involved in other crashes<\/a> over the years, is charged with driving under the influence, property damage and refusal to submit to a lawful test.<\/p>\n![\"This](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Tiger_Woods_Crash_Golf_11419_1255e2.jpg\")
This handout photo provided by the Martin County Sheriff\u2019s Office shows Tiger Woods, in Stuart, Fla., Friday, March 27, 2026. (Martin County Sheriff\u2019s Office via AP)<\/p>\n
Under the change to Florida law, refusing a law enforcement officer\u2019s request to take a breath, blood or urine test became a misdemeanor, even for a first offense. Refusal was previously only prosecuted if a driver had refused to take a test during a prior incident \u2014 which incentivized people facing DUI charges to refuse the test.<\/p>\n
\u201cNow, it doesn\u2019t matter if you refused previously or not,\u201d said David Hill, an Orlando defense attorney who isn\u2019t involved in Woods\u2019 case.<\/p>\n
\u2018We will never get definitive results\u2019<\/p>\n
Martin County Sheriff John Budensiek told reporters that Woods was cooperative when he talked to investigators after the accident but that he chose his words carefully.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd when it came for the urine tests at the jail, he stopped that,\u201d Budensiek said.<\/p>\n
Woods had a right to refuse the test, but as a result, he was charged under the new Florida statute, the sheriff said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe will never get definitive results about what he was impaired on at the time of the crash,\u201d Budensiek said.<\/p>\n
Still, prosecutors can draw on other evidence to build their case even if they don\u2019t have any lab results, which could have determined which drugs, if any, he had in his system, Hill said.<\/p>\n
Deputies performed roadside tests on Woods that seemed to show he was impaired, the sheriff said. Any bodycam video or testimony from the deputies indicating that the golfer had red or bloodshot eyes, displayed slurred speech or smelled like he had been using drugs or alcohol could bolster prosecutors\u2019 cases, according to Hill.<\/p>\n
That said, the lack of lab results presents an opportunity for Woods\u2019 attorneys.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s kind of our bread and butter if there\u2019s nothing scientific, no breath results or urine results to look at,\u201d Hill said.<\/p>\n
A second DUI matters
\n![\"Tiger](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Tiger_Woods_Crash_91638_67806e.jpg\")
Tiger Woods leaves the Martin County Sheriff\u2019s Office jail facility following his involvement in a car crash where he was arrested on a DUI charge on Friday, March 27, 2026 (AP Photo\/Jim Rassol)<\/p>\n
In Florida, Woods would have had a good chance of getting his case dismissed if he hadn\u2019t clipped the other vehicle or if it had been his first offense. First-timers who aren\u2019t involved in an accident are often allowed to go through a diversion program involving education and community service that results in the charges being dismissed. Prosecutors also regularly allow first-time DUI offenders to plead to the lesser charge of reckless driving, Hill said.<\/p>\n
But Woods was arrested in 2017 for a DUI. At the time, Woods said he had taken a bad mix of painkillers when authorities found him asleep behind the wheel of his car, the engine still running and its driver\u2019s side damaged. Woods pleaded guilty to reckless driving.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf the person has priors or the case is aggravated for some reason, the prosecutor might be pushing for jail. And those are cases that generally go to trial,\u201d Hill said.<\/p>\n
This story was updated to correct the spelling of John Budensiek\u2019s name.<\/p>\n
Doug Ferguson in Jacksonville, Florida, contributed to this report. Follow Mike Schneider on Bluesky: @mikeysid.bsky.social<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"By MIKE SCHNEIDER ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) \u2014 Tiger Woods\u2019 refusal to take a urine test following his recent…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":212302,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[28,30,29,29192,97112,97111],"class_list":{"0":"post-212301","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-florida","8":"tag-florida","9":"tag-florida-headlines","10":"tag-florida-news","11":"tag-tiger-woods","12":"tag-tiger-woods-dui","13":"tag-what-to-know-about-tiger-woods-crash"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/212301","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=212301"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/212301\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/212302"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=212301"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=212301"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=212301"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}