LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Leaked body camera footage making its way around social media Wednesday shows a three-minute conversation two-time Masters champion Scottie Scheffler had with a Louisville police officer in the aftermath of his May 17 arrest.
The video was first published on a Facebook account belonging to user Maxwell Mitchell. The video's authenticity was confirmed to WHAS11 by Scottie Ellis, a spokesman for Mayor Craig Greenberg.
The video begins with Scheffler being read his Miranda rights while sitting handcuffed in the back of a police car.
"As I was pulling in, an officer told me to stop," Scheffler said. "I did not know he was a police officer. I thought it was a security guard and I was mistaken."
The officer responded by asking Scheffler what difference it makes whether the person was a police officer or a security guard.
"I should have stopped. I did get a little impatient because I was quite late for my tee time," Scheffler said. "He grabbed my shoulder and hit me. It seemed to be a little over-aggressive.
"I didn't know who he was. He didn't tell me he was a police officer. All I saw was the yellow jacket."
The officer explained to Scheffler they were all wearing yellow vests with the word "police" on the back.
"If someone is telling you to stop, no matter who it is, you don't keep going," the officer said. "You took him with your car and drug him, which is not a good thing. To make it even worse, when he asked you to get out of the car, you didn't get out of the car."
Scheffler reiterated he didn't realize the man ordering him out of the vehicle was an officer.
Scheffler was charged with felony 2nd degree assault of a police officer; 3rd degree criminal mischief, reckless driving and disregarding signals from officers directing traffic. All charges were dropped Wednesday.
LMPD has not made the body camera footage available as of Wednesday afternoon. WHAS11 filed an open records request for the video Tuesday.
"LMPD moved quickly to release footage of Mr. Scheffler’s arrest on May 23, just days after the incident occurred," Ellis said in a statement. "At the press conference where that footage was released, Mayor Greenberg stated that based on a request from the Jefferson County Attorney’s Office, no other video would be released until the conclusion of the legal process. It is unfortunate and very concerning that an individual leaked information that should have remained confidential until the completion of the investigation."
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