L.A. County Sheriff Press Conference Update on Tiger Woods Car Accident Transcript April 7

John Satterfield: (02:42)
Good morning, and thank you for joining us today. I am not Alex Villanueva. My name is John Satterfield. I am Captain of Sheriff’s Information Bureau, and today, our order of speakers will be Sheriff of Los Angeles County, Alex Villanueva, and the Captain of Lomita Sheriff’s Station, James Powers. After they speak, we’ll open it up for some questions, and then after all of that, the sheriff will transition to Spanish. Now, it’s my honor to introduce Sheriff of Los Angeles County, Alex Villanueva.

Alex Villanueva: (03:27)
Thank you, John, and good morning, everyone. Welcome to the Hall of Justice. This is the headquarters for the LA County Sheriff’s Departments. I made a promise at seven weeks ago to deliver information regarding this traffic collision involving Tiger Woods, and we’re here to follow through on that promise and to share with you what we have learned regarding the collision that occurred on February 23rd in Rolling Hills Estates.

And as I said on the day of the crash, we are thankful that he survived this tragic collision. And I’d like to point out that Tiger Wood and his representatives have been very cooperative throughout this investigative process, and they’ve also provided us with the permission to share these findings with you. And for the record, under Section 200112 of the California Vehicle Code, the details of this report would remain confidential, except for the involved parties, and this is true of the thousands of reports like this type we prepare every year throughout LA County. And no one is asking for any of those reports, and so this is treated no differently. The primary causal factor for this traffic collision was driving at a speed unsafe for the road conditions and inability to negotiate the curve of the roadway. Estimated speed at the first area of impact were 84 to 87 miles per hour, and the final estimated speed when the vehicle struck the tree was 75 miles per hour. There were no citations issued and there were no signs of impairment.

Now, I know there are some saying that somehow he received a special or a preferential treatment of some kind. That is absolutely false. There was no signs of impairment. Our primary concern once we… obviously, at the scene of the collision was his safety, and this is where you have to switch gears and make sure the person can survive and receives the medical care they need, and the fire department, paramedics, and that’s why he was taken to a trauma center because he obviously had a compound fracture to a leg and it was life-threatening injuries.

So, I know there’s a lot of experts who claim their drug recognition people said, “Oh, they should’ve drawn blood,” or done this or done that. And without the signs of impairment, we don’t get to the point where we can actually author a search warrant and develop the probable cause to get that and execute that search warrant, so that did not happen and that is not preferential treatment. That would occur in any collision of this type based on these circumstances. And past history does not get you the elements you need to establish that probable cause, so I’ll leave it at that.

So, now, let me introduce Jim Powers, who’s the Captain of Lomita Sheriff’s Station.

James Powers: (06:10)
Thank you, Sheriff. Thank you for having me here.

Good morning. I’m here to discuss some of the details of the traffic collision that occurred on Tuesday, February 23rd of this year at approximately 7:12 in the morning on Hawthorne Boulevard in the city of Rolling Hills Estates involving Mr. Tiger Woods. I’d like to first introduce the deputies that were involved in this investigation. The first responding deputy was Deputy Carlos Gonzalez, who is to my right. Also, Deputy Justin Smith, who was involved in the investigation after the fact, and the lead investigator, Detective Johann Schloegl, and then Sergeant Michael Downing from Traffic Service Bureau was involved in the evaluation of the data recorder of the vehicle.

So, upon our arrival, when Mr. Woods was involved in the collision, we responded, the vehicle was off the roadway and on its side. Mr. Woods was still inside the vehicle. His seatbelt was still worn and the airbags had deployed. Mr. Wood appeared injured based on his appearance and to prevent further injury we waited for the paramedics to arrive to remove him from the vehicle and transport him to the hospital.

There should be a slide of an aerial view. The median is depicted on the slide where the first area of impact was. There’s a sign on the median that was the second area of impact, which is depicted by red dots. And then the third area of impact was on the west curb on the opposite side of Hawthorne Boulevard, and then the fourth area of impact was a tree west of the curb off the roadway approximately 71 feet. And the blue dot that’s indicated there is where the point of rest where the vehicle was.

