Tiger Woods Will Not Face Criminal Charges After Single-Vehicle Incident

Golfing icon Tiger Woods will not be facing any criminal allegations after the horrific car accident involving only one vehicle, the LA County Sheriff confirmed this week. Woods is currently recovering in hospital after receiving surgery to his fractured leg and shattered ankle.

The US golfing hero was driving alone down a Los Angeles stretch of road known for its crashes when his SUV hit the central reservation, sending him into the opposite lane before the car rolled over several times and plunged off the road down an embankment.

“A reckless driving charge has a lot of elements into it, this is purely an accident,” Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva told reporters. “He was not drunk, we can throw that one out.”

Villanueva also said that the most Woods could possibly face would be an infraction, but only if investigators concluded that the 45-year-old was speeding or not paying attention prior to the incident.

Woods was forced to undergo surgery on his leg after being removed from the wreck of his car by firefighters and paramedics. The champion golfer suffered fractures on his tibia and fibula bones in his lower right leg and has received stabilization to the injuries to his foot and ankle by way of screws and pins.

“Today at 07:12 in the morning, Lomita Sheriff’s Station received a call of a solo vehicle collision in Hawthorne Boulevard, North of Palos Verdes Drive. We arrived on scene at 07:18 AM and discovered the solo vehicle collision and the sole occupant was again, Tiger Woods,” Villanueva said at the press conference following the incident.

“And deputies at the time, they did not see any evidence of impairment, anything of concern. Obviously, the lifesaving measures that had to be taken for the occupant of the vehicle and Chief Osby will speak to that regard.

“And it was a solo vehicle. Unfortunately, during the course of the investigation of this, there was another traffic collision that happened with people being looky-loos, but thankfully, there was no injuries associated with that. The vehicle traveled several hundred feet from the center divider at the intersection and rested on the west side of the road, in the bush. Sustained major damage to the vehicle. You’ve seen all the images of that.

“And with that, our Lomita Sheriff’s Station will be conducting the traffic investigation and it’ll take them from days to several weeks to get the whole thing together. Once the investigation is completed, we will provide a detailed report. It’ll be available based on Public Record Act request and we will not discuss it any further after that point.”

Villanueva also highlighted during the press conference that the road on which the accident happened has a high frequency of accidents due to its layout. According to the sheriff, Woods’ car hit a kerb, a tree and rolled over several times.

Woods, who had been in the process of recovering from a fifth round of back surgery in January, was in Los Angeles to host last week’s Genesis Invitational PGA Tour event and was driving one of the tournament cars when he suffered the crash.

“We thank everyone for the overwhelming support and messages during this tough time,” a statement posted to Tiger Woods’ social media read. “As previously communicated, Tiger was involved in a single-car accident earlier this morning in California. He has undergone a long surgical procedure on his lower right leg and ankle after being brought to the hospital.”

“He is currently awake, responsive, and recovering in his hospital room,” the statement continued. “Thank you to the wonderful doctors and hospital staff at Harbor UCLA Medical Center, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, and the Fire Department. Your support and assistance has been outstanding.

“There are no further updates at this time and we continue to thank you for your well-wishes and privacy for him and his family.”

Fellow PGA Tour superstar Rory McIlroy has expressed relief that Woods survived the crash, insisting that that fact was all that was important at the minute, not whether he would get back to playing at the highest level again.

“He’s a human being at the end of the day, and he’s already been through so much,” said McIlroy as the news of Woods’ crash continued to dominate the build-up to the WGC-Workday Championship at The Concession in Florida.

“At this stage I think everyone should just be grateful that he’s here, that he’s alive, that his kids haven’t lost their dad. That’s the most important thing. Golf is so far from the equation right now, it’s not even on the map at this point.

“He’s here, he’s fine, he’s got some pretty bad injuries, but he’s going to be okay. I was looking at some of the coverage yesterday and they were talking as if he was gone. It’s like, he was in a car crash. It was really bad, he’s very fortunate to be here, which is great, but I mean, that’s the extent of it.”