{"id":556373,"date":"2026-03-31T15:30:08","date_gmt":"2026-03-31T15:30:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/556373\/"},"modified":"2026-03-31T15:30:08","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T15:30:08","slug":"tiger-woods-told-authorities-he-was-looking-at-phone-before-crash","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/556373\/","title":{"rendered":"Tiger Woods told authorities he was looking at phone before crash"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

Mark SchlabachMar 31, 2026, 09:52 AM ET<\/p>\n

Close<\/a>Senior college football writer
\nAuthor of seven books on college football
\nGraduate of the University of Georgia<\/p>\n

Multiple Authors<\/p>\n

Tiger Woods<\/a> told authorities that he was looking down at his cell phone and changing the radio station in his SUV, which caused him not to see a truck slowing down before his rollover crash last week on Jupiter Island, Florida.<\/p>\n

Martin County Sheriff’s deputy Tatiana Levenar wrote in an arrest affidavit that Woods was “sweating profusely,” and his movement was “lethargic and slow” while she interviewed him.<\/p>\n

Woods, 50, was arrested last Friday<\/a> on suspicion of misdemeanor DUI with property damage and refusal to submit to a lawful test.<\/p>\n

Editor’s Picks<\/a><\/p>\n

Martin County Sheriff John Budensiek said Friday that Woods’ breathalyzer test didn’t show signs of alcohol. Woods refused to submit to a urinalysis test for other drugs, according to the sheriff.<\/p>\n

Woods’ Range Rover SUV rolled over after it clipped a trailer being hauled by a truck. The truck had slowed down to turn into a driveway. Woods’ SUV swerved and flipped on its side and slid down the road. Woods climbed out of the passenger’s window to get out.<\/p>\n

Another Martin County Sheriff’s deputy “observed several signs of impairment and requested I conduct a DUI Investigation to ensure Woods was able to operate the motor vehicle in a safe manner at the time of the collision,” Levenar wrote in the affidavit, which was obtained Tuesday by ESPN through an open records request.<\/p>\n

After Woods agreed to perform field sobriety exercises, the deputy observed him “limping and stumbling to the right.”<\/p>\n

Woods told the deputy that he’d had seven back surgeries and more than 20 operations on his right leg, which he’d severely injured in a car wreck outside Los Angeles in February 2021.<\/p>\n

“I asked Woods if he was able to perform tasks such as walking and lifting his leg, Woods advised he has a limp and his ankle seizes while walking,” Levenar wrote in the affidavit.<\/p>\n

Because of his medical condition, Levenar told Woods to sit on the bumper of a police cruiser for the rest of the investigation.<\/p>\n

Once Woods removed his sunglasses, Levenar noted that his eyes were “bloodshot and glassy” and his pupils were “extremely dilated.”<\/p>\n

The deputy asked Woods if he’d consumed any alcohol, and he replied: “None.”<\/p>\n

When Levenar asked if Woods had taken any prescription medication that morning, he stated: “I take a few.” Woods said he’d taken prescription pills earlier in the morning, according to the report.<\/p>\n

The names of the medications were redacted in the affidavit.<\/p>\n

Another Martin County Sheriff’s deputy found two hydrocodone pills in Woods’ left pants pocket, according to the arrest affidavit.<\/p>\n

Levenar instructed Woods to perform four field sobriety exercises. During one exercise, in which Woods was asked to follow the tip of a pen with his eyes only, he “continuously moved his head from side to side and had to be instructed several times to keep his head straight.”<\/p>\n

In another exercise, in which Woods was instructed to slap his hands and count, “He counted out loud, ‘one,’ ‘two,’ but did not make contact with his hands between each count.”<\/p>\n

“Based on my observations of Woods, how he performed the exercises and based on my training, knowledge, and experience, I believed that [Woods’] normal facilities were impaired, and he was unable to safely operate the motor vehicle,” Levenar wrote.<\/p>\n

After Woods was arrested, he was transported to the Cleveland Clinic ER South, but he refused all medical treatment. The 15-time major champion was transported back to the Martin County Jail, where he was held until he was released on $1,000 bond later Friday night.<\/p>\n

Neither Woods nor the PGA Tour had publicly commented on his arrest as of Tuesday morning.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Mark SchlabachMar 31, 2026, 09:52 AM ET CloseSenior college football writer Author of seven books on college football…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":549332,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[71],"tags":[427,99],"class_list":["post-556373","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-golf","tag-golf","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/556373","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=556373"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/556373\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/549332"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=556373"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=556373"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=556373"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}