Was Tiger Woods driving recklessly? Search warrant for SUV’s black box could lead to criminal charge
On Tuesday morning, February 23, American professional golfer Tiger Woods was injured in what the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department termed a "single-vehicle roll-over traffic collision." Back in February, the LA County Sheriff Alex Villanueva said that it was “purely an accident," and that “he was not drunk”. He added, however, that the “speed involved” and the “driver’s inattention” were possible reasons for the crash. Now, as per reports, the LA County Sheriff has a search warrant to seize the black box in the vehicle Woods crashed.
As per TMZ, a judge believes there is probable cause to believe a crime may have been committed, and law enforcement sources say the possible offense is misdemeanor reckless driving. As per the report, there were no skid marks found at the site. This reportedly suggests Woods never braked or tried to stop himself from crossing over the central reservation (or median strip) and then flipping over.
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Sources told the entertainment gossip website, however, that the words "reckless driving" were not mentioned in the warrant. In fact, the sources said that no specific crime was listed in the warrant. But judges can only sign search warrants when there is probable cause.
As per the law enforcement sources, one of two things occurred: “Either a member of the Sheriff's Dept. went into the judge's chambers to discuss the warrant -- something that is frequently done -- and mentioned reckless driving, or the judge simply looked at the documents and determined there was a probable cause of possible reckless driving.”
As per USA Today, the LA County Sheriff’s Department downplayed the warrant as a routine part of their probe. The department reportedly does not consider it a criminal investigation, but rather due diligence. “We’re trying to determine if a crime was committed,” Sheriff’s Deputy John Schloegl told USA Today on Tuesday, March 2.
“If somebody is involved in a traffic collision, we’ve got to reconstruct the traffic collision, if there was any reckless driving, if somebody was on their cell phone, or something like that. We determine if there was a crime. If there was no crime, we close out the case, and it was a regular traffic collision,” he explained.
Schloegl also said there was “no probable cause” to get a warrant to obtain Woods’ blood from him or the hospital he went to with broken bones in his lower right leg after the crash, adding that Woods’ camp had been cooperative with the investigation.
Speaking to the media earlier, LA County Sheriff's Deputy Carlos Gonzalez, who responded to the scene, said that the seatbelt around Woods may have saved his life. "I do think the fact that he was wearing a seatbelt and that the vehicle safety features worked as designed by the manufacturer likely resulted in either reducing his injury or saving his life," he had explained then.
A doctor, speaking to the press earlier, said Woods had narrowly avoided having his leg amputated after the crash and that he "may never get his mobility back." Woods suffered "comminuted" fractures in the upper and lower parts of the tibia and fibula, leading to bone splintering.