The investigation into Tiger Woods’s single-vehicle crash in February is completed, however the outcomes can’t be launched publicly till Woods provides permission, the Los Angeles County sheriff mentioned in a Facebook Livestream on Wednesday.
“A cause has been determined,” Sheriff Alex Villanueva mentioned, including: “We have all the contents of the black box. We’ve got everything completed, signed, sealed and delivered. However, we can’t release it without the permission of the people involved in the collision.”
Woods, 45, sustained extreme accidents to his proper leg on Feb. 23, requiring at the least two operations after the S.U.V. he was driving crashed onto a hillside alongside a tough stretch of highway in Los Angeles County. No one however Woods, the pre-eminent determine in golf over the previous quarter-century, was concerned, in response to the authorities.
The sheriff has maintained that the crash was an accident, saying that he and his deputies didn’t detect indicators of impairment on the scene that day. However, he mentioned a couple of week later that investigators had gotten a search warrant for the occasion knowledge recorder, also called a black field, in Woods’s S.U.V. to assist make clear the reason for the crash.
“It’s still an accident,” he mentioned Wednesday. “You have an accident, and you have deliberate acts. It’s an accident, OK. We’re reaching out to Tiger Woods to be able to release the report itself, and nothing has changed from what we know and what we learned throughout the course of the investigation. And everything we did turned out to be accurate.”
Woods’s longtime agent, Mark Steinberg, didn’t instantly reply to an e mail requesting remark.
Here is what we all know as of Wednesday evening.
When was Woods despatched residence from the hospital?
Woods was launched final month from a Los Angeles hospital the place he was handled after the crash, in response to a publish to his Twitter account on March 16 that mentioned he was at residence.
“I will be recovering at home and working on getting stronger every day,” the Twitter publish on Tuesday learn.
Woods’s solely identified residence is in Jupiter Island, Fla., the place he lives in a mansion — generally together with his two kids, custody of whom he shares together with his ex-wife.
The publish didn’t comprise updates on his situation, and Steinberg, Woods’s agent, mentioned in an e mail that he couldn’t provide any additional data on his consumer’s location or situation.
What accidents was Woods handled for?
Woods was taken to Harbor-U.C.L.A. Medical Center in Los Angeles on the day of the crash and underwent emergency surgical procedure to restore critical accidents to his proper leg.
He was transferred to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles on the night of Feb. 25.
The morning after Woods’s arrival at Cedars-Sinai, he acquired “follow-up procedures on his injuries,” which had been deemed profitable, in response to a press release from Woods’s Twitter account.
Dr. Anish Mahajan, the performing chief government of Harbor-U.C.L.A., mentioned in a statement the evening after the crash that each bones in Woods’s decrease proper leg, the tibia and the fibula, had been damaged in a number of locations and had been “open fractures,” which means the bones had pierced his pores and skin.
Dr. Mahajan mentioned docs had “stabilized” the breaks by inserting a rod within the tibia. He mentioned that extra bones in Woods’s ankle and foot had additionally been injured and that that they had been “stabilized with a combination of screws and pins.”
The assertion didn’t describe any accidents to Woods’s left leg, although Daryl L. Osby, the Los Angeles County hearth chief, had mentioned earlier that Woods had “serious injuries” to each legs. The chief didn’t clarify additional and mentioned he was undecided what different accidents Woods may need sustained.
Doctors not concerned in Woods’s care have predicted an extremely difficult recovery from his accidents.
How did the investigation proceed?
The warrant to examine the black field’s knowledge was executed on March 1 as a part of a “routine procedure,” a spokeswoman for the Sheriff’s Department mentioned final month.
When requested why the division had not sought a warrant for blood samples from the hospital, which might point out whether or not Woods had alcohol or medication in his system, Sheriff Villanueva mentioned in a livestream on March Three that there was no proof of impairment.
“Absent the evidence of impairment, you know, you’re not going to get a search warrant,” the sheriff mentioned. “Period. It’s not getting assigned by the judge.”
Though the investigation continued, Sheriff Villanueva was fairly clear at a information convention on Feb. 24 that he believed the crash was unintended. “We don’t contemplate any charges whatsoever in this crash,” he mentioned. “This remains an accident, and an accident is not a crime.”
Drug recognition consultants — cops educated to determine folks suspected of being impaired — weren’t dispatched to both the positioning of the crash or the hospital, Sheriff Villanueva added.
Although Woods appeared “lucid and calm” instantly after the accident and was in a position to reply questions from Deputy Carlos Gonzalez, the primary emergency responder to reach on the scene, he “had no recollection of the crash itself” when requested on the hospital, Villanueva mentioned in a Feb. 24 appearance on CNN.
Forensic consultants from throughout the nation who should not concerned within the investigation advised USA Today, for an article printed on March 13, that it gave the impression to be both a case of falling asleep on the wheel or of impaired or distracted driving.
The crash occurred on Hawthorne Boulevard close to Rancho Palos Verdes, a coastal metropolis of about 42,000 folks in Los Angeles County.
