It's a cop we're talking about. If one cop shoves you into another cop, they'll charge you with a felony.
I don't think he would have been arrested if he hadn't driven 30 feet with the detective on the hood (or otherwise "attached to the car") (assuming that reporting is accurate.) That changes the complexion of this based on the available information. That detective was there in a law enforcement capacity, not simply providing security. His commands superseded whatever instructions the people associated with the tournament gave him.
Other players did the same thing without any issues. Scheffler thought that he was doing what he was supposed to do. There was a miscommunication, but that doesn’t mean that you physically haul someone out of a vehicle and slap the cuffs on him.
Is Scottie an entitled jerk who knew the cop was on his car and purposefully drove away? Certainly possible. It's just that the description of the officer's "injuries" appear to embellished along with the need for him to go to the hospital and mentioning his pants being ruined make it hard for me to buy that story. Something doesn't add up.
I did not and am not suggesting he is an entitled jerk. I never heard of him before. I do not understand how he could drive away WITHOUT knowing the detective was on the car unless he drove off with his eyes closed. I have no idea if the cop was injured or not. That, however is not an element of the offense. I am intentionally focusing on that aspect of the encounter. If the reporting is accurate, it is the part that stands out to me as to why Scottie wound up in cuffs instead of with a ticket or two.
They really are. They're not too far removed from a 2 year DoJ investigation of the whole department, a 10-fold increase of settlement payout amounts in a 2 year period, and their insurer dropping them leaving all settlements to be 100% covered by taxpayers.
I can’t imagine a cop would throw himself onto the hood of his car in that scenario. If he did, it probably would have been described that way. At 10 miles per hour, 30 feet takes 2 seconds.
Have not followed this case that closely, but saw that it was policy to turn on body cam, which he didn’t. I really think a principle of civil law might remedy this practice. “Spoliation” of evidence occurs when someone with an obligation to preserve evidence with regard to a legal claim neglects to do so or intentionally fails to do so. Such a failure to preserve evidence can take place by destruction of the evidence, damage to the evidence, or losing the evidence. When spoliation occurs, the party responsible may be held accountable in court through a variety of different sanctions. Those sanctions vary greatly from state to state If we were to create a rule that failing to engage your body cam amounts to “spoliation”, meaning the officer cannot receive qualified immunity, and the department is automatically civilly liable, I think the problem is solved. You could never instruct the jury in a criminal trial to use it - likely unconstitutional. But QI is a judge made rule, so I don’t see a legal problem there, only our culture of complete impunity for lawbreaking by LE
