Tribune News Services
Tiger Woods will get a careless driving citation for a car crash outside his Orlando-area mansion last week, but will not face criminal charges, the Florida Highway Patrol said today.
Woods faces a $164 fine and four points against his driver's license. The citation will close the investigation.
Tiger Woods will get a careless driving citation for a car crash outside his Orlando-area mansion last week, but will not face criminal charges, the Florida Highway Patrol said today.
Woods faces a $164 fine and four points against his driver's license. The citation will close the investigation.
"Despite the celebrity status of Mr. Woods, the Florida Highway Patrol
has completed its investigation in the same professional manner it
strives to complete each traffic investigation," Sgt. Kim Montes said.
According to a patrol accident report, Woods crashed his SUV into a fire hydrant and a tree at 2:25 a.m. Friday. The airbags did not deploy and Woods' wife told Windermere police she used a golf club to smash the back windows to help him out.
Woods withdrew Monday from his own golf tournament, citing injuries from the crash.
The crash came two days after The National Enquirer published a story alleging that Woods had been seeing a New York nightclub hostess, and that they recently were together in Melbourne, where Woods competed in the Australian Masters. The woman, Rachel Uchitel, denied having an affair with Woods when contacted by The Associated Press.
An attorney for the neighbors who dialed 911 after the crash said Woods did not appear to be driving under the influence and showed no signs of having been in a fight. The Florida Highway Patrol said there were no claims of domestic violence and no reason to issue a subpoena for medical evidence.
Woods' injuries were "consistent with a car wreck and inconsistent with him being beat up," said Bill Sharpe, the attorney for the neighbors. "The scratches on his face were consistent with someone who maybe was in a minor car accident and hit his head on the windshield. ... None of his injuries looked like he was beat up by his wife."
In its initial accident report, the Florida Highway Patrol said alcohol was not involved.
Sharpe said neighbor Linda Adams and her two adult sons went outside their home in the exclusive gated community of Isleworth after hearing the crash and Woods' wife, Elin Nordegren, asked them to call the 911 emergency number.
He said the neighbors found Nordegren kneeling beside her husband, upset about his injuries. Sharpe said Woods appeared woozy and had scratches on his face and that his wife was trying to console him. The Adamses wrapped Woods in a blanket and made sure he didn't move.
Tabloid speculation has focused on whether Woods and his wife were fighting before the accident.
"One thing we want to make clear is that Mrs. Woods' attitude was consistent with her being concerned about her injured husband," Sharpe said. "Mrs. Woods was trying to help him. Mrs. Woods was worried about her husband. She was concerned."
Sharpe said the Adams family did not see the crash and did not see Woods' wife with a golf club. He said he was hired to get the message out that the Adams family members have told investigators everything they know about the crash and aren't hiding anything.
By skipping his tournament, Woods will escape the TV cameras and a horde of media seeking more details. The tournament was to be the last of the year for Woods anyway, and he did not say when or where he would make his return next year.
When healthy, he has made his season debut at Torrey Pines every year since 2006. The San Diego Invitational this year is scheduled the week of Jan. 25. That could mean Woods avoids the media for 10 weeks.
According to a patrol accident report, Woods crashed his SUV into a fire hydrant and a tree at 2:25 a.m. Friday. The airbags did not deploy and Woods' wife told Windermere police she used a golf club to smash the back windows to help him out.
Woods withdrew Monday from his own golf tournament, citing injuries from the crash.
The crash came two days after The National Enquirer published a story alleging that Woods had been seeing a New York nightclub hostess, and that they recently were together in Melbourne, where Woods competed in the Australian Masters. The woman, Rachel Uchitel, denied having an affair with Woods when contacted by The Associated Press.
An attorney for the neighbors who dialed 911 after the crash said Woods did not appear to be driving under the influence and showed no signs of having been in a fight. The Florida Highway Patrol said there were no claims of domestic violence and no reason to issue a subpoena for medical evidence.
Woods' injuries were "consistent with a car wreck and inconsistent with him being beat up," said Bill Sharpe, the attorney for the neighbors. "The scratches on his face were consistent with someone who maybe was in a minor car accident and hit his head on the windshield. ... None of his injuries looked like he was beat up by his wife."
In its initial accident report, the Florida Highway Patrol said alcohol was not involved.
Sharpe said neighbor Linda Adams and her two adult sons went outside their home in the exclusive gated community of Isleworth after hearing the crash and Woods' wife, Elin Nordegren, asked them to call the 911 emergency number.
He said the neighbors found Nordegren kneeling beside her husband, upset about his injuries. Sharpe said Woods appeared woozy and had scratches on his face and that his wife was trying to console him. The Adamses wrapped Woods in a blanket and made sure he didn't move.
Tabloid speculation has focused on whether Woods and his wife were fighting before the accident.
"One thing we want to make clear is that Mrs. Woods' attitude was consistent with her being concerned about her injured husband," Sharpe said. "Mrs. Woods was trying to help him. Mrs. Woods was worried about her husband. She was concerned."
Sharpe said the Adams family did not see the crash and did not see Woods' wife with a golf club. He said he was hired to get the message out that the Adams family members have told investigators everything they know about the crash and aren't hiding anything.
By skipping his tournament, Woods will escape the TV cameras and a horde of media seeking more details. The tournament was to be the last of the year for Woods anyway, and he did not say when or where he would make his return next year.
When healthy, he has made his season debut at Torrey Pines every year since 2006. The San Diego Invitational this year is scheduled the week of Jan. 25. That could mean Woods avoids the media for 10 weeks.
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This is a very comprhensive long term care insurance site. They have a good online guide for long term care insurance.
Keeping that thought, why does one report say that the wife dragged him out of the vehicle through the back smashed window? Unconscious man, sets of back seats to surmount while dragging said unconscious man out and then through broken back window. If that is the case, she is one strong broad, and also managed to remove all sheets of shattered glass from the rear window pane before dragging him out and laying him on the ground. Why not just wait for the ambulance for a couple of lip lacerations? All of the ‘facts’ in so far are fairly preposterous. Also shattering car glass isn’t as easy as one would imagine. It doesn’t just fly everywhere, it breaks into sheets which largely remain in loose, but joined pieces. This also wouldn’t have created the injuries he sustained.
Reckless driving is a criminal traffic offense in Florida which carries four points and a criminal misdemeanor record.
The FL driver's manual states that your license can be revoked if you are found guilty of three cases of reckless driving within one year. Forfeiting bail and not going to court to avoid being convicted of reckless driving counts the same as a conviction. Also it is noted that your license will be revoked for at least three years if you kill someone because of reckless driving.
Careless driving is not as serious as an offense as reckless driving in Florida. Police say careless driving should not be confused with intentional reckless driving, which is a crime. Careless driving is usually an unintentional act, such as not paying proper attention while police find reckless driving an intentional act.
In any case, I doubt the authorities will do anything but appease the breathless public with this 'slap on the wrist' ticket.
He got off cheap! Now the taxpayer gets to pay for the damage he created.
jfr on December 1, 2009 2:32 PM
Ah, jfr, my guess is that Tiger is a BIG taxpayer.
And I bet the community would gladly pay for the fire hydrant and other expenses just to keep Tiger in the neighborhood.
The real reason, though, that this should have been scrutinized is, "What if Tiger had actually gone off on his wife?"
Oh. Now it's a different story, isn't it? It's OJ all over again and suddenly EVERYONE would have wanted Tiger locked up.
But since it's a woman - his wife - and she's white, well, then it's either no one's business or a laughing matter.
No, my friends, it's a SERIOUS matter and the police and media were right to view it as such.
The Adams Family?
"The citation will close the investigation." HA HA HA!! Tiger WINS! All these trashy gossip shows will NEVER know what happened! And why SHOULD they know in the first place? WHY do all these people feel that they are entitled to someone else's business? A bunch of jealous people that want to bring someone down who makes more money in his sleep than most others make in a lifetime!
Too funny---Elin reads the Enquirer, goes off on El Tigre with one of his clubs right in the kisser...I can see her tottering after him down the driveway as he tries to escape "You dont cheet on Me!" and then she whales on the Escalade, he crashes into the fire hydrant because he realizes he can't explain his fat lip ala Elin. Then since the airbags didn't deploy, he gunned the 'lade into the tree.
LMAO!
GO ELIN! ITS YOUR BIRTHDAY! GO ELIN! GET A GOLF CLUB! GO ELIN!
The main reason why this story has traction is because Tiger has probably had the least tabloid worthy life of any top tier professional athlete in recent memory. He has been branded by the media and advertising industry as the gold plated premium product, devoid of any controversy or slip ups.
The actual incident itself pales in comparison to the pandora's box his lack of communication has opened up. Imagine if he had simply followed the advice of some of the savvy PR folk and gotten out ahead of this story. I'm willing to bet that the press would not have pressed much further and this story would have disappeared. Better yet, if he had followed up on attending his own event, an event he organizes to raise money for his charities, the story would have been put further on the back burner.
Now, here we are less than a week later and this story has developed into an avalanche of scandal and impropriety. Meanwhile, Tiger has gone into hiding and put on a display of how not to own up to his indiscretions.
So, yes, I think there is quite a bit to pay attention to here. I have always been a Tiger fan and follow the PGA Tour religiously, but this could have a pretty significant impact going forward.
Daar WTF
Guess you have never been in an accident. The city will collect from Wood's insurance company for the damages to city property.
All the Tiger fans are out protesting about how uninteresting this story is - yet they are here, waiting for each development like everyone else. All the Tiger fans are out protesting that this is none of our business - yet they are here, paying attention, just like everybody else. It's hilarious how hypocritical they are. They're mad at the newspapers for reporting their Golfing God has feet of clay, just like everyone else.
I'll wager Tiger was cheating, and she caught him, and he got his butt kicked - which is understandable. But he's scratchin' like a cat in a sandbox to cover up this turd, and it ain't going to work.
When will we start following him to the bathroom to film him wiping his rear? This is so non-newsworthy it's sickening!
Someone posted about "the damage" Tiger caused. It was one fire hydrant and some bark off a tree. Good grief! All this gossip about other women I consider garbage and what is being claimed does not make it true. These women just want some publicity at any cost. Disgusting. Tiger has always been above reproach and I do not accept that his conduct has been anything but exemplary.
$164 ticket LOL. Tiger makes that every 30 seconds of the day. He makes about $100 million a year, about a million every 3 days.
The newspapers jumped on this thing like a rat on cheese cuz they know Tiger keeps his private life on lockdown and they know it will bring them subscribers which is sad. I don't really care wha happened but i hope he did not commit adultry cuz i know a ton of people who started playing golf cuz of tiger
So now the Tribune quotes the National Enquirer. Give me a freakan break
You guys are just as bad. GOSSIP that is all. Your newspaper is about as useful as the National Enquirer, especially when it comes to the bottom of my bird cage
He usually starts his season at the Torrey Pines invitational, which starts January 28th in San Diego.
So now the Tribune quotes the National Enquirer. Give me a freakan break
You guys are just as bad. GOSSIP that is all. Your newspaper is about as useful as the National Enquirer, especially when it comes to the bottom of my bird cage
He got off cheap! Now the taxpayer gets to pay for the damage he created. Guess he got that "special" treatment because he's a golfer who happens to whine around a lot!! Maybe that and his new "friend" are what caused his Mrs. to grab that iron. ho ho ho
oh wow. 164 dollar fine. How will he afford to pay that???
Charged??? What the police are mad he wouldn't talk to them? He didn't have too. This is such a waste of time if he was due any charges they would have charged him that night like they do everyone else sometimes they leave your bond slip with the charge nurse :). Get a life people.
I agree with you Gerry. People making a fuss about this are truly idiots.
zzzzzzzzzzzz !!!!!!!!!!!! Wake me up when this is over. I agree with Gerry - Big f'n deal Tiger hit a hydrant and a tree. Wow.
I dont understand why people are making a big fuzz about this. So he hit a fire hydrant so what!? Leave the man alone, I'll hit a park bench tomorrow, come film me. Idiots.