Body camera footage of Tiger Woods’ arrest was released days after the golf star was taken into custody following a March 27 crash on Jupiter Island, Florida, and charged with driving under the influence. The video shows Woods being handcuffed after failing field sobriety tests.
The Martin County Sheriff’s Office posted the footage, which aligns with details in the arrest affidavit describing Woods’ demeanor and partial compliance with sobriety exercises. In the video, Woods tells deputies he had been checking his phone while driving and “looked down at my phone and all of a sudden, boom.” No one was injured.
Woods, 50, exited his Land Rover from the passenger side after the SUV flipped onto its side when it struck a trailer attached to a pickup truck that was turning into a driveway, according to the report. Deputies observed him “sweating profusely” with glassy, bloodshot eyes, initially hidden behind sunglasses. They said his vehicle swerved over double yellow lines before hitting the trailer and rolling.
Woods told officers he had not consumed alcohol that day but had taken “a few” prescription medications; the specific names were redacted in the report and his voice is muted in the video when he describes some medications. The footage captures deputies finding two pills in his pocket and Woods saying, “that’s a Norco,” a painkiller containing hydrocodone and acetaminophen. The affidavit later identified the pills as hydrocodone.
While completing field sobriety tests, Woods said he had undergone seven back surgeries and more than 20 operations on his right leg and that his ankle seizes when he walks. Deputies described his movement as “lethargic and slow.” He agreed to the sobriety exercises but did not perform all tasks correctly.
Before his arrest, bodycam audio records Woods, holding his phone, saying he had just spoken to “the president,” though it is unclear to whom he was referring. At the time of the crash, then-President Trump commented that he felt badly and called Woods “an amazing person” who was experiencing “some difficulty.”
Woods was taken into custody without incident and transported to the Martin County Jail. He agreed to a breath test that showed no alcohol but refused a urine test, which could have detected other substances; he faces charges for the DUI and for refusing the urine test. Court filings show Woods pleaded not guilty and waived arraignment. In a social media post, he said he would be “stepping away for a period of time to seek treatment.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.