New Orlando Sentinel Report On Woods Accident Investigation Reveals Stonewalling, Other Bizarre Details
The Orlando Sentinel continues to examine new public records in the Tiger Woods accident investigation, with several more revelations that speak to an investigation not bungled, but obstructed. Rene Stutzman reports that Elin Woods "tried to ride in the ambulance to the hospital with her husband, but the crew wouldn't let her, saying this was a case of domestic violence, the Florida Highway Patrol records show."
But the behavior of HealthCentral and state attorney Steve Foster raises the most-troubling questions:
Today's FHP records also reveal that the afternoon of the crash, FHP troopers tried to get medical records from the hospital, HealthCentral in Ocoee, that would have shown whether Woods had been drinking or was under the influence of drugs.
An emergency room nurse, however, said the records department was closed and troopers would have to come back the following Monday.
Troopers did, arriving about 7 a.m. Nov. 30, the first business day after the crash.
"The director of medical records at first stated their computer system was not working then she stated that they would not provide that information without a warrant on D-1 (Tiger Woods) regarding whether or not medical blood had been drawn," wrote FHP Cpl. Thomas DeWitt.
Two FHP captains then went to the Orange-Osceola State Attorney's Office and asked it to subpoena Woods' medical records, but Assistant State Attorney Steve Foster said there was insufficient evidence.
The following day FHP declared its investigation over and wrote Woods the ticket.
The home security system video stuff is borderline comical. You leave it up to a defense attorney to check the tapes? And amazingly, he just couldn't get it to work!
Woods' home has four security cameras, and his lawyer, Mark NeJame, told troopers that he would provide them with video from the system, but after having problems trying to decipher it, apparently never did.
The day FHP made the request, NeJame said he tried but could not figure out how to operate the system. Five hours later, a woman from his office called troopers, saying they still couldn't figure it out but would call the next day.
The FHP paperwork makes no further mention of the video.
According to DeWitt, the trooper who wrote the report, two of the cameras should have captured at least portions of Woods' drive and crash.
Friday, March 12, 2010 at 12:54 PM
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Reader Comments (25)
One thing is puzzling me. Why would Elin bring out two containers of painkiller. Was Tiger taking more than one kind of painkiller? When the report was originally made, it just said that Elin brought out two medications to show the paramedics what he had been taking. I had just assumed that one of them would have been ambien given he was found fast asleep (he was snoring!) rather than unconscious.
This whole psychofreak drama is so far from over I'm afraid to go to the bathroom because I might miss something and I'm afraid to go to the bathroom anyway. The Augusta National Golf Club hissy fit is about to begin. And can you just imagine when Ari Fleisher or Glenn Greenspan finally open their mouths on behalf of their client on TV? Steroids ... or not? More adult movie actors tearfully confessing their love? Aborted Tiger babies? Real Tiger babies? What else might pop up down the fairway for the greatest golfer in the world and his tranquil wife?
DUI was illegal.
However, skillfully avoiding a citation was smart, not illegal.
The facial injury is more likely due to an auto accident than a golf club.
Neither the police nor the hospital did anything out of the ordinary.
The decision of the state attorney is questionable.
However, aside from the video tape, nothing new.
The one item I would like to see answered is, "Why break TWO rear windows?"
Possible answer: First tried to get Tiger out the passenger side.
"This just in: Tiger Woods refers to Ernie Els as "selfish" for daring to lead a tournament while people are discussing his possible return".
Why would one look for courage in a golf writer? Golf is a game, after all. They don't hand out Nobels at the end of the year. Mandela never played the game. Gimme a break.
The charity said it did not want Mandela to be involved in an ongoing controversy over Player having designed a golf course in Myanmar that is used by the country's military leaders. Mandela's various foundations and charities are fiercely protective of the use of the name and image of the 89-year-old anti-apartheid hero.
It's an age-old question debated in pro shops and pubs across America: is golf for a sport for weenies? Neil Wolkodoff, director of the Rose Center for Health and Sports Sciences in Denver, thinks it is, and he has some data to back up his claim. "The study shows there's significant energy expenditure in golf, more than bowling ... "
* the PGA reserves the right to exclude certain medications that might embarrass all involved.
By the standards of any routine DUI case, involving a single vehicle collision, with a driver who has an otherwise clean driving record, this was, I have to say, probably weirdly-elaborate and publicity-drivien investigation. Had everything been done that the curious among us (and you can count me as curious) would have liked to have seen, does anybody suppose that any more serious charges would have been filed? Does anyone suppose that if Tiger had consumed a few beers while playing cards, and his blood alcohol was 0.04, and the tox screen showed generously threaputic levels of oxycodone and ambien, that he'd be charged with DUI? I'm not so sure. Does anybody suppose that if Tiger's lip had been busted by Elin throwing a Blackberry at Tiger, and if she had in fact busted both windows of the Escalade with a a nine-iron, that she'd be charged with spousal abuse? I don't think so.
My point is that if the "suspect" had been Rick Woods, who had an MBA from Stanford and who worked in investment banking, I suspect that there'd have been LESS, not more of a police investigation. And no different charges.
Where I strongly agree with Geoff is in the observation that once this investigation did get going (driven, I suppose, by the pressures of tabloid publicity), the way that it was stonewalled and sidetracked defies understanding.
You're breaking me up. Stop. Arnold defending Tiger would be so funny.
How about sudden acceleration is discovered in the Escalade, too?
Will Tiger get booed when he hits his first tee shot?