrote: “While traffic was being directed in front of Gate 1, PGA personnel stopped a bus entering Gate 1. I saw a vehicle traveling in the opposite lanes coming towards me. I stopped the driver and told him he couldn’t drive any further because of the bus. He demanded to be let in and went forward against my instructions. I was dragged/hit by the driver. I then arrested the driver.”

Louisville police on Thursday released two previously redacted videos taken after the initial encounter: one of the dashcam from a police cruiser and another one from a fixed pole camera on the other side of the road.

An accident at 5 a.m. local time on Friday on the main road bordering Valhalla resulted in the death of John Mills, a local man working at the event, after he was hit by a shuttle bus. About an hour after the incident, amid gridlocked traffic, Scheffler became involved in what he described as a “misunderstanding” about traffic flow and was arrested.

Scheffler was charged with four felonies, including second-degree assault on a police officer, and taken to jail. After his mugshot was taken while wearing an orange jumpsuit, he was released at 8:40 a.m. and was on the tee at Valhalla at 10:08 a.m. He shot a 66 that day and finished the tournament in a tie for eighth place.

The next step in Scheffler’s legal process is a preliminary hearing in Louisville on June 3 at 9 a.m., where he will be charged with misdemeanor assault in addition to three felonies: third-degree criminal mischief, reckless driving and disobeying traffic signals from an officer in charge has. traffic.