How harmful is that stretch of highway?
According to knowledge collected by the Sheriff’s Department, there have been 13 accidents, 4 with accidents, from Jan. 3, 2020, to Feb. 23 of this yr inside a 1.35-mile stretch of Hawthorne Boulevard that features the positioning the place Woods crashed, in response to knowledge collected by the Sheriff’s Department.
Only a type of accidents was formally decided to have concerned an individual underneath the affect of medicine or alcohol, in response to the info, and none concerned somebody utilizing a telephone. Two of the 13 accidents had been single-vehicle crashes, and the info indicated that neither driver in these circumstances had been driving underneath the affect.
The pace restrict there’s 45 miles per hour, however Deputy Gonzalez mentioned he had generally seen autos going greater than 80 miles per hour. Sheriff Villanueva mentioned it appeared that Woods had been driving at a “greater speed than normal” on the day of the accident.
What occurred in the course of the crash?
Officers arrived on the scene six minutes after receiving a 911 name and located Woods trapped in an S.U.V. that had rolled over, Sheriff Villanueva mentioned on the day of the crash.
The automobile Woods was driving hit the median strip, traveled a number of hundred toes and rolled a number of instances earlier than stopping within the brush on the opposite facet of the highway, Sheriff Villanueva mentioned. There had been no skid or swerve marks, indicating that Woods had made no try to brake, the sheriff mentioned. The bumper and the entrance finish of the automotive had been “destroyed,” however the inside cabin of the automobile was “more or less intact,” he added.
There was no proof that Woods was being adopted or taking a look at his telephone, the sheriff mentioned on the time of the crash. Weather was additionally not an element within the crash, he mentioned. Woods was sporting his seatbelt, and airbags within the automotive deployed, Deputy Gonzalez mentioned.
What automotive was Woods driving? Why was he within the Los Angeles space?
Woods was in Southern California to host, however to not compete in, the Genesis Invitational on the Riviera Country Club within the Pacific Palisades part of Los Angeles the weekend earlier than the crash. Genesis Motor is a luxurious automobile division of Hyundai. Woods was in a 2021 Genesis GV80 S.U.V., which was supplied to him in the course of the match; he’s known for always driving himself in a courtesy automotive at tournaments.
Woods stayed after the weekend to do promotional work for Golf Digest and GolfTV, and when the crash occurred, in response to ESPN, he was on his strategy to a photograph shoot with the N.F.L. quarterbacks Drew Brees and Justin Herbert.
How did fellow golfers reply?
Rory McIlroy, 31, in an interview on “The Tonight Show” with Jimmy Fallon on March 9, mentioned that he had spoken with Woods and that he anticipated him to have the ability to get better at residence together with his household quickly.
“He’s doing better — and I think all of us are wishing him a speedy recovery at this point,” McIlroy mentioned of himself and unspecified fellow golfers within the interview, which he did from the Players Championship.
Several PGA Tour gamers wore red shirts with black pants, a version of Woods’s signature final-round outfit, on the ultimate day of the Workday Championship on Feb. 28. Some used Bridgestone golf balls imprinted with Woods’s traditional marking, “TIGER.” And many spectators wore crimson shirts, hats and masks.
“It is hard to explain how touching today was when I turned on the TV and saw all the red shirts,” a statement on Woods’s Twitter account mentioned on Sunday. “To every golfer and every fan, you are truly helping me get through this tough time.”
Annika Sorenstam, 50, wore a crimson high and a black skirt at an L.P.G.A. Tour occasion in Orlando, Fla., whereas the upkeep workers on the Puerto Rican Open wore crimson in tribute as nicely.
On the day of the crash, celebrities and followers alike offered prayers and words of support on social media.
Where did Woods’s profession stand earlier than the crash?
Even earlier than the wreck, it was not clear when Woods would possibly play once more or whether or not he would have the ability to pursue a record-tying sixth Masters victory this spring.
Woods was making an attempt to get better from his fifth back operation, a microdiscectomy, which he had disclosed in January.
When he appeared on CBS on Sunday in the course of the closing spherical of the Genesis match, Woods was requested whether or not he would compete on the Masters at Augusta National Golf Club in April. “God, I hope so,” he mentioned. “I’ve got to get there first.”
Although Woods mentioned final month that he anticipated to overlook at the least two tournaments, he didn’t publicly rule out taking part in within the Masters, which he final gained in 2019. On Sunday, he mentioned he was “feeling fine, a little bit stiff,” and was awaiting one other magnetic resonance imaging scan to judge his progress.
In the meantime, he mentioned, he was “still doing the mundane stuff that you have to do for rehab, the little things before you can start gravitating toward something a little more.”
Woods tied for 38th place within the 2020 Masters, which was performed in November due to the coronavirus pandemic. Although he shot a 10 on the 12th gap in the course of the closing spherical, he birdied 5 of the ultimate six holes.
Reporting was contributed by Alan Blinder, Nicholas Bogel-Burroughs and Bill Pennington.
