Scottie Scheffler Arresting Officer Was Suspended For Allegedly Doing Donuts In His Car With A Drunk Person

Published|Updated

Bryan Gillis, the Louisville Metro Police Detective who arrested Scottie Scheffler for allegedly ignoring traffic signals as he was attempting to turn into the site of last week's PGA Championship, has quite the disciplinary record. 

According to records obtained by The Courier Journal, Detective Gillis was suspended in September 2013 for five days for an incident from the previous December that sounds like a scene straight out of the movie ‘Superbad.’ The records stated that Gillis allegedly did "donuts" with an "intoxicated civilian" in his police vehicle.

"You violated Standard Operating Procedure 5.1.3 Conduct Unbecoming when you drove an intoxicated civilian in your police vehicle while on duty in a "Code 3" fashion in a non-emergency situation and proceeded to doing "donuts" in a business parking lot," then-Louisville Metro Police Department Chief Steve Conrad wrote.

In LMPD’s current Standard Operating Procedure, a "Code 3" is defined as an emergency response that may be used in the presence of many factors, including authorized vehicle pursuits, an officer injured or in danger of injury and traffic accidents resulting in serious physical injuries or hazardous conditions. 

Detective Gillis has also been suspended three times for missing court appearances, with the last suspension for a missing court date coming in 2012 when he was suspended for four days.

On Thursday afternoon, six days after Scheffler was arrested and charged with a handful of crimes, Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg and Louisville Metro Police Department Chief Jacquelyn Gwinn-Villaroe held a joint press conference to provide an update on the internal investigation involving Detective Gillis. 

Gwinn-Villaroe confirmed that Gillis had broken policy in not having his bodycam operating at the time of the arrest, and "corrective action" against the detective had been taken.

Gillis is noted in the arrest report, which states 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.

Louisville MPD released two separate videos, one taken from a dashcam and another from a nearby light pole, neither of which appeared to show Detective Gillis or any other officer being dragged by Scheffler's vehicle.

Scheffler was arrested shortly after 6 AM ET on May 17 just outside an entrance to Valhalla Golf Club. After being put in handcuffs and put in the back of a cop car, he was ultimately booked and charged with second-degree assault of a police officer (a felony), criminal mischief, reckless driving and disregarding signals from an officer directing traffic.

Scheffler's lawyer Steven Romines spoke with the press after the Greenberg and Gwinn-Villaroe press conference and stated "Scottie Scheffler didn't do anything wrong, we're not interested in settling the case." Scheffler is due in court on June 3.

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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.