The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department executed a search warrant to investigate the black box of the car that Tiger Woods crashed last week.
Sheriff Sheriff John Schloegl confirmed to USA Today on Tuesday that the department was looking for car data to determine whether criminal charges were necessary. He characterized the warrant as due diligence, according to the report.
“We are trying to determine whether a crime has been committed,” said Schloegl, according to USA Today. “If someone is involved in a traffic collision, we have to reconstruct the traffic collision, if there was any reckless driving, if someone was on the cell phone or something.
“We determine whether there has been a crime. If there was no crime, we closed the case and it was a normal traffic collision. ”
Schloegl’s statement contradicts Los Angeles County sheriff Alex Villanueva, who declared last week that the rollover of a single car was “purely an accident”.
Villanueva last week: ‘This is nothing like’ reckless driving
Villanueva told reporters on Wednesday that authorities would investigate the black box to determine the cause, but dismissed the charges of reckless driving or otherwise.
“No,” said Villanueva when asked if Woods could face a charge of reckless driving. “An accusation of reckless driving has many elements. This is purely an accident.”
Villanueva then explained that investigators would seek to determine whether a traffic violation was justified.
“Reckless driving is actually more than an infraction,” continued Villanueva. “This is a misdemeanor offense that has many elements attached to it. It is nothing like that.”
Officials address contradictory statements
Villanueva made that statement the day after the accident and before the investigation was completed, which is still ongoing. The sheriff’s department issued the following statement to USA Today to address the conflicting information provided by Villanueva and Schloegl:
“The sheriff talked about the information known at the time and said it appeared to be a traffic accident,” says the statement, according to USA Today. “However, the traffic collision investigation is (ongoing) and the traffic investigators have not come to any conclusions as to the cause of the collision.”
Deputy: ‘No probable cause’ to obtain blood sample
The Sheriff’s Department continues to rule out the possibility of intoxication playing a role in the accident. Villanueva said on the day of the accident that “there was no evidence of disability” at the scene.
Schloegl told USA Today that the police did not seek a warrant to examine the blood that could have been collected from Woods at the hospital. He said Woods had cooperated and that “there was no probable cause” for a warrant.
News about Woods’ condition
Woods underwent emergency surgery to repair multiple fractures to his right leg and a broken right ankle. The accident occurred on a winding stretch of road south of Los Angeles, known as a hot spot for accidents. Woods was going down a slope when his car hit a central flower bed and overturned before stopping on a ravine.
Woods remained hospitalized over the weekend for follow-up procedures with his team, declaring that he was “recovering and in a good mood. “
There have been no updates on Woods’ condition since he tweeted his thanks on Sunday after other PGA Tour players honored him wearing his red shirt and black pants at the World Golf Championships-Workday Championship.
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