The impact of the vehicle when it hit the tree caused the vehicle to go airborne and do a somewhat pirouette, landing on its side. The follow-up investigation after the fact, as the sheriff indicated, there was no evidence of any impairment. There was no odor of alcohol. There were no open containers in the vehicle and there were no narcotics or any evidence of medication in the vehicle or on his person.

In this situation, the question was asked about, did we conduct field sobriety tests? Due to his injuries and the traumatic nature of his injuries, it would not be appropriate to do any type of field sobriety test. I will say that Tiger Woods and his management team have been in communication with us throughout this entire event and have cooperated with any of our follow-up investigation questions and have responded to any of our questions and/or concerns.

The event data recorder was… It was investigated and on March 1st, we examined-

Investigated on March 1st, we examined that data recorder after obtaining a search warrant that was signed by Judge Tony Cho of the Torrance Courthouse. There’s an airbag control unit of the data recorder that showed information that we described as event one and event two, and a combination of event one and two. Those events are areas of impact that was recorded by the recorder. The airbags were deployed and each event shows a five-second window, and the combination of both events show a seven-second window prior to the collision and up to the collision. The event data recorder showed speeds ranged from 82.02 miles per hour to 86.99 miles per hour and back down to 68.35 miles per hour.

A second reading of this event data recorder is the acceleration pedal percentage, which is the pressure applied to the accelerator pedal during the collision. This measurement was at 99% at all the areas of impact of the collision. The data recorder also recorded braking. There was no evidence of braking throughout this collision. It is speculated and believed that Tiger Woods inadvertently hit the accelerator instead of the brake pedal causing that 99% rating on the accelerator pedal. Steering was also recorded and it ranged from -10 to 55, and this was on a 360-degree circular model, so it indicates that steering was made from the left and to the right and it’s believed that this could be from trying to correct from the impacts and also the impacts itself throughout the collision. Again, the estimated speeds of impact were 84 to 87 miles per hour at the median, and then at the impact of the west curb line, it’s estimated the speed was about 75 miles per hour, and these are estimated speeds based on the recordings from the data recorder.

The cause of the collision is determined by the statements of the parties involved, any independent witnesses, facts of the scene and roadway, and the opinions of the traffic investigators. There were no independent witnesses of this collision and the primary cause was driving at a speed unsafe for the road conditions and the inability to negotiate the curve of the roadway. No citation was issued and there were no independent witness and no observations by a peace officer which would support the issuance of a citation. And that’s all I have, and if you have any questions, we welcome them.

Speaker 2: (11:49)
So, do you want to answer or does the sheriff want to ask first?

Elizabeth: (11:52)
Ask your question. That’s fine.

Speaker 2: (11:55)
Thank you, Elizabeth. Captain, was there any evidence of distracted driving? I mean, did you check his phone for any texting or anything like that?

We did not check his phone for texting and there was really no need to do that. There was no other evidence. The only associated factor, well, there’s two factors. There’s the speed and the failing to maintain the straight course, the curvature of the roadway. That’s it. There’s nothing from the cell phone to indicate any type of distracted driving.

Speaker 2: (12:24)
So, there was no texting or phone calls or anything around that time?

Not to our knowledge.

Speaker 2: (12:28)
What about bloodwork? There was a lot made about being able to draw blood at the scene, which I know is preposterous, but the notion that you did have access to blood work at the hospital. Did you seek a warrant for that at all?

We did not seek a warrant because there was no indication for us to do so. Based on all the facts, there was no evidence of any impairment or intoxication. So, in order to obtain a search warrant, you have to have probable cause to be able to articulate that, and that did not exist.

Speaker 2: (12:54)
So, no DRE was ever even dispatched?

We have our investigators out there and they are qualified DREs, so those questions were asked and they’re all indicated and documented in the report.

Speaker 2: (13:10)
Thank you, sir.

Speaker 3: (13:11)
Captain, can you explain this inadvertently hitting the accelerator? Can you explain that one more time?

