After crash, Tiger Woods advised deputy he was ‘speaking to the president,’ physique digital camera reveals

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After crashing his SUV final week in Florida, Tiger Woods took out his cellphone and advised a deputy, "I used to be simply speaking to the president," in accordance with physique digital camera footage launched Thursday displaying Woods' arrest on a DUI cost.

The cellphone dialog was not captured on video, however Woods may very well be heard saying, "Thanks a lot," as he hung up and the deputy approached. It wasn't clear if Woods was referring to President Donald Trump, whose former daughter-in-law, Vanessa Trump, is relationship Woods.

Shortly after the golfer's March 27 arrest, Trump was requested about Woods and advised reporters: "I really feel so badly. He is received some problem. Very shut good friend of mine. He is an incredible particular person. Wonderful man. However, some problem."

The White Home didn't instantly reply to a request for touch upon whether or not Trump spoke to Woods after the crash.

The footage additionally reveals how Woods seemed to be astonished as he was handcuffed after failing a sobriety take a look at and a video from the again of the patrol automotive reveals the handcuffed golfer hiccupping, yawning and repeatedly showing to nod off through the 15-minute trip.

Woods advised authorities he was his cellphone and altering the radio station when his rushing Land Rover clipped the again of a truck and rolled onto its facet on a residential street on Jupiter Island. Nobody was injured.

"I regarded down at my cellphone, and unexpectedly — growth," Woods advised an officer as he knelt on a garden, previous to his arrest.

Physique digital camera footage reveals Martin County Sheriff's Deputy Tatiana Levenar then conducting a roadside sobriety take a look at and telling Woods: "I do imagine your regular colleges are impaired, and also you're beneath an unknown substance, so presently you are beneath arrest for DUI."

"I am being arrested?" Woods responded.

"Sure, sir," Levenar mentioned.

After handcuffing Woods, authorities searched his pockets and located two white tablets.

"That is a Norco," Woods mentioned after an officer pulled out the tablets, referring to a painkiller that comprises acetaminophen and the opioid hydrocodone. Authorities would later verify that Woods was in possession of hydrocodone.

Within the physique digital camera footage, Woods advised Levenar that he had not drunk any alcohol and that he had taken "just a few" drugs earlier within the day, although Woods' phrases are muted within the launched video as he describes a number of the medication.

On the sheriff's workplace advanced, after Woods was escorted into the "DUI room" the place drivers are examined for being beneath the affect, Woods mentioned, "I am not drunk. I am on a prescription remedy," in accordance with a supplemental sheriff's workplace report launched Thursday.

Searching for remedy Woods, 50, pleaded not responsible on Tuesday to suspicion of driving beneath the affect. He posted a press release Tuesday evening saying that he was stepping away indefinitely "to hunt remedy and concentrate on my well being."

Woods agreed to a Breathalyzer take a look at that confirmed no indicators of alcohol, however he refused a urine take a look at, authorities mentioned. Below a change to Florida legislation final yr, refusing an officer's request to take a breath, blood or urine take a look at grew to become a misdemeanor, even for a primary offence.

In the course of the discipline sobriety take a look at, deputies seen Woods limping and that he had a compression sock over his proper knee. Woods defined he had undergone seven again surgical procedures and over 20 surgical procedures on his proper leg, and that his ankle seizes up whereas strolling.

Woods, who was hiccupping throughout questioning, repeatedly moved his head throughout one of many sobriety checks and deputies needed to inform him a number of instances to maintain his head straight, in accordance with an arrest report.

"Primarily based on my observations of Woods, how he carried out the workout routines and based mostly on my coaching, information, and expertise, I believed that Woods regular colleges had been impaired, and he was unable to securely function the motorcar," Levenar wrote.

Woods is probably the most influential determine in golf and has turn out to be as recognizable as any athlete on the planet. The primary particular person of Black heritage to win the Masters in 1997, he has captivated golf followers with data seemingly by no means to be damaged.

His accidents have stored him from engaging in extra, together with from a 2021 Los Angeles automotive crash that broken his proper leg so badly he mentioned medical doctors thought-about amputation. He has not performed an official occasion for the reason that 2024 British Open. He was recovering from a seventh again surgical procedure in October and was making an attempt to return on the Masters, the place he's a five-time champion.