Officer Reportedly Involved In Scottie Scheffler's Arrest At PGA Championship Gets Arrested Himself

Published|Updated

One of the Louisville police officers who was involved in the arrest of Scottie Scheffler during May's PGA Championship has been arrested himself.

According to Wave 3, officer Javar Downs was taken into custody on Friday while being accused of pocketing money that he seized from a suspect. The Louisville Metro Police Department stated that Downs took money on Wednesday during a traffic stop just before 1 AM.

According to an arrest citation, Downs was booked at the Louisville Metro Department of Corrections on theft and official misconduct charges. The officer is alleged to have taken about $4,000 from an envelope he found while searching a man during the traffic stop. According to the man, the envelope originally contained around $10,000.

Downs has been charged with theft by unlawful taking over $1,000 and official misconduct. The police chief has placed Downs on emergency suspension, limited his police powers, and has begun the process of terminating the employment of Officer Downs from the Louisville Metro Police Department, according to a statement.

Officer Downs' connection to Scheffler's arrest outside of Valhalla Golf Club earlier this year reportedly involves him not turning on his bodycam during the incident.

It was Detective Bryan Gillis who made an infinite number of headlines after Scheffler was arrested with the arrest report stating that he sustained injuries and damage to the pants he was wearing moments before the arrest. The report also described Gillis as being "dragged" by Scheffler's car. 

Days after Scheffler was arrested and released, video footage from a nearby light pole showed Scheffler's car turning into an entrance of Valhalla, which the dash cam video shows dozens of other vehicles using before the golfer turns into it. As Scheffler makes his way towards the entrance, an officer is seen running towards Scheffler's vehicle before appearing to swing at it prior to Scheffler coming to a complete stop. 

Another video taken from the scene caught Scheffler explaining the situation shortly after he was put in handcuffs and put in the back of a police car.

"You're right, I should have stopped. I did get a little bit impatient because I'm quite late for my tee time," Scheffler said. "As he was reaching into the car, he grabbed my shoulder and hit me. It seemed to be a little bit overaggressive, because the entrance (to the golf course) was open."

Scheffler was charged with four offenses, including felony second-degree assault of a police officer. He maintained his innocence throughout the short legal process before all of the charges were dropped as Jefferson County's attorney's office elected not to pursue any of the charges against Scheffler.

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Mark covers all sports at OutKick while keeping a close eye on the world of professional golf. He graduated from the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga before earning his master's degree in journalism from the University of Tennessee. He somehow survived living in Knoxville despite ‘Rocky Top’ being his least favorite song ever written. Before joining OutKick, he wrote for various outlets including SB Nation, The Spun, and BroBible. Mark was also a writer for the Chicago Cubs Double-A affiliate in 2016 when the team won the World Series. He's still waiting for his championship ring to arrive. Follow him on Twitter @itismarkharris.