LASD Says Investigation Into Tiger Woods Crash Completed, Not Yet Public
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) — Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva said Wednesday that the investigation into the Rancho Palos Verdes rollover crash that left golfer Tiger Woods with serious injuries has been completed.
"A cause has been determined, the investigation has concluded," Villanueva said. "However, we have reached out to Tiger Woods and his personnel. There's some privacy issues on releasing information on the investigation, and we're going to ask them if they waive the privacy. Then we'll be able to do a full release on all the information regarding the accident."
Villanueva said investigators had obtained the black box of the SUV Woods was driving the morning of Feb. 23 when he struck the center median on Hawthorne Boulevard at Blackhorse Road. The vehicle careened across the boulevard, sheered off a tree and flipped before coming to a rest on its side about 30 yards off the side of the road.
There were no other vehicles involved in the crash and no other injuries reported.
Woods, 45, was taken to Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, where he underwent surgery for multiple fractures to his right leg and ankle before being transferred to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center for additional treatment.
Following the crash, Villanueva said criminal charges were not being considered against Woods, though it was subsequently revealed in an affidavit that a man found Woods unconscious immediately after his vehicle came to a stop.
On March 16, Woods announced via social media that he had been released from the hospital and was recovering at his home in Florida.
Woods, who lives in Florida, was in the Southland for the Genesis Invitational golf tournament at The Riviera Country Club.
In a Wednesday evening tweet, the sheriff's department said it did intend to publicly release information learned during the investigation.
The release of accident reports is governed under California Vehicle Code Section 20012. When we are able, we intend to release the information learned during the traffic collision investigation involving @TigerWoods.
— LA County Sheriffs (@LASDHQ) April 1, 2021
"Today's press conference was all theatrics, was all theater with no plot, no script and really no point," Steve Meister, a legal analyst, said. "The law is the same. A traffic accident report is not subject to public disclosure."
Meister said it was unusual that the sheriff's department announced prior to the investigation's conclusion that no criminal charges were expected and that the department failed to obtain a warrant to test Woods' blood for drugs or alcohol.
"I kind of think that's weird," he said. "And I don't think that that would have been the way the sheriff's department would have handled it if a person who was not world famous was involved."
(© Copyright 2021 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. City News Service contributed to this report.)