Tiger Woods was looking at phone, showed ‘signs of impairment’ at the time of rollover, police say

Tiger Woods allegedly told a Florida sheriff’s deputy that he was distracted by his cellphone before he clipped the back of a trailer in a rollover Friday, according to an incident report that said the golfer showed “signs of impairment” and had opioid pain pills in his pocket.

Woods, 50, was arrested and charged Friday with driving under the influence after authorities said he struck the back of a trailer while a truck was turning into a driveway in Jupiter Island. The driver of the truck told authorities that he was starting to make the turn when he looked in his mirror and saw Woods traveling “at high speeds,” the sheriff’s office said.

Woods’ Land Rover “overtook” the truck at the last minute, tried to swerve to avoid a crash but hit the trailer, according to officials. Video from the scene showed the golfer’s SUV lying on its side.

Law enforcement said Woods climbed out of the window and was later arrested at the scene.

The truck Woods hit belongs to 43-year-old Jeromy Bullard, according to the incident report. Bullard owns a local home cleaning company, according to his Facebook account.

Bullard did not immediately return requests for comment.

In a brief phone call, his father, Ricky Bullard, said that his son wasn’t hospitalized or seriously injured, but declined to comment further.

“I’d love to talk about it, but I can’t,” he said. “I think everything’s OK.”

The truck had about $5,000 worth of damage to the rear left fender and wheel of the trailer, according to an incident report released Tuesday by the Martin County Sheriff’s Office.

At the scene, Woods told a deputy that he had looked down at his cellphone and did not realize the truck had slowed down, the report says. Woods said he was coming from his house.

The report says the deputy “observed several signs of impairment” during the interaction with Woods and requested that another deputy conduct a DUI investigation.

Woods had “bloodshot and glassy” eyes and his pupils were “extremely dilated,” the report says. Deputies also noted in the report that Woods’ movements appeared to be “lethargic and slow” and he was “sweating profusely” even though he was sitting in an air-conditioned car.

The report says Woods struggled to perform the field sobriety test, including “limping and stumbling to the right” during one of the exercises. Woods told the deputy that he had multiple operations on his back and leg, and that his ankle seizes when he walks.

Woods denied consuming alcohol but said he takes a “few” prescription medication pills and that he had taken the medication earlier in the morning, the report says.

Two white pills determined to be hydrocodone were found inside his left pocket, according to the report. Hydrocodone is used to treat pain.

Woods submitted to a breath test at the jail but refused to do a urine test, authorities said. He was seen on video leaving the jail late Friday night.

Woods previously faced legal trouble in 2017 when he was arrested for driving under the influence in Florida. He checked himself into a clinic for prescription medication after that crash.

In 2021, he was seriously injured in another crash when his vehicle struck a tree and landed on its side in California. Authorities said he was driving at least twice the speed limit in a 45 mph zone, but said there were no signs of impairment. He was not charged in the crash.