Cops: Tiger Woods was asleep at wheel
Professional golfer Tiger Woods was asleep at the wheel when police came upon the golfer and arrested him on suspicion of driving under the influence, a police report issued on Tuesday revealed.
Woods was arrested in Florida early on Memorial Day on drunk driving charges. He booked into the Palm Beach County Jail about 7:15 a.m. He was released on his own recognizance about 10:50 a.m.
He was found alone in his 2015 black Mercedes-Benz about 3 a.m. in the town of Jupiter, near where he lives. The car was still running when police approached his parked car according to the report obtained by the Palm Beach Post.
Woods had "extremely slow and slurred, mumbled" speech and was "sluggish, sleepy [and] unable to walk alone" at the scene, according to the report.
The breathalyzer test came out negative, but Woods had trouble walking in a straight line during the field sobriety test, the report stated. During the "walk and turn" test, Woods "could not maintain starting position" and "missed heel to toe each time."
Hours after his arrest, Woods released a statement saying, "I understand the severity of what I did, and I take full responsibility for my actions. I want the public to know that alcohol was not involved. What happened was an unexpected reaction to prescribed medications. I didn't realize the mix of medications had affected me so strongly."
He also went on to apologize to his family, friends, and his fans.
Woods is scheduled to be arraigned on July 5.
Once the world's top golfer, Woods has struggled in recent years due to a string of injuries. He underwent fusion surgery on his back in April. It was his fourth back surgery since 2014.
In a post on his blog on May 24 he wrote: "I could no longer live with the pain I had. We tried every possible non-surgical route and nothing worked. I had good days and bad days, but the pain was usually there, and I couldn’t do much. Even lying down hurt. I had nerve pain with anything I did and was at the end of my rope. The process leading up to my decision to have surgery was exhaustive. I consulted with a specialist, and after weighing my options, that’s when I decided to go to Texas to have surgery."