Body-camera footage released by the Martin County Sheriff’s Office shows Tiger Woods being handcuffed following a March 27 crash on Jupiter Island, Florida, and aligns with details in the arrest affidavit. The video, made public days after his arrest and DUI charge, captures Woods saying he looked down at his phone and then “boom.” No one was injured in the collision.
According to the report and the footage, Woods, 50, exited his Land Rover from the passenger side after the SUV struck a trailer attached to a pickup truck that was turning into a driveway and rolled onto its side. Deputies on scene observed him “sweating profusely” with glassy, bloodshot eyes, initially hidden behind sunglasses. They reported the vehicle had crossed over double yellow lines before striking the trailer.
Woods told officers he had not had alcohol that day but had taken “a few” prescription medications; some medication names were redacted in the affidavit and his voice is muted in the video when he describes certain drugs. Deputies located two pills in his pocket, and the footage records Woods saying, “that’s a Norco.” The affidavit later identifies the pills as hydrocodone.
While completing field sobriety exercises, Woods told deputies he had undergone seven back surgeries and more than 20 operations on his right leg, and that his ankle sometimes seizes when he walks. Officers described his movements as “lethargic and slow.” He agreed to perform the sobriety tests but did not complete all tasks correctly, and the bodycam shows him being handcuffed after the exercises.
Audio from the footage includes Woods, holding his phone, saying he had just spoken to “the president,” though the reference is not identified in the record. At the time of the crash, then-President Donald Trump publicly said he felt badly about the incident and called Woods “an amazing person” going through “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 and refused a urine test, which could have detected other substances; he faces charges of driving under the influence and refusing to submit to the urine test. Court filings show he pleaded not guilty and waived arraignment. In a social media post afterward, Woods said he would be “stepping away for a period of time to seek treatment.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.