It’s believed that when you panic or you have some sort of a sudden interruption while you’re driving, your initial thought is to hit the brake. And it’s believed that he may have done that, but hit the accelerator and didn’t hit the brake. We don’t know that. He doesn’t have any recollection of the incident, and like I said, that’s a speculation. There’s zero braking throughout that recording of the data recorder, and it’s 99% acceleration on the pedal.

Speaker 4: (13:49)
Captain, wouldn’t it seem to be logical to check to see if Tiger Woods was perhaps distracted using a cell phone or texting before the accident?

Well, I mean, it’s not going to change anything. The cause of the collision was the speed and the inability to maintain the roadway. So, all it would have been is an associated factor, which wouldn’t cause the collision and our goal is to find out what the primary cause of this collision was and that’s it.

Speaker 4: (14:12)
Did you ask him if he was texting or on the phone before the accident?

We don’t have that knowledge.

Speaker 5: (14:16)
Captain, considering the fact that Woods was not recalling at all the fact that he had been driving, had no recollection of it, is that not justification for doing a DRE at a later time or potentially blood alcohol test?

No, but my investigators, as they interviewed him at the scene and at the hospital, the questions were asked and there was nothing to indicate any type of intoxication. He did answer those questions. He stated he didn’t drink. There’s nothing. He wasn’t taking any medication, so those questions were asked and answered.

Speaker 5: (14:54)
And was there any reason for the excessive speed? Can he justify that at all?

Speaker 6: (14:54)
At this time, we’re going to open it up to the phones.

Speaker 7: (14:58)
Thank you, ladies and gentlemen. If you have a question on the phone line, please press one then zero on your telephone keypad.

Speaker 8: (15:10)
Captain, this yellow line, is that an accurate depiction of [crosstalk 00:15:11]?

Speaker 7: (15:11)
And our first question comes from Craig Fiegener.

That’s an estimate.

Speaker 7: (15:13)
With KNX News Radio. Please go ahead.

Craig Fiegener: (15:16)
Hi. Good morning. Thank you for taking the call. I want to know based on this vehicle and the way it’s configured, it did have some ability for autonomous driving or autonomous capabilities. Do we know if any of those were in use at the time of this collision or before?

We do not know that answer to that question, and we did not retrieve any information like that from the data recorder.

Speaker 9: (15:47)
Captain, I think that car is equipped with cameras too. Do you know if they were rolling on this thing?

Which camera, sir?

Speaker 9: (15:52)
I believe that car can be equipped with cameras like a dashcam.

I don’t believe that car had any cameras equipped.

Speaker 5: (16:00)
Captain, did Woods give any reason for the excessive use of speed?

No. He has no recollection of that collision, so he’s not even aware of the speed until it was presented in this case.

Speaker 10: (16:11)
Captain, how would you describe that speed for that situation?

It’s unsafe for the conditions, just like the vehicle code reads. The speed limit posted is 45 miles per hour, and he was driving in excess of that and it caused the collision. So, it’s unsafe.

Speaker 11: (16:28)
Do you know how long he was traveling at that high rate of speed before the collision?

No, I do not. All I know is the seven-second window that was recovered from the recorder.

Speaker 12: (16:37)
Can you explain why there’s not a citation if he was driving at an unsafe speed?

Part of it was because of the circumstances that he endured throughout the collision and the fact that, in order to issue a citation, usually you have to have something to indicate an independent witness or an observation by a peace officer. So, I can’t just inadvertently go out and write tickets. I mean, you can do it, but it would be, I don’t want to say a waste of time, but a lot of the courts will dismiss it because it wasn’t observed by a peace officer.

Speaker 13: (17:08)
Captain, had somebody else been injured in this crash, how different would this investigation be? What kind of questions would you have wanted answers to that you didn’t before now?

Well, if there was a significant injury or a fatality, then we definitely would have investigated it further.

Speaker 13: (17:23)
Do you think you asked enough questions and got enough answers from Tiger Woods?

Absolutely.

Speaker 14: (17:29)
Captain, did he try and correct his steering at all, or was it basically straight off the road like this?

