Louisville officer who arrested Scottie Scheffler was previously suspended for doing donuts

Golf

By Christian Arnold

Greater attention is being put on the past — including his disciplinary history — of Louisville Metro Police Det. Bryan Gillis in the wake of his arrest of world No. 1 golfer Scottie Scheffler before the second day of the PGA Championship at Valhalla Golf Club last week. 

Before the headline-making incident, Gillis, who has been a member of the department since 2007, already had several instances of reprimands that were both oral and written, including multiple suspensions, according to WLYK.

Gillis violated LMPD policy by not activating his body cam during the incident with Scheffler, and Louisville Police Chief Jacquelyn Gwinn-Villaroel told reporters Thursday that “corrective action” was taken against Gillis.

This came as Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg and the LMPD released new footage of the arrest and some of the moments leading up to it during a news conference on Thursday. 

And as recently as 2021, Gillis was reprimanded for pursuing a vehicle that had not committed a violent felony or was wanted on a warrant while also failing to notify dispatchers before beginning the pursuit. 

In 2013, Gillis was suspended for five days without pay for doing donuts in a parking lot while an intoxicated civilian was in the car. 

Gillis received a four-day suspension for violating the department’s policy for court attendance in 2012, which was an issue he had been reprimanded over on four different occasions from 2010-11. 

He was given a one-day suspension in 2011 without pay for violating the same police and a year before that he also received the same punishment for the exact same issue. 

Gillis has also numerous commendations, with NBC reporting that he went “above and beyond” during a Sept. 2021 “high-intensity traffic enforcement detail.”

Scheffler was charged with a felony second-degree assault of a police officer, third-degree criminal mischief, reckless driving and disregarding signals from an officer directing traffic for the incident last week before the second round of the PGA Championship. 

But some inside the LMPD have expressed concern over the severity of the felony charge against Scheffler. 

Scheffler’s lawyer, Steve Romines, told reporters Thursday that he was prepared to take the case to court and that there would be no settlement. 

“We will either try it or it will be dismissed. It’s very simple,” Romines said. “All the evidence that continues to come out just continues to support what Scottie said all along.

“This was a chaotic situation and miscommunication, and he didn’t do anything wrong.”