Tiger Woods charged with DUI after rollover crash in Florida, authorities say
Golf legend Tiger Woods was charged with DUI after a vehicle crash in Jupiter, Florida, on Friday afternoon, the local sheriff said.
The incident happened when a pickup truck towing a small trailer was pulling into a driveway and saw a Land Rover overtaking him at "high speeds," Martin County Sheriff John Budensiek told reporters during a news conference. While they didn't know the speed of the vehicle, Budensiek said the area has a 30 mph speed limit.
The Land Rover, driven by Woods, swerved at the last minute to avoid a collision but ended up clipping the back end of the trailer, flipping onto the driver's side of the vehicle and sliding, Budensiek said, adding that the vehicle didn't roll completely over but slid up the road for a "decent space" before it came to a stop.
Woods was able to crawl out of the vehicle on the passenger side, and neither driver suffered injuries, the sheriff said. There were no passengers in the Land Rover.
Woods showed signs of impairment, Budensiek said, and did several roadside tests. Woods took a Breathalyzer test and "blew triple zeroes" but refused a urine test, the sheriff said.
Experts who evaluated Woods after the crash "believe from on scene that he was not impaired on alcohol. They believe it was some type of medication or drug," Budensiek said. No drugs or medication were found in the vehicle, he said.
Woods was arrested and charged with DUI, property damage and refusal to submit to a lawful test, Budensiek said.
He will be jailed for eight hours, per a Florida statute that requires it following a DUI arrest, starting at 3 p.m., before he can be released on bond, according to the sheriff. Woods was being held at Martin County Jail, though not with the general population.
Jupiter Island police had initially responded to the scene before calling the sheriff's office for assistance, Budensiek said, noting that the police are "fully capable" but that the sheriff's office "has more repetitions."
The Martin County Fire Rescue Department told CBS News it responded to a motor vehicle accident in the Jupiter Island area around 1:30 p.m. The department could not share details on patient information due to privacy laws, a spokesperson said.
Woods recently participated in a match at the SoFi Center in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, on Tuesday.
In 2021, Woods was seriously injured in a rollover crash in Los Angeles. Authorities said at the time that the SUV he was driving careened downhill, traveling several hundred feet and flipping multiple times before landing on a hillside in Rolling Hills Estates, a Los Angeles suburb. Woods was trapped inside the SUV, forcing first responders to use tools to pry open the windshield to pull him out.
Woods' vehicle had been traveling between 84 and 87 mph in an area with a 45 mph speed limit, Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva said at the time. The primary cause of that crash in 2021 "was driving at a speed unsafe for the road conditions and the inability to negotiate the curve of the roadway," the sheriff said.
Woods was also arrested on a DUI charge in 2017 when Florida police found him asleep behind the wheel of his car. Woods said later he had taken a bad mix of painkillers.
