STUART, Fla. – Tiger Woods was released from a Florida jail Friday night several hours after being booked on DUI charges, sneaking out the back door in a failed bid to avoid the media.
The 50-year-old golf legend was spotted slumped in the front seat of a black Cadillac that chauffeured him out of the Martin County lockup about eight hours after he was hauled into custody following a rollover crash in his hometown of Jupiter Island.
Police said Woods was under the influence of “some type of medication or drug” when he flipped his Land Rover while trying to speed around a flatbed truck around 2 p.m.
Woods, who has a rocky past with prescription pills and car wrecks, spent at least eight hours behind bars as required by Florida law, but was allowed to saunter out a back door away from waiting photographers despite police insisting he wouldn’t get special treatment.
It’s unclear if the fallen athlete — who appeared disheveled and glassy-eyed in a humiliating mugshot — was released on bond or arraigned.
The Martin County Sheriff’s Office did not immediately respond to noti.group’s request for comment.
Woods’ latest driving debacle unfolded about three miles away from his Jupiter Island home.
Martin County Sheriff John Budensiek said a utility truck towing a small trailer north of South
Beach Road spotted the fallen golf great’s Land Rover barreling up behind at high speed on the narrow, two-lane road with a 30-mph speed limit.
The truck driver attempted to pull over, but Woods swung around him and clipped the back of the trailer, causing his SUV to roll over in the chaos, the sheriff said.
Investigators don’t know how many times Woods’ vehicle flipped, but it apparently slid for a “pretty decent space” before coming to a stop, according to the sheriff.
Follow noti.group’s latest updates on Tiger Woods’ Florida car crash
Authorities said the athlete appeared “lethargic” after he was forced to crawl out of his overturned SUV from the passenger door. Roadside tests were conducted and Woods was taken into custody.
“Mr. Woods did exemplify the signs of impairment,” Budensiek said during a news conference
“At the Martin County jail, and even on scene, we really weren’t suspicious of alcohol being involving in this case, and that proved to be true at the jail. So, Mr. Woods did a Breathalyzer test, blew triple zeroes.”
Woods, who was uninjured, also refused a uranalysis.
Budensiek said the disgraced golf great was “cooperative” but was not “trying to incriminate himself.”
Woods was hit with driving under the influence, property damage, and refusal to submit to a lawful test.
This is his second DUI bust.
The athlete was infamously arrested in 2017 after being found unconscious behind the wheel of his running car while high on a cocktail of prescription painkillers.
He took a plea deal for reckless driving and served a year of probation.
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