There’s indication of steering where I gave the examples of the steering. So, there was steering in the vehicle at the areas of impact. It’s unsure if it was him trying to correct a situation or if it was the impact of the vehicle at the areas of impact that caused that by the movement of the vehicle.

Speaker 14: (17:55)
The first impact.

I’m sorry?

Speaker 14: (17:56)
The first impact, he drove right into. It wasn’t even corrected.

It’s a raised median, so there was impact and it did have an impact on the vehicle. Yes.

… packed. And it did have an impact on the vehicle. Yes.

Speaker 15: (18:04)
Can you tell us a little bit about your conversations with Tiger Woods, in the moments that led up to the accident? What he remembers? What he doesn’t recall?

In what I’ve reviewed in this situation, he is in a state of shock at the onset of that collision. He was awake. We helped him sit up a little bit. And then we tried to extract him from the vehicle, by breaking the sunroof, and it wouldn’t break. And so we waited for the fire department.

I don’t want to use the word alert, but he was. But he was kind of dazed and confused, being in a state of shock. And then he was interviewed at the hospital as well. And he was coherent. His speech was normal. And there are interviews of him at the hospital, where he’s answering questions in the emergency room.

Speaker 15: (18:52)
My question is, leading up to the car accident, what he remembers doing moments before the car accident, what did he say he remembers doing before the crash?

I don’t have the answer to that question.

Speaker 15: (19:01)
I assume the questions were asked, what if he was distracted?

Well, I know that there was allegations of an incident that occurred prior to the collision, which I reviewed video footage. And I watched him, on video, walk out to his car, put his personal belongings in his car, and drive off the property.

And he was driving very normal, very slow, as he began driving, to the point where it didn’t appear that he even hit the accelerator. He took his foot off the brake and allowed the car to roll away. He made complete stops at two stop signs, and stopped for a traffic signal before entering the highway. And so there’s no evidence of any increased speed or a rush of behavior.

Speaker 15: (19:49)
I guess, leading up to the crash though, was Tiger Woods late to an appointment? Was he on his cell phone? What did he tell you about the moments leading up to the crash, why he may have been traveling at that speed?

I don’t believe he recalls that. The only statement I recall seeing in the report is that he had a long day, the day prior.

Speaker 16: (20:10)
We can take another question from a caller.

Speaker 17: (20:14)
Thank you. Our next question on the phone comes from Brendon Geoffrion with TMZ. Please go ahead.

Brendon Geoffrion: (20:22)
Hi, Sheriff. The sheriff said, the day after the accident, no crime was committed. This is speeding and reckless driving that we’re talking about. So how do you arrive at the conclusion that there was no crime?

Well, speeding is an infraction. And it’s not criminal in nature, like a misdemeanor and a felony. And there’s no evidence of reckless driving. So that statement was never made.

Another question is, if Tiger was driving 85 to 87 miles an hour in a 45 zone, why no ticket for reckless driving or speeding?

Because, reckless driving, you have to have multiple violations in conjunction with one another, like multiple unsafe lane changes, passing vehicles in an unsafe manner, like road race stuff. And that did not exist here. Therefore, reckless driving is not appropriate. And the speeding-

[inaudible 00:21:13].

The speeding, there was no independent witnesses regarding the speeding. And it wasn’t observed by a peace officer. So no citation was issued.

Speaker 18: (21:22)
Captain, how [crosstalk 00:21:22].

Last question for you. In your opinion, did Tiger make a conscious effort to avoid the accident?

We don’t know that.

Speaker 18: (21:30)
Captain, how often is that the case? Woods walked away without the citation. When you consider other drivers in practice similar to this, how often is that the case, that they are not cited [inaudible 00:21:39] because of the excessive speed?

Each case is decided on an individual basis, a case by case basis. And so, in situations like this, I mean, just the decision was made not to issue a citation. That’s it.

Speaker 18: (21:55)
And why was that decision made, in this instance?

Well, as I stated, there was no independent witnesses to support that, that saw the violation. And there’s no deputy sheriffs or peace officers that witnessed the violation.

