Prosecutors dropped criminal charges against Scottie Scheffler on Wednesday, less than two weeks after the world’s top golfer was arrested outside the PGA Championship in Louisville, Kentucky.
Jefferson County Attorney Mike O’Connell told a judge his office couldn’t move forward with the charges based on the evidence in the case.
Scheffler was charged with second-degree assault of a police officer, third-degree criminal mischief, reckless driving and disregarding signals from officers directing traffic when he was arrested outside Louisville’s Valhalla Golf Club, which was hosting the tournament.
Scheffler’s attorney had denied that the golfer assaulted anyone. Scheffler called the incident a “very chaotic situation” and a “big misunderstanding” in a statement and said he “never intended to disregard any of the instructions.”
O’Connell said Wednesday that the evidence corroborated Scheffler’s characterization of the incident as a misunderstanding between him and the detective who arrested him.
“Mr. Scheffler’s actions and the evidence surrounding their exchange during this misunderstanding do not satisfy the elements of any criminal offenses,” O’Connell said in court.
Scheffler didn’t attend Wednesday’s hearing.
Scheffler was driving to the golf course early on May 17 to get ready for the second round when he got into traffic stemming from a shuttle bus fatally hitting a pedestrian, according to police. As Scheffler attempted to maneuver around the scene, police alleged he refused to comply with instructions and drove forward, dragging the detective to the ground.
The detective didn’t have his body camera activated when the incident unfolded, which violated police procedures, officials said last week.
Video footage from a pole camera and police dashcam showed Scheffler being led to a police car.
This is a breaking news story. Check back for updates.
Alex Sundby is a senior editor at CBSNews.com. In addition to editing content, Alex also covers breaking news, writing about crime and severe weather as well as everything from multistate lottery jackpots to the July Fourth hot dog eating contest.
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