Tiger Woods was disoriented in a manner consistent with shock following his crash, police report says
Shortly after Tiger Woods crashed his vehicle in Southern California in February, responders found him “somewhat combative” as he was being treated at the scene, according to details from a 22-page crash scene investigation report by the California Highway Patrol.
Woods was “acting in a manner consistent with someone suffering from shock due to having been involved in a major traffic collision,” a deputy explained in the report.
The golfer was driving a Genesis SUV around 7 a.m. on February 23 when the vehicle veered off the road about 26 miles southwest of Downtown Los Angeles. After the crash, a sheriff’s deputy found a backpack laying in the brush next to the car with an empty, unlabeled pill bottle inside, according to the report.
“In (the) front pocket of the backpack he [the deputy] found an empty plastic pharmaceutical container,” the report states. “The container had no label and there was no indication as to what, if anything, had been inside.”
Investigators said there was no reason to believe Woods had been operating the vehicle while impaired by alcohol or drugs but, rather, crashed while driving at ​an “unsafe speed for road conditions,” according to the report.
There were no open containers of alcoholic beverages, odor of alcoholic beverages or prescription medications recovered from the scene, according to the report.
While Woods was receiving medical treatment in the emergency room after the crash, a sheriff’s deputy asked him to recount what happened. Woods said he did not remember being involved in a collision and “thought he was currently in the state of Florida,” the report states.
The pro golfer also told deputies he had completed two long photo shoots the previous day but could not recall anything afterward. Woods said he did not consume any alcoholic beverages or take any prescribed medications the day before or the morning of the crash.
At the time of the collision, Woods showed no signs of impairment or intoxication and was not cited, the sheriff’s department previously told CNN. A deputy said he was unable to perform sobriety tests at the scene due to Woods’ injuries, according to the report.
On April 7, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department said Woods had apparently meant to hit the brakes but instead slammed on the gas as he approached a curve in the road — causing a high-speed rollover crash.
“There is zero braking on that data recorder,” but “there is 99% acceleration on the pedal,” Capt. James Powers said. He added that the car hit a tree, went airborne and did a “pirouette” before it landed.
The golf legend suffered serious leg injuries due to the crash. After weeks in the hospital, Woods has been recovering at home.