Let me add to that real quick. The decision not to issue a citation would be the exact same thing for anyone in this room who went through the same situation, a solo traffic collision. There’s no witnesses, an infraction only. And we’re not going to issue a citation on an infraction not committed in a peace officer’s presence, or independent witnesses, period. That would apply to everybody. So any inference it somehow is special is false.

Speaker 19: (22:31)
Despite the evidence you have on the event data recorder?

The event data recorder, that tells us physically what happened, but we need a human being to witness it.

Speaker 19: (22:43)
There was quite a bit of discussion after this accident, about this particular stretch of roadway. Have there been adjustments made on the roadway? And how much of this accident do you blame on the roadway, versus the driver?

Well, this stretch of particular roadway, I believe we spoke a few weeks ago, that it had … The thing was at 13 or 14? 14 in the traffic collisions. If you’re going to a quarter mile prior, to quarter mile after that stretch of road in particular.

So it is hazardous. It encouraged, just by the design … It’s straight away, going downhill into a curve. People are approaching it with way too much speed for the conditions of the road. This has been brought to the attention to the supervisor, Janice Hondas, and her district. And they are trying to address that, with some ways of traffic control to slow down the speed.

Speaker 19: (23:31)
How much do you blame that particular roadway for this crash, versus the driver?

Well, the driver bears a responsibility, regardless of the roadway, as long as the roadway is designed with the basics. However, this stretch of road in particular has a little bit more than average share of collisions. So they need to rethink how this is designed, and what we can do to slow down the traffic.

Speaker 15: (23:53)
Sheriff, if Tiger Woods had been involved with other vehicles, and he had injured somebody, would he be facing some pretty serious criminal charges?

On the same conditions, no. If there was an issue of an impairment, or reckless driving, and then, by extension, there’s a victim from another vehicle, then there would be a consideration. But we don’t have either reckless driving, we don’t have any evidence of impairment. So, no, that would not apply.

Speaker 15: (24:18)
But it also seems as though you guys didn’t apply for a search warrant, to see if you were testing [inaudible 00:24:23].

To apply for a search warrant, you have to have probable cause. And to get probable cause, you need to have the building blocks, or the elements to indicate that someone potentially committed a crime. And that’s higher than just a reasonable suspicion.

And we do not have those building blocks to get to a probable cause. So, therefore, you cannot approach a judge with a search warrant just because, “Well, we knew he had trouble in the past or something, therefore, can you sign this?” And the judge is going to say, “Get out of here.”

Speaker 16: (24:49)
All right. At this time, it’s going to transition to Spanish.

Speaker 20: (24:53)
Will you be able to answer questions non-crash related, while you’re-

Sure.

Speaker 20: (24:54)
Thank you.

All right. [Spanish 00:24:59].

[Spanish 00:27:00].

Speaker 21: (27:07)
[Spanish 00:27:07].

Speaker 22: (27:07)
[Spanish 00:27:07].

[Spanish 00:27:07]. (silence). [Spanish 00:27:56]. Was it Harvard, right? Harvard General?

Speaker 23: (28:23)
Yes.

[Spanish 00:28:24].

Speaker 21: (28:27)
[Spanish 00:28:27].

[Spanish 00:28:36].

Speaker 22: (28:36)
[Spanish 00:28:36].

[Spanish 00:28:36]. Okay? I think-

Speaker 24: (29:55)
Yes. Thank you sheriff. I was watching a town hall meeting the other day with Supervisor Holly Mitchell, in which she referred to the leaders of the DA’s association, the sheriff’s association, and law enforcement in LA County as white supremacists. I just wanted to know if you had a comment on that.

Well, those comments, I don’t expect them from a responsible elected official in Los Angeles County or anywhere in this nation. It’s reprehensible, irresponsible, and I think that supervisor owes an apology to an awful lot of people who dedicate their lives to preserving public safety, the public peace, and put their lives on the line, and to paint them with a broad brush as white supremacists is just totally uncalled for. It’s unprofessional.

Speaker 24: (30:43)
Do you suppose these kinds of comments coming from elected officials will drive some sort of public sentiment?

Well it does. It drives a narrative for people that already have an animus towards law enforcement, which makes the job of deputies and of police officers out there, contacting the people that don’t want to go to jail to begin with when they’re in the act of committing a violent crime, they somehow feel that now they have a supervisor backing their play that they can resist being arrested, even though they’re committing a crime.

So this does not help officer safety out there in the field. And all it does is continues a spiral of conflict between community members and law enforcement. It does not serve the public’s interest at all.

Speaker 24: (31:24)
Over Easter weekend there were 11 homicides in Los Angeles County. It’s probably one of the highest on an Easter weekend.

Mm-hmm (affirmative).

Speaker 24: (31:30)
I wanted to know if you had any thoughts on that.

Well, the crime continues to spiral out of control, particularly violent crime, and our homeless situation is spiraling out of control. I need supervisors to start focusing on violent crime and on our homeless situation. Those are the twin crises, that is important to every single resident of Los Angeles County. And to take cheap shots at law enforcement for what you perceive to be your political gain does not solve either of those two problems.

So our job, my job is to focus on violent crime and the homeless situation. And I expect everyone else to do the same, from city hall, board of supervisors, governor’s office, we need to get busy now, because the problems are real. And just trying to fan the flames of political divisions does not solve any of these problems.

Speaker 25: (32:18)
Last question.

Speaker 24: (32:18)
Violent crime is up in Los Angeles County.

Homicides alone, we measured them on Monday, 152%. Which under ordinary times, as people would say, “Oh my God, that’s extraordinary. That’s a crisis.” It is a crisis. Unfortunately, the times we live today, there’s people that think, “So what? Who cares?” They still have their agenda and they’re just going to ignore people dying left and right around them. We’re not going to ignore that.

Speaker 24: (32:46)
Do you have a number to tie to that? I’m sorry, [inaudible 00:32:47]. Do you have a number to tie to that 152%?

I do have that number.

Speaker 25: (32:50)
We can provide it for you.

Yes.

Speaker 24: (32:51)
Thank you.

I just saw the chart on Monday, and it actually went up from 133% to 152%, and that’s prior to calculating this weekend.

Speaker 24: (33:00)
Just what happened-

Speaker 26: (33:01)
The sheriff [crosstalk 00:33:02]-

Speaker 24: (33:02)
… [crosstalk 00:33:02] just one more question on the crash.

Yes.

Speaker 24: (33:03)
I’m curious about Tiger Woods, the airbags that went off. Do we know if the airbags went off when he hit the center divide or when it… Because I know there was multiple airbags. Or did they go off after he hit the tree?

Well, typically, the airbags, depending on what type of sensor they have, there are sensors that are a bumper and they’re impact generated, and those make everything go off. There are other ones that are a little higher end, that they sense a loss of inertia and then the deploy. So I don’t know if you know which type of…

Speaker 23: (33:31)
It’s believed at the sidewalk and the tree.

Sidewalk and the tree?

Speaker 23: (33:34)
Yes.

All right, so there you go.

Speaker 24: (33:36)
So they went off when?

When they hit the sidewalk and the tree.

Speaker 24: (33:40)
So multiple at different times they went off.

Yes.

Speaker 25: (33:42)
Final question will be from our last caller.

Speaker 27: (33:48)
Thank you. That will come from the line of Hailey Winslow with FOX LA. Please go ahead.

Hailey Winslow: (33:55)
Hey sheriff, thank you so much. I’m just wondering about the body cam footage from the deputies who responded to Tiger’s crash. Will that be released?

Are we going to release that?

Speaker 23: (34:05)
I think no.

I believe not. And I think, at that point, all it’s going to show is a badly injured person. They have their privacy issues of… We’ll respect that.

Right, okay.

Speaker 24: (34:17)
Can you leave the graphics up?

Thank you.

Yes, we’ll leave the graphics up. All right.

Speaker 25: (34:26)
Thank you sheriff.

All right, thank you.

Speaker 28: (34:26)
If anybody needs the graphic, I can AirDrop it.

Speaker 29: (34:26)
All right, thank you. That concludes the press conference. Have a great day.

Speaker 30: (34:28)
You too. Okay.

L.A. County Sheriff Press Conference Update on Tiger Woods Car Accident Transcript April